Article: That Man Rawlings; Beware of Him, He Seldom Loses His Fights!

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Created on Sunday, 28 March 2010 00:00

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Article: That Man Rawlings; Beware of Him, He Seldom Loses His Fights!

At almost 63 years of age, Ghana's former president, Jerry John Rawlings, should be enjoying a comfortable retirement and not fighting for political relevance against the party he founded in 1991 and whose re-election he worked so hard for in December 2008.

What is in the Rawlings make up that appears to make him a fighter without end? Rosemary Atiemo, has been looking into the archives, and has dug up a fascinating personal history of a man to whom fate has always been kind.

Beware of Rawlings, he seldom loses his fights” appears to be the summary of the life history of the man who, at almost 63 years of age, is still engaged in an internecine struggle within his own party, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), for political relevance, if not survival. His background presents an amazing tale of a man who has won more battles against the odds than he has lost. Even when his personal capabilities have woefully failed him, fate has always been kind in that other have ridden to his rescue.

His profile is rich enough to warrant a full-length book. But for the focus of this biography, we will restrict ourselves to his early years. Jerry John Rawlings was born in Accra on June 22, 1947. According to his official (and conventional) biography, he is the son of a Ghanaian Ewe woman and a Scottish father. But this is a claim which, despite the boldness of the conventional accounts, even his inner circle of friends and political allies are not prepared to be specific about.

His mother is a Ghanaian Ewe all right. But his father? Even members of his inner circle, including Kofi Awonoor, Chairman of the Council of State, are not so sure.

Awonoor, a former university lecturer, poet, politician and author of several books, was one of the intellectual pillars that kept Rawlings' PNDC and NDC governments afloat for 19 years from 2001  when Rawlings handed over power to President John Agyekum Kufuor. An Ewe like Rawlings himself, Awonoor wrote the book, The Ghana Revolution, dedicated to the early turbulent years of the Rawlings era. In the book, Awonoor tried to solve the mystery of Rawlings' paternity but ended up compounding it even more.

Rawlings is a Ghanaian, Awonoor wrote. His father happened to be a Scotsman. His mother is an Ewe from the well known Agbotui family. Awonoor is famous for his majestic prose and command of the English language. So he must know what he was writing about when he used a definite “is an Ewe” to describe Rawlings' mother, but happened to be a Scotsman in the case of his father. There is an air of finality about is an Ewe, but not to about “happened to be a Scotsman.

One of the people who grew up with Rawlings and who really knows him inside out, from his boyhood to his days in the Ghana Air Force is Osahene (retired Major) Boakye Djan. In a 2001 interview with the London based New African magazine, Djan said Awonoor was caught up in his own contradictions.

It is a paternity they don't want to talk about, Djan said. Nobody knows Rawlings' father for sure, except perhaps his mother. Incidentally, Rawlings' mother doesn't want to talk about her son's father, so the identity of the man is still a mystery. Djan said if he were writing, he would not have used happened to be a Scotsman to describe Rawlings father, as Awonoor did. I would say he is of mixed parentage, with the father's side unknown, Djan said. Nobody knows for certain that his father was a Scotsman. Rawlings himself tried to find out. He came to Britain trying to trace his father, but the man opened the door and slammed it back on him. He didn't want to see him. That was what he (Rawlings himself) told me when he returned to Accra. He was bitter.

Djan Continued: So nobody, including Rawlings himself, has been able to establish with any authenticity who his father is, or was. I had long discussions with him on this issue. On one hand, his father was supposed to be called a Jerry John Mackenzie from South Africa who worked for the United Africa Company (UAC), the multinational company with British roots. And Mr. Rawlings was another person altogether from Scot-land.

That is why Rawlings used to be called Jerry John. It was much later in life that he added Rawlings to it. So Jerry John Rawlings is a combination of two separate names. People don't know this, Djan added.

"Marriage"

Former First couple, Mr. and Mrs. Agyeman Rawlings.

Indeed, it was Boakye Djan who led a delegation that were to ask the hand of Nana Konadu Agyeman from her parents when the time came for Rawlings to marry. For several important reasons Nana Konadu's parents, especially her mother, did not want their daughter to marry Rawlings. Djan remembers Konadu's mother turned her back to the delegation and did not want to listen to any of their pleas.

