I have read a piece written by one Dr. Moses Deyedbe Kuvoame, an Associate Professor at the University of South Eastern Norway, published by ModernGhana in which he seeks to describe the beautifully written and delivered speech by the Minority Leader, Osahen Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin at the just ended National Delegates Conference as a desperate attempt to rebrand a broken tribal political party, (referring to the New Patriotic Party).
The writer makes a lot of claims in his piece, referencing some of the salient points espoused by the Minority Leader, and tries, rather vainly, to not only downplay but also to twist them for reasons not lost on any reader who is politically savvy.
It is quite perplexing that this NDC-aligned writer tries desperately to reject the matter-of-factly analysis, analogies, data and thought-provoking arguments put forward by Osahen Afenyo-Markin.
It is trite, judging from the past seven months the NDC has been in office, that nothing much is being done to better the lots of Ghanaians in terms of their economic wellbeing.
After almost three months the main budget was read, most ministries are yet to be given their allocations for their programmed activities. While the Dollar has been weakened against the Cedi, it is of no economic value or benefit to the country because same is not backed by any economic activities which spur growth in the medium to long term.
This has come about as a result of the government artificially strengthening the local currency against the Dollar by injecting about US$1.4 billion into the market, a phenomenon the IMF has had the cause to confirm and advised against.
Importers are not getting Dollars to pay for their goods, leading to most of them complaining bitterly in mainstream media and on social media platforms. The description by Afenyo-Markin of the government being incompetent in managing the economy is an incontrovertible fact looking at what he posited and several other factors time and space might not have allowed him to highlight in his speech.
It is strange how the writer attempts to bastardize the judiciary interference bit highlighted by the Minority Leader in his speech at the Conference. Who doesn’t know that President John Mahama is hellbent on removing the Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo when the obvious truth is that Her Ladyship has done nothing warranting her removal?
Was it not the same John Mahama in opposition who accused Akufo-Addo of packing our courts and even advocated the number of judges to the Supreme Court should be capped? Hasn’t the same person as president now, appointed more to the Supreme Court and many more being sent to the Court of Appeals? Where is the lie in what Afenyo-Markin stated in his speech?
The Mahama government, we have not lost sight of this, has embarked on termination of appointments spree, something that runs counter to its campaign promise of not sacking Ghanaians already employed by the then administration and to introduce a 24-hour shift system to absorb more Ghanaians into the various sectors of the economy. Is this not a betrayal of the trust the electorate had in Mahama?
If Ghanaians were under any illusions about the violent nature of the ruling National Democratic Congress, the incidents at Ablekuma North’s 19 polling stations rerun dispelled same. The NDC sent thugs to terrorize innocent Ghanaians including Hawa Koomson and Nana Lyod of the New Patriotic Party. If this posturing formed the basis for Osahen Afenyo-Markin to describe the NDC and the government as violent, it is difficult understanding why the writer has a contrary view.
The NDC has indeed hiked fuel prices when there is no justification for same. The price of crude oil on the international market is hovering around $67 and 69$ per barrel today, yet we are buying a litre of petrol is GHS12.88 for Super XP, GHS14.38 for Diesel XP and Super XP 95 at GHS15.77. In 2022, around February, the international market’s price of oil per barrel was $121 and it was being sold for about GHS18 per litre. This means that Ghanaians are being shortchanged buying fuel at the current prices.
To the extent that even today UTAG has bared its teeth to the government to be serious in fighting galamsey or its members would embark on a strike action is a testament to the accusation made by the Minority Leader against the Mahama government for being a failure in tackling illegal mining. In case Dr. Moses Deyegbe hasn’t heard it, he can Google for it and update himself.
The mere fact that in the 2024 presidential elections the NPP presented Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, a non-Akan as flagbearer makes nonsense of the writer’s desperate attempt to still tag NPP as an Akan party. Afenyo-Markin made a strong case to showcase how national NPP as a party is despite the setback in the 2024 elections. Interestingly, this associate professor accuses the NPP of prioritising Akans and Akan areas at all material times, a claim which is not grounded in reality and can be termed to be false, but he fails to acknowledge the fact that the NDC is worse than any other political party in this regard. Even in Akan dominated regions, most of the appointees of Mahama are non-Akans. He is clearly exhibiting a level of dishonesty that is both shocking and nauseating.
It is laughable, to say the least, the scorecard this partisan writer gives to Afenyo-Markin as the Minority Leader in Parliament. Who was employing obstructionist tactics and selective accountability in Parliament more than the Ato-Forson led Minority team in the 8th Parliament? A boatload of bills were not passed in Parliament because the NDC as a party compelled its MPs to obstrauct those bills from passage.
While I can’t state for a fact that the writer is an economist, his understanding of economic management leaves me to conclude that he is a sloth even in grasping basic economic theories and analysis. Has he not read from Fitch Ratings Agency that the Domestic Debt Exchange led to the sound and healthy situation the Ghanaian economy finds itself in today? He should stop behaving like a common NDC member who finds reading or research to be an anathema and spend some time to read about these subjects.
The writer is clearly out of touch with the realities of the global economic situation and how COVID-19 and the war in Europe adversely impacted the world in general and Ghana in particular. He should just take a stroll into time, between 2017 and early part of 2020 and update himself of the economic figures at the time. Economic growth, inflation, interest rates, etc were very positive until the two cataclysmic events visited the global economy.
It is only a dishonesty-laden academic who would dismiss the fact that political persecution is very much alive and active under John Mahama. The Rambo-styled arrests and unlawful detention of Chairman Wontumi and Hanan are but a few examples that highlight how John Mahama is using power to persecute opponents.
Afenyo-Markin’s speech ideated the true state of affairs of the NPP and poignantly communicated the ills, incompetence, corruption, leadership paralysis within the Mahama administration and also the betrayal of trust and confidence reposed in John Mahama by Ghanaians before the 2024 elections. He also urged members of his political party, the NPP, to stay focused, united and work hard towards the realization of the party’s cherished dream of wrestling power from the NDC in 2028.
It is indeed true that the NDC has been engaging in plagiarism as some achievements of the erstwhile NPP administration are being renamed or changed so as to be credited to Mahama. Where from GoldBod? Is it not PMMC that has been changed?
In conclusion, Dr. Moses Deyegbe Kuvoame’s piece only seeks to draw President Mahama’s attention to him so as to be considered for a juicy appointment. His views are hollow, analysis don’t live up to scratch, engages in peddling outright falsehoods and tries to sugarcoat them with verbose expressions just so he can be noticed by Mahama.
P.K.Sarpong, Whispers from the Corridors of the Thinking Place.
