Preamble: Let me start this write-up with the statement that I love the New Patriotic Party with a strong passion just as ex-President Rawlings loves the National Democratic Congress. The latter criticizes the NDC administration just as I do because the administration led by Baba Go Slow is not delivering and is taking us far away from our El-Dorado. The difference between my manner of criticism and that of ex-President Rawlings is that the expressions I use is mild comparable to those used by the ex-President. But members of the NDC have not called ex-President Rawlings names as they do anytime I take a swipe at Baba Go Slow. I now issue a challenge to serial commentators especially those on Ghanaweb like Akyea Mensa, Gersis and Kola to refer to ex-President Rawlings in derogatory terms if they are true sons of their fathers with two balls (big or small) hanging between their legs. This is an open challenge to them. Let them accept it or forever hold their peace.
The Rejection of Saul: In First Samuel Chapter Fifteen, Samuel said to Saul: “The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: Now therefore, hearking unto the voice of the words of the Lord”. Saul was commanded by God to go and smite the Amalekites and “destroy all that they have, and spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass”.
But after defeating the Amalekites, Saul spared the life of Agag, the king “and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of their fatlings and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them”. That was contrary to the commandment of the Lord.
The Lord sent his servant Samuel to deliver His pronouncement. “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearking than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king”.
The Constitution is the sacred Law of the country: The President, Professor John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills, a member of the legal profession swore to abide by it and defend it at all time. But his actions, utterances and demeanor show that he has no intention of abiding by the tenets of the constitution.
The President travels to South Africa, ostensibly to give moral support to the Black Stars in their opening match against Serbia in the on-going FIFA World Cup Competition. He returns to Ghana and his Vice goes to “replace” him in South Africa. On Wednesday night, June 24, 2010, the President again jets out to South Africa, ostensibly to meet his South African counterpart, to lobby for one “discredited” and pseudo-human rights activist to be appointed a member of one Human Rights Commission. The letter to Parliament stated explicitly that he was going to hold discussions with Jacob Zumah, President of South Africa. The letter also stated that in his, his Vice, would act as President. Meanwhile, the Vice President, John Mahama, was in far away South Africa. A presidential fiat was issued directing him to proceed to Accra immediately. President Mills leaves the country five clear hours before Vice President John Mahama arrival. It means that for five good hours, constitutionally, there was a vacuum in the presidency. That was a clear violation of the presidential oath which he, Professor Mills has sworn to defend at all cost.
Did the President lie to Ghanaians? The day after President Mills had left the country, Friday, to be precise; Jacob Zumah also left South Africa to attend a meeting of the G8 Leaders in Ontario, Canada. Now, my question is why should the President tell Ghanaians that he was going to hold discussions with Jacob Zumah, knowing very well that the South African leader would not be in the country to receive him?
And if indeed, Jacob Zumah initially agreed to meet President Mills, but changed his mind at the last minute without informing his Ghanaian counterpart, has the former not ridiculed our President? Does his action not smack of insulting the President and the people of Ghana? What course of action is open to Ghana and what the Foreign Ministry and the Ghana Ambassador to South Africa doing to have this matter redressed?
What was it that was so pressing that the President could not wait for the Vice President to brief him properly before rushing out of the country? Was it on account of his per diem allowance? And if the Vice President was not around at the time of his departure, couldn’t the President have handed over to the Speaker of Parliament to ensure compliance with the tenets of the Constitution?
If the Vice President was in South Africa and President Mills was aware that Jacob Zumah would not be in the country to receive him, why was the need of an executive fiat ordering his vice to proceed to Accra immediately? Couldn’t the Vice President have performed the very role the President went to perform in South Africa? By the President’s decision to travel to South Africa to do something which his Vice, already in South Africa could easily have performed, has he, President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills not caused financial loss to the country?
And by travelling to meet his subordinate in South Africa, is the President not setting a bad and dangerous precedent in the history of the continent? Has the President not lowered and cheapened his presidency by travelling out of the country to meet the Vice President of another country? The President’s action shows the obvious contempt he has for the constitution of the Republic of Ghana. By his action, President Mills has brought the integrity of the executive arm of government into odium and public ridicule. I know ministers meet colleague ministers and Presidents hold discussions with their counterparts. It is a different thing if the Vice President of another country travels out of his country to meet the President of a home country. But it will be a breach of protocol for a President of a sovereign state to travel out of his/her country to hold discussions with the Vice President of a home country. This could be possible but only after the President has first held discussions with his counterpart of the home country.