In the end, after much pleading by the delegation, Nana Konadu's father reluctantly gave in, telling Djan that he would hold him responsible for any ill that befell her daughter in the marriage. Not surprisingly, Djan was best man at the wedding when the time came.

For some strange reasons, Djan recounted in the interview, the wedding day coincided with the wedding of Kwaku Asare, General I.K. Acheampong's aide-de-camp. (Acheampong was the military Head of State at the time).

All the senior officers went to Asare's wedding. None came to ours, Djan recalled. We couldn't even get a staff car to drive Rawlings and Nana Konadu from the church to the reception at the Air Force Officers Mess. Fortunately, Colonel Bruce Konduah intervened and hijacked Brigadier Nunoo Mensah's car for us. We were terribly late for the reception.

Later, Wing Commander Okai and a few others rushed in. But we laughed it over. The wedding went very well. We wanted to make it small. We wore a special tunic. We didn't wear coats or anything fanciful. We wore radical things. Looking back, it was good.

Rawlings was commissioned a Pilot Officer in the Ghana Air Force in 1969, winning the coveted Speed Bird Trophy as the best cadet in flying airmanship. He earned the rank of Flight Lieutenant in April 1978.

On June 4, 1979, junior officers staged an uprising to free Rawlings from a possible execution after he had bungled an earlier attempt on May 15 1979 to overthrow General Frederick Akuffo's military government. Popularly called the June 4 Uprising”, it was one of the bloodiest epochs in Ghana's post-independence history. But the popularity it achieved was what fed and watered Rawlings' political career thereafter.

The junior officers were members of an underground political group within the Ghana Armed Forces called the Free Africa Movement (FAM) that they formed in October 1970 with the objective of seizing power in Ghana 1984 and using the country as the nucleus of a military-led push for the unification of the African continent under a single federal government. FAM's codename was FAR, an acronym for Federal African Republics “ the ultimate goal of FAM. As part of FAM's elaborate cover, the junior officers hid their activities under a Current Affairs Club which was designed to assist both junior and senior officers to pass their current affairs exams as part of the requirements for their promotion exams. What is really amazing is that Ghana's military hierarchy was fooled by the cover and suspected nothing.

The friendship between Rawlings and Djan grew by leaps and bounds. But there was a time bomb ticking under Rawlings feet all the time. Current Affairs was Rawlings' weakest subject, Djan explained. He never passed it on his own merit. Sadly, promotion in the military was tied ot passing all the subjects.

Technically, Rawlings had passed all the other subjects like Flying, Map Reading, etc., but because he had not passed Current Affairs, his promotion was held up for years. Things were getting pretty desperate for him, so we had to beef up his marks in Current Affairs for him to pass. That saved his career.

According to Djan, five days before Rawlings attempted his first coup on May 15, 1979, he told Rawlings that he (Djan) did not want to have anything to do with it. Djan recalled that on May 10, 1979, he was sleeping in his room at the Fifth Battalion barracks in Accra when Rawlings came in and said: Let's go for a drink.

So we went to the Continental Hotel, Djan said. After a few drinks, Rawlings suddenly said: We are ready to take over. I said you and who? He said: I have got a lot of the boys. Which boys? I nearly shouted the words out, Djan revealed.

Djan said he was not amused by Rawlings' decision to stage a coup on May 15, 1979, in effect hijacking the FAM's agenda ahead of time. And he let Rawlings know his displeasure in plain language.

I told him: Jerry, you are setting yourself up as cannon folder. These people are going to cut you down. Your plan won't work. And the generals won't forgive, he said Rawlings retorted: Oh, you temporize too much; you risk being seen as a coward,.

Djan said he told him: You never ever associate me with cowardice. I have come a long way because I don't believe in uneducated bravado. We shall see!

So he left Rawlings at the hotel. This was close to a weekend, so I went to sleep at my fiancee’s at Achimota, Djan recalled. Early on Monday morning, May 15, 1979, I was told that Rawlings had led his men and drove straight to the Fifth Battalion to commit me to his cause; in other words, to force my hand.

But when he was told that I wasn't there, he threw his G3 rifle to the ground in frustration. It was a new rifle bought from Spain, a very sensitive rifle. When it hit the ground, it started firing. And people started running helter skelter.

Rawlings had earlier seized a small Recce Ferret, a small armored car. When he became desperate, the driver of the Ferret realized that something was wrong and drove the armored car straight into a gutter.

