The Chickens Have Come Home To Roost

Ten thousand years ago, a king lived in a kingdom and the kingdom bled wealth and happiness. Life was fine, so fine that the people were regaled with instruments of sweet music and there was none in the kingdom who did not hold the great king with great worship (That was how my class one teacher used to begin some of the stories he told us).

Later in life when I started growing up and remembered what my class one teacher was telling us I realised that he was rather trying to tell us a story which happened in recent times but in order for us to pay attention, he carried us way back in time.

It has been six years since the NDC held the reins of power with sweet promises of a better Ghana as if we were living in a bad Ghana under the Kufuor administration. The late Professor Mills told us after he was sworn in as the President of Ghana that now that he had held the reins of power, the issue of hard drugs like cocaine, contract killings, armed robbery, spousal killings etc. would be a thing of the past. And the people clapped: “shia, shia, shia”

Barely two years into the rule of the late Professor, the founder of the NDC, Mr. Rawlings came out to tell Ghanaians that things were not going on well and that if such dismal performance of the Mills’ administration was allowed to continue the NDC would lose the 2012 election. He mentioned mediocre ministers, corruption, and cronyism among others as the bane of the NDC regime and called for a change of attitude.

The Akans say if a crocodile comes out of the water to say the fish is dead, nobody should challenge it because it lives in the water with the fish. And so some of us who were not in the river with the fish believed in Rawlings, the crocodile.

Then the Woyomegate cropped up followed by Embraer 190 Presidential Jet saga which involved the then sitting Vice President in the person of Mr. John Dramani Mahama.

In order to prove to Ghanaians that he was not going to countenance the issue of cocaine, the late President Mills stripped naked before security officers at the Kotoka International Airport to be searched.

Sadly, his Vice, Mr. Mahama never followed up to also ‘striptease’ which implied that he might be having something hidden in his pants. Then many more Ghanaians got arrested overseas for trying to export cocaine and heroin while drug abuse in the country increased tenfold.

As for armed robbery, it became