The Rejection of Belshazzar, King of Babylon: In Daniel, Chapter 5, we read that the Babylonian King, Belshazzar organized a great feast and commanded that the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar, his father had taken out of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem be brought so that his princes, wives and concubines could drink from them. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand and wrote the inscription: “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin”. When translated it meant God had numbered the kingdom, weighed the King on the balances and found him (the king) wanting. In other words, God had rejected him as King
Comparing President Mills with Belshazzar: Everything going on in the country gives an indication that the President has been weighed on the scales and been found wanting. To give credence to this, let fact be supplied a candid world. What is happening to all the laudable and lofty programmes initiated by the NPP administration? They’ve gone down the drain or at best most of them have been taken over by NDC thugs and touts. But I do not blame them. It is one and half years into Mills administration and his government has not come up with a single national programme to give succor to the teeming hungry and pathetic jobless Ghanaians. So like Belshazzar in the Bible and aided by reckless utterances and unfulfilled promises by these self seeking politicians in the NDC stable, NDC party activists are having a field day wrecking violence on NPP programmes.
Arrogance and reckless utterances at their zenith: How could Ministers of State make reckless statements as if Ghana belongs to them? How could Hannah Bissiw, Deputy Minister in Mills Government condescend so low, throw diplomatic niceties overboard and make such reckless and unsubstantiated allegations against the person of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, immediate flag-bearer of the New Patriotic Party? If she has any evidence in support of her allegations, the President and the law enforcement agencies should ask her to submit them for Nana to be prosecuted. After all when one newspaper reported that ex-President Rawlings had been put under twenty four hour surveillance, the BNI invited the editor of the paper for “interrogation”. Well, such a thing can happen only under Mill’s government and in Baba Go Slow’s Ghana. In any other country, except in Baba Go Slow’s Ghana, such a Minister would have been fired a long time ago.
Her “whimsical” allegations against Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is similar to the infantile allegations made by the pseudo and self seeking human rights activist, Nana Oye Luther when she led a bunch of hooligans masquerading as family members of the so-called 44 Ghanaians murdered in Gambia to demonstrate against the NPP Government. Today, the number has been pruned down to just eight, with two of them yet to be identified as Ghanaians. Today Baba Go Slow Government is telling us that his government is finding it difficult to locate the relatives of the six identified Ghanaians. Why has the BNI not invited Nana Oye Luther to bring the touts and thugs who accompanied her during her populist demonstrations to identify the corpses of their relatives? And this is the “fraudster” Baba Go Slow is spending millions of our hard-earned money to lobby for an international appointment! May God have mercy on all of us!!
Meanwhile the “peanuts” which the Gambian government gave as compensation to the relatives of the victims have been sitting somewhere in an unknown account yielding interest for some faceless individuals in Baba Go Slow’s Government. The money was paid in January 2010 and it was only when some whistle blower of an MP raised the issue that we were told a certain amount had been paid as compensation.
Bad Mouthed John Abu Jinapor: Yes, we have John Abu Jinapor, who is a complete anti-thesis of his brother, Samuel Abu Jinapor. Yes, on that red-lettered day, John decided to throw all courtesies away and used gutter language on a fellow discussant. The language he used is tantamount to what the Akans refer to as “ntoma mu mpe”. Simply put, it was unbecoming of a person who wishes to be addressed as a gentleman to use such words. And such a person works in the esteemed office of the Vice President! Till date, the office of the Vice President has not deemed it fit to comment on the reckless and derogatory language used by a member of staff.
We listened to him anytime he came on air during the period his party was in opposition. But today, because he is in government he has grown winds and would like to soar above the reach of ordinary mortals. He wants to play God. Well, time will tell.