Apparently Rawlings had not briefed the driver about the operation. He seized the Ferret at gunpoint and did not bother to brief the driver what was going on. That was what he wanted to do to me. I was the best man at his wedding, and if he had met me at my post in the morning, I would have been compromised.

Djan continued: After the Rawlings fiasco, troops from the Fifth Battalion were mobilized to go after him. He had gone to pitch camp at the Air Force Station. He was sitting down there like a lame duck. He was now cannon folder as I had forecast. I warned him but he wouldn't listen.

Djan said at the time, the Delta-Company of which he was the commander, was the point company at the Fifth Battalion. So if I had been present when Rawlings' coup fizzled out, my company would have been the one mobilized to arrest him. And you could well imagine the dilemma this would have caused me.

Fortunately for Djan, he was not there. So a detachment of troops from the Fifth Battalion and the Recce Regiment led by Major Seidu Mahama was mobilized to arrest him. It was said that Major Mahama seized Rawlings' pistol, hit him on the head with it, and told him: You don't stage coups with a pistol.

But by some sheer twist of irony, the arrest of Rawlings on May 15, 1979 became his badge to fame and the presidency of Ghana. Fate, as always, was kind to him again. What he couldn't get with his abortive coup, he got via his trial.

General Akuffo's regime (General Acheampong had been overthrown in a palace coup on July 5, 1978 by General Akuffo and his colleagues) made the mistake of giving Rawlings a public trial before a military tribunal.

His testimony at the trial (all avidly reported by the media) made him a folk hero overnight. But Akuffo's regime was not amused. The military tribunal was determined to convict him and his 1.5 accomplices for committing treason, which in Ghana is punishable by death.

With Rawlings staring death in the face, the FAM members had to act fast to save him from a possible execution.

Said Djan: When his trial started, the FAM met in a crisis session. Our deliberate attack planned to take place in 1984 had been reduced to a hasty attack, thanks to Rawlings' foolish actions. Even though we had not planned to move at that stage, the exigency of the situation forced us to move.

The options were clear: (a) we had to move to release Rawlings before he was executed, and (b) for self preservation and that of the Movement.

If we allowed him to be found guilty, we would be the next target. There was no way I, particularly, was going to survive. But if we moved, we reckoned that we could influence the results of the impending general elections (won by Limann) by asking the politicians to go for a coalition government of national emergency.

At the same time, we could also deal with the senior officers who had committed treasonable subversion and whom we suspected to be corrupt and were trying to manipulate the general elections to protect themselves.

Now with Rawlings in the noose, we had plenty of factors to justify action, though it was not 1984 but 1979. So we decided to move. We knew that the grand FAM project, conceived in 1970, had been derailed, in fact hijacked, by one man and his rash actions.

And so Ghana got the June 4 Uprising and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) of which a lot has since been written and said, especially the execution of eight generals, including the then head of state General Akuffo.

The AFRC organized general elections on June 18, 1979 and it was won by Dr. Hilla Limann who needed a second round of voting to defeat his main challenger, Victor Owusu. But Dr. Limann could not officially take power until September 24, 1979 when the AFRC left the scene.

In the event, Rawlings and Djan became the dominant personalities of the era. But fundamental political differences during the AFRC days led to the parting of ways for the two friends.

Soon after handing over power to Limann, Djan left Ghana for further studies in Britain, but Rawlings chose to stay behind. That marked the definitive break between the two friends. From then on, Rawlings had nothing to do with Djan ever again; in fact they became mortal enemies thereafter.

Thus, when Rawlings and his colleagues staged another coup on December 31, 1981 and overthrew Dr. Limann's government and established the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), Djan and another ex-AFRC member, Major Mensah Poku, went on the BBC African Service and condemned it as an unpardonable treason, and vowed to fight Rawlings to restore constitutional government to Ghana “at the appropriate time. They secretly made various attempts to reverse the Rawlings illegality without success. Rawlings went on to rule as a military head of state from December 31, 1981 until 1992 when the PNDC metamorphosed into the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Rawlings swapped his air-force fatigues for smart suits and ran for president, winning multi-party elections on the ticket of his NDC.

Four years later, he repeated the feat although the opposition, led by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), said both elections were stolen. In a special report at the end of Rawlings rule in 2001, the BBC quoted close associates of the man as saying he was gifted not only with a sixth sense, but also an extra pair of nostrils, for survival.

