Folks, I have all along been insistent in my characterising the NPP's Akufo-Addo as not an astute politician. In fact, he is not well-cut-out to succeed in what he has chosen to do all these years after practising law in Ghana for 40 years without a law qualifying certificate.
And he hasn't ceased amazing (if not irritating) me with his "dumb" take on Ghana's challenges of development. If he presents a better image of himself, I may consider shifting attention from him. But there is no indication that he has anything new up his sleeves. He continues to prove that he is hollow and uninformed about Ghana's challenges. Here is the latest in his lopsided assessment:
"Dumsor – erratic power supply will be President John Mahama’s legacy after he leaves office, three-time flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo has said.
“When the record of Ghana’s history in the 4th Republic is being written, we can point to the establishment of the District Assembly concept, which sought to deepen popular participation in governance, as originating from former President Rawlings.
“The establishment of the National Health Insurance Scheme, which delivered affordable, quality health care to Ghanaians, bears the name of President Kufuor. President Mills was not with us for long. In the Five years of President Mahama, what can we say is his legacy? What has he done to ensure Ghana moves forward? Perhaps it is the ‘dumsor,’†Mr Akufo-Addo said at Fotobi, in the Nsawam/Adoagyiri constituency, at the commencement of his 5-day tour of the Eastern region on Wednesday, June 29.
At a durbar organised in his honour by Nana Kofi Osae Ababio, Chief of Fotobi, the former Attorney General said the Mahama administration has been fraught with unbridled theft of state resources, widespread cases of corruption and a tattered economy." (See http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Dumsor-will-be-Mahama-s-legacy-Akufo-Addo-451651).
My Comments
Such a dishonest opinion is disgraceful, especially coming from Akufo-Addo. Is that what will win him the elections? I wonder; I truly wonder!! This politics of deception is disgraceful, to put it mildly.
Is Akufo-Addo really in touch with reality to know that Ghana's energy crisis didn't start with John Mahama or that erratic power supply long preceded John Mahama's decision to do politics?
Or that even in colonial times when huge electricity generators were in use, power supply wasn't widespread or stable?
Or that when the insightful Great Osagyefo initiated moves to construct the Akosombo Dam for electricity power generation in Ghana, his (Akufo-Addo's) own political forebears in the United Party opposed him and sent a delegation to the US President Kennedy to attempt persuading him not to allow Kaiser Aluminium to grant Ghana the loan for that project? President Kennedy derided them and supported Nkrumah's vision.
Or that when Dr Busia entered office, he loudly declared that it was impossible for anybody to think that the Akosombo power grid could be extended to the Brong-Ahafo Region (his own homeland) and Northern Ghana?
Or that when Jerry Rawlings' government embarked on a massive national electrification project to extend the Akosombo grid to all the districts of Ghana, his opponents in the Danquah-Busia cabal (later to become the NPP) did all they could to frustrate it?
Or that the erratic power supply, named "Dumsor" only under President Mahama, had existed under Kufuor and his predecessors?
What is new here for Akufo-Addo to point to as President Mahama's legacy? And what has Akufo-Addo so far told us that he would do to solve the energy crisis other than the measures being implemented by the incumbent? NOTHING!! Absolutely nothing!! What, then, is the sense in this childishness?
Considering what he has gone through since Election 2008, one would hardly expect Akufo-Addo to stoop so low to embarrass himself and the NPP cabal with this silliness. So, is Akufo-Addo really on the ground? This man needs a lot of help upstairs!!
Indeed, the energy crisis is more than a headache for the Mahama-led administration because it has caused so much havoc to the economy as to warrant its being noted down as the most daunting challenge facing the government. And once it has negatively affected the economy and people's lives, it stands tall as a huge political rub.
The government had long been forewarned by Kwasi Pratt that its fate at Election 2016 might hinge on the "Dumsor" crisis. And developments have proved him right. That explains why the government has done all it could to look for means to solve the problem, creating a Ministry of Power as a strategic force and seeking material help and funding from wherever possible. It has also encouraged the private sector to pull its weight in this bid.
The measures put in place have helped to a large extent and can be praised for what they are, not ridiculed brainlessly as Akufo-Addo is leading the NPP to do.
Meantime, the NPP hasn't offered any bit of idea to help solve the problem, even as it harps on it for politically mischievous purposes. As of now, we haven't even been told by Akufo-Addo how he could solve the problem.
So, citing it only to sustain the NPP's rogue politics comes across as disgusting. It won't fetch Akufo-Addo any political capital. Instead, it will cast him in a negative light and add to his woes later on. What a woeful leader of a party seeking to win elections!!
Truly, the NPP's "Concert Party" enactments are taking on a bizarre twist now that Akufo-Addo has settled in the saddle to reinforce the renditions of the Kennedy Agyapongs, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyies, and many others whose wretched displays have negatively affected the NPP’s standing. But who will be amused by his take on the “Dumsor†crisis? Only rogue politicians and their benighted followers will. Unfortunately for them, the electorate know better.
Writer's e-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com