Irascible, Unrepentant and foul mouthed Kobby Acheampong: Yes, this is the Deputy Minister who feels and thinks he is all-knowing and even when he is proved wrong, refuses to accept his mistakes. He talks and makes reckless utterances reminiscent of Saddam Hussein Sanni Abacha’s days. Anytime he comes on air he wants his views to prevail and uses uncomplimentary language on fellow discussants. And like Cassius in Julius Caesar, he hardly smiles and the few occasions he does so, it appears as if he is sneering at someone. The other time he referred to NPP members as thieves. But if we want to talk about thieves, I want to state it on authority that there are ten thousand more thieves in the NDC than are in the NPP. If he has forgotten, I would advise him to check the newspapers and tapes to find out the expression the founder of his own party, ex-President Rawlings used to describe him, (Kobby Acheampong). Instead of clearing himself of such an “accolade’ he has got the guts to refer to others as thieves.
I have always said that the fact that you are in Government today does not mean that you can malign your political opponents and get away with it just like that. There is that Natural Law which has been in operation since the time of Creation. And it is this natural law which will deal with arrogant and uncouth people like the John Abu Jinapors, the Kobby Acheampongs and the Hanna Bissiws. Let them take time to reflect on life and come to the realization that they are mere mortals who will be called upon to give account of their stewardship before their maker one day. And when the time comes, all these “gra-gra” “bravado”, “atutrusem”, “patapaasem” and “nkontomposem” cannot save them from the wrath of their maker. A Daniel might not come to judgement at that time.
Unmitigating disasters: If the unmitigating disasters in the NDC have conscience and realize the pangs, pains and trauma their betrayal has caused Ghanaians, perhaps they will retrace their steps and like Judas Iscariot in the Bible, ask God and Ghanaians to forgive them. But as they clutch precariously to their plush portfolios and pecunicory gratifications, their action and utterances will plunge Ghanaians down the abyss of poverty. In fact, for love of money, These NDC men and women who came to limelight through the instrumentality of ex President Rawlings have turned into destructive sycophants demonizing Rawlings at every given opportunity. If they could treat their founder and mentor in such a way, what cannot they do to you and I who do not share in their political ideology?
But are you surprised? No, you should not. After all, did the Ashanti Regional Minister not give a blank cheque to all NDC numbers to slap any NPP member who makes disparaging remarks about the NDC? Bo Nasom! The President and father of the nation would not be outdone in his own “backyard”. He added his presidential stamp to it by telling Ministers and appointed officials to open their offices to NDC members only. Then came the mother of all atrocities: The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister perverted the course of justice when he hid a person who was wanted for murder under his bed.
n 2012 has started in earnest: In a nutshell, everything points to the fact that President Mills has been weighed on the scales and found wanting, just as Saul and Belshazzar could not measure up to the standards. A rejected gem will still be a rejected gem. Never have we seen, in the history of this country, such arrogance, insensibility, contempt for ordinary Ghanaians, ostentatious living, over-invoicing, use of uncouth and derogatory language by Ministers and top Government appointees and fragrant abuse of the Constitution by the President himself. We have never in the history of this country, experienced such ineptitude, such clueless and incompetent regime as are being experienced under Baba Go Slow administration. The writings on the wall during the desecration of the Jewish vessels sum up the fate that awaits Baba Go Slow and his NDC, come election 2012. They can do all the rigging they want; they can do all the thieving they like but the verdict will remain the same. No amount of intimidation, and I repeat, No amount of coercion and use of security forces will prevent God’s pronouncement from becoming a reality. The Americans went to Vietnam and despite all the sophisticated weapons in their armoury, they could not defeat the Viet Congs; neither could they kill the spirits of the determined Viet Congs. Italy invaded Ethiopia but the latter using their traditional primitive bows, arrows and guns repulsed the Italian attacks.
We are engaged in a struggle between the forces of light and darkness, adept brain power as opposed to addled crude power. Destiny is on the side of the struggling masses. But we must prepare ourselves for a better way to advance. This is the reason why I am appealing to all patriotic Ghanaians to embrace the ideas and ideals of Vision 2012 which has the main principle of making Ghana rejoin the comity of Progressive Nations’ with Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as President of Ghana. You can call me names or pooh pooh the idea. But I remain unshaken in my firm belief that God has rejected Professor John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills as President and anointed Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo as his successor.
The Lord God has spoken. Who will contradict him?
Daniel Danquah Damptey (danieldanquah_damptey@yahoo.com)