To sum up the life of Rawlings, one can say that the many struggles in his personal history make him a man born to fight. He wins some and loses some and he has won more than he has lost. The great irony is that at the grand old age of nearly 63, which he reaches on June 22, Rawlings is still fighting for political relevance within the party of which he is the founder! Once a fighter, always a fighter!

Culled from the Africa Watch

Source: Culled from the AfricaWatch courtesy "Insight"/Peacefmonline.com, 28 February 2010

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Birim River: Okyeman Beauty Raped by Capitalist Fangs

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Created on Saturday, 16 January 2010 00:00

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Birim River: Okyeman Beauty Raped by Capitalist Fangs

If appropriate measures are not taken early to save the Birim River, which is a source of water supply to many Ghanaians living along the banks, from being polluted by some selfish and greedy miners, the river would be dead, thereby denying millions of people access to drinking water” (Ghanaweb Jan 12, 2010).

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Cote dIvoire and Ghana youth to benefit from Cocoa development grant

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Created on Sunday, 31 January 2010 00:00

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Cote dIvoire and Ghana youth to benefit from Cocoa development grant

Over 160,000 people are to benefit from the World Cocoa Foundation Youth Education Programme in West Africa.

The two ¬year, $5.6 million public¬-private partnership will focus on youth and young adults in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana.

The initial two-year programme began in October 2007; the $5.6 million cash and $2 million in-kind contributions will extend the programme for an additional two years through September 2011, the Cocoa Foundation said in a statement.

The Empowering Cocoa Households with Opportunities and Education Solutions (ECHOES) Alliance in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana has already reached thousands of young people directly through vocational agricultural training and indirectly by training teachers in interactive teaching approaches. The programme aims to develop a replicable, scalable model for improving education in rural West Africa.

Dr Sarah Moten, coordinator of USAID's Africa Education Initiative, said: "We're very happy about what ECHOES has been able to accomplish in just two years and we look forward to even more dramatic success as we bring access to the world's sources of knowledge to young people in rural Africa. They are the next generation of leaders and the future of the continent. We need to give them every chance for success."

In its second phase, the programme will place more of an emphasis on directly reaching youth and young adults. Activities will focus on in-school education at the primary and secondary school levels; training for out-of-school youth; agriculture-related extracurricular activities; family support scholarships; and literacy training.

Additionally, the programme will also train teachers working in cocoa-growing communities. Overall, these activities will directly benefit over 20,000 young people and indirectly impact an additional 140,000 people across both countries, the Foundation said.

It also said the programme will build on the successes of the first two years while incorporating new elements such as using information technology to improve learning, encourage community education, and private education activities.

"Improving the quality and relevancy of education in cocoa-growing communities is essential to expanding opportunities for young people and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the cocoa sector. It is wonderful that USAID, the private sector and the governments of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana have been so supportive of our efforts to continue this important work," said WCF President Bill Guyton.

Credit afrol.com

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A Better Ghana promise turns to A Better Volta Agenda

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Created on Thursday, 14 January 2010 00:00

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A Better Ghana promise turns to A Better Volta Agenda

By Katakyie Kwame Opoku Agyemang, Hull, UK

In recent times, many a Ghanaian have written about the dangers of ethnicity and tribalism in the Ghanaian media networks, but it seems all the pieces of advice given by these writers have fallen on death ears of the powers that be.

As Conelius Cacho opines; tribalism directly affects the quality of governance, is conducive to corruption, negatively impacts the availability of investment finance, prevents thousands of skilled indigenes from returning home and encourages many who are trained in the country to emigrate”.

In a nutshell, tribalism could lead to civil wars which consume resources, slaughter people, destroy infrastructure, discourage investments and consequently inhibit economic development. Taking Conelius advice into consideration, it behoves on any patriotic citizen to do his utmost best to shun tribalism in any form, at any day and at any point in time.

It is therefore ludicrous to see the silence on the part of Ghanaians on the Mills' political appointments with regard to the gradual ethnic superimposition in our body politic which the erstwhile Kufuor government attempted to bring under control. A cursory examination of the appointments made by the president over the past 12 months reveals that over 50 personalities in the Volta Region alone have been assigned to almost all the sensitive positions in the economy to the neglect of other regions.

But Ghana, like most countries in Africa is multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural society. The 2000 population and housing census puts Ghana's population at 18.4 million and the predominant group is the Akan with a population of 8,562,748 representing 49.1%. Out of this figure 14.8% are Asantes, Fantes (9.9%), Brong (4.6%), Akyem (3.4%), Akuapem (2.9%) with Denkyira, Nzema, Akwamu, Ahanta, Kwahu, Sefwi, Aowin, Wassa making the rest of the percentage.

The Mole-Dagbani comes second with a population of 2,883,931 representing 16.5%. Then comes the Ewe, together with Nkonya, Tafi, Logba, Sontrokfi, Lolobi and Likpe with 2,212,113 people representing 11.7%, the Ga-Adangbe with 1,387,217 (8.0%), the Guan with 758,779 (4.4%), the Gurma with 678,681 (3.9%), the Grusi with 490,379 (2.8%), the Mande-Busanga with 193,443 (1.1%) and the others with accumulatively 269,302 (1.5%) members of the population. (Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) 2000.

Fellow compatriots, permit me to quote one of the VAT free promises of President Mills in January last year to substantiate my argument. “Our success in accomplishing the agenda for change will be measured by the extent to which we realise the vision for a better Ghana where opportunities are available to all our people and where Ghana's prosperity will reach all and not just a few”. (President Mills' Inaugural Speech to Parliament on January 7, 2009).

It was therefore the expectation of all and sundry that the above data, the president's promise as well as Article 79 (1) of the 1992 Republican Constitution would guide the president in his political appointments to ensure that there was not only regional balance, but also ethnic and religious balance to reflect the entirety of Ghanaian multi-ethnic society.

However, one could logically attest to the fact that the current NDC administration is dominated by one particular tribe and this is a resemblance of the 19-year dictatorial rule of J.J Rawlings which made Ghana's economic progress suffer for nearly 20 years.

But as to whether Ghanaians are behaving like cowards or deliberately turning a blind eye on this very delicate issue is still a mystery for all of us to unravel. It is in the light of this that I produce below a list of the Ewe appointees from the Volta Region for public consumption. In this way, readers could form their own opinions on the partiality/impartiality of the man who had prophesized to be the so-called father of all Ghanaians.

1. Gbevlo-Lartey National Security Co-ordinator

2. Kofi Awoonor – Chairman of Council of State

3. Victor Smith – Chief of State Protocol

4. Kofi Portophy – National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO)

5. Victor Gbeho – Chief Advisor to John Mills

6. Koku Anyidohu – Head of Communications Directorate

7. Yaw Donkor – Head of Bureau of National Investigations (BNI)

8. Sylvester Mensah – Chief Executive of National Health Insurance Scheme

9. Kwame Ampofo – Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR)

10. Akua Sena Dansua – Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs

11. Joe Gidisu – Minister of Roads and Highways cum Chairman of Road Fund Board

12. Juliana Azumah-Nelson – Minister of Tourism

13. Brigadier Gen. Partington – Head of Army

14. Squadron Ldr. Clend Sowu – Chairman of Electricity Corporation

15. Justice Amegashie – CEO of DVLA

16. J.B. Kwabla Aheto – Chairman of National Media Commission

17. Ludwig Hlordze - Minister of State at the Presidency

18. Capt. Beatrice Vormawor – Head of Maritime Safety Division

19. Brigadier Gen. (Rtd) Wallace Gbedemah – Special Assistant to the president

20. Commodore Christian Edem K. Dovlo – Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre

21. Brigadier Gen. Martin K.G. Ahiaglo – Gen. Officer commanding the southern command of the Ghana Army

22. Sallas Mensah – CEO of the School Feeding Programme 23. Naval Capt. (Rtd) Kwadjo Buta – Chairman, Trade Fair Company 24. Biadelah Mortey Akpadzi – Executive Director, Serious Fraud Office 25. Regina Mawusi Yovonoo – State Insurance Corporation 26. Sylvia Ahulu – Ghana Supply Company

27. Thomas F.K. Senya – State Housing Company Ltd.

28. Nancy Ampopfo – Agricultural Development Bank

29. James Avedzi – Chairman, Parliamentary Select-Committee on Finance

30. General (Rtd) Arnold Quainoo – Special Assistant to the president (MOD)

31. Doe Adjaho - First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Head of Appointments Committee

32. Bridget Katsriku – Public Service Commission

33. Brig-Gen. E.C. Quist – Director Gen. Personnel Administration

34. Col. J.K. Kloblodu – Dir-Gen. Plans and Development

35. Col. B.K. Klu – Dir. Gen. Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

36. Commodore Biekro – Chief of Staff at General Navy Headquarters

37. Air Cdre C.G. Gamadeku – Chief of Staff at Air Force Headquarters

38. Chris Kpodo – Dep. Minister of Foreign Affairs

39. Seth Tekpeh – Dep. Minister of Finance

40. John Gyetuah – Dep. Minister of Trade

41. Kofi Wampah – First Dep. Governor of Bank of Ghana 42. Alex Sebgefia – Deputy Chief of Staff

43. Fiifi Kweetey – Dep. Minister of Finance 44. Dzifa Aku Attivor – Dep. Minister of Transport

45. Samuel Okudzeto – Dep. Minister of Information 46. Togbui Afede – Head of Castle Finance Committee and member of BOG

47. Ford H. Kamel – Dep. Minister of Lands and Forest Resources

48. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah – Dep. Minister of local Government

49. Hannah Bisiw – Dep. Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing

50. Joseph Amenowode – Volta Regional Minister

51. Col. (Rtd) Cyril Necku – Dep. Volta Regional Minister

52. J.J Rawlings – Founder of National Diabolic Congress (NDC)

53. Kwabena Adjei – Chairman of National Disappointed Congress (NDC)

54. Albert Fiadjoe – Chairman of Constitutional Review Committee

Ladies and gentlemen, I must stress that the list is inconclusive so do not exhaust your patience. Currently the Armed Forces, the Prisons Service, the Immigration Service, the Fire Service, the civil and public services are all being packed with the people from the Volta Region at the expense of other regions. Besides, a significant number of Ewes in the diaspora have been secretly advised to return home to occupy some positions in the country.

The ‘Kwaku Vis’, the ‘Efos’, and the ‘Daavis’ are now being given red carpet treatment whilst equally, other full-blooded and qualified Ghanaians are being sidelined. Therefore the question I pose is; for how long should we tolerate President Mills’ politics of tribal and ethnic discrimination whilst the ‘ecomini’ continues to deteriorate under his nose?

Is it a question of Ghana lacking quality human resource to the extent of leaving her destiny in the hands of ‘bootlickers’, novices, arrogant and uncouth guys like the Kweteys, Anyidohus, Okudzetos, Larteys and Smiths? “Y3noaa no s3n na amene”? Could somebody honestly tell any positive contribution(s) of the above-named individuals to the development of the country?

Where are the competent administrators, technocrats, tried and tested politicians, professionals and scholars from the other nine regions including the Central, Upper West and Brong-Ahafo and why can’t we find such names in the national football teams – the Black Starlets, the Black Satellites, the Black Meteors and the Black Stars? To give meaning to his tribalistic sentiments, President Mills declared the Volta Region as his second home during his so-called ‘thank you’ tour in the region.

He further told the self-imposed ‘Kingmakers’ that he had appointed Joe Gidisu as Minister of Roads and Highways to ensure that all roads in the Volta Region were given a facelift. As I write this piece, the Volta Region has been earmarked for the construction and implementation of a number of development projects such as a public university, Nurses’ Training College, an airport, among others. What about the other regions like the Western, Eastern and Brong-Ahafo?

In addition, most of the stolen imported cars are being distributed to party functionaries in the region. To me, there is no problem in putting up the above-mentioned projects in the Volta Regions. My concern however, is the way the national cake is being shared. Ghana as we all know is sustained by agricultural wealth and mineral wealth. This is clearly symbolised by the colours of the national flag – Red, Gold, and Green with the Black Stars at the centre.

It is the; cocoa, timber, coffee, foodstuffs as well as gold, diamond, manganese and bauxite that sustain Ghana’s economy but not ‘Keta school boys’. The big question is; which regions in Ghana produce the bulk of our wealth? Is it the Volta Region or the Western Region? And has the president been fair to the people of Western, Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Eastern, Central Regions and the three Northern Regions in terms of the distribution of the national cake? “Mpanin se, nea wapoto amono afe no, onkyiri s3 ode bomu bi”.

President Mills secured 630,899 and 479,749 votes in the Volta and Ashanti Regions respectively in the 2008 presidential elections. This was an indication that, without the Ashanti votes (2nd highest), there was no way the hitherto four time-defeated presidential candidate of the National Disappointed Congress (NDC) could hold the highest office of the land. As the adage says, what is good for the goose is equally good for the gander.

We cannot sit down and fold our alms whilst Ghana teeters to the verge and brink of collapse all because of bad leadership. The time has come to change the shape and direction of this dear country of ours in terms of managing its affairs and have a capable and a visionary leader that will lift our aspirations and ensure that there is equitable distribution of the national cake, taking into consideration individual regional contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Ghana is a country with inspiring history and every effort should be made at all times to preserve her corporate, sovereign, cultural and political heterogeneity and composition.

It is our dearest nation and nothing should dissuade or discourage us to tread along the path of natural justice. We are all Ghanaians and we all have equal rights and responsibilities to protect our beloved nation against false ideologies and disruptive forces without any ethnic superimpositions. The ear of the leader, according to Woodrow Wilson, must ring with the voices of the people. It is thus imperative for the captain of ‘Team B’ to overhaul the current appointments and replace them with the ‘Team A’ to make our lives better in the coming years. Ghana with her 22 million people should not be used as a laboratory for conducting unnecessary experiments. As Peter Drucker puts it; “there is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all”.

I am by this piece appealing to all Ghanaians, especially the civil society, the media, Parliament, the Judiciary, NUGS, the labour associations, public and civil servants, traditional and religious leaders, farmers, traders, businessmen, political parties and professional associations with the exception of the Council of State, to intervene to save mother Ghana from further polarization along tribal lines.

In fact, my appeal excludes the Council of State led by Kofi Awonoor simply because it will be a waste of my precious time as this important body has proven to be a ‘toothless bulldog’ which only barks but cannot bite. Where was the Council of State when a sitting Vice President - the late Mr. Kow Nkensen Arkaah was subjected to severe beatings by Mr. J.J. Rawlings at a cabinet meeting in the late nineties? Again, where was the Council of State when His Excellency, John Agyekum Kufuor awarded himself with a state medal in 2008?

And where is the Council of State at this present time when human rights abuses are on the increase to the extent that people are being stripped naked and made to parade on the principal streets in Bawku whilst teenagers are being raped by security officers, where political opponents are being harassed and intimidated? Is this not sickening? Is this not a national shame? Is that how a Professor leadership should be?

The patience of majority of Ghanaians has been stretched to its elastic limit and there is no spare room to accommodate the use of tribal card of public office holders to satisfy their whims and caprices. We cannot pretend to ignore the fact that the domination of one particular ethnic group in the key sectors of the economy for 19 years did not only propel Ghana to opt for HIPC initiative in the ensuing yea,r but also the taxpayer’s money was shamefully spent on convicts like the late Victor Selomey, Dan Abodakpi, Tatsu Tsikata etc in the prisons for wilfully causing huge financial losses to the state.

The stolen money by these thieves and economic murderers could have been used for the construction of at least three public universities or the Keta Sea Defence wall and Aveyime Rice project which were only made possible by the NPP under H.E. J.A. Kufuor. Have we forgotten so soon how Togbe Afedi, who has been made what he is today by President Kufuor had the gut to show his ingratitude to the NPP government after his people had enjoyed all the pro-poor policies implemented by the NPP? Similarly, the position of Doe Adjaho as the Head of Appointments Committee in Parliament legalised a significant number of ‘mediocre’, ‘sycophants’ and more importantly ‘greedy bastards’, (courtesy J.J. Rawlings et al) into positions of trust and the negative effect of this error of judgement is there for all Ghanaians to see. So why do we have to repeat the same mistakes to make Ghanaians suffer? Once bitten twice shy, so goes the adage.

In winding up, I would advise President Mills to ensure that he keeps the nation as unified and strong as when the political baton was handed to him, if indeed he has no better economic policy to improve upon the legacy of the NPP under ex-President Kufuor. The truth must be told regardless of the consequences and as Noam Chomski posits, “it is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies”. This, I believe I have done and will continue to do as an intellectual until equal rights and justice are entrenched in the country.

The so-called “better Ghana” promise should never to be seen to favour a particular region or tribe as Ghanaians are witnessing at the moment. We all have the talents and it is incumbent on the president to give all Ghanaians equal opportunity to make a positive contribution to the socio-economic development of mother Ghana. Together we stand, divided we fall. God bless Ghana! God bless the NPP!! God bless Kufuor!!!

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Source: GHP, 14 January 2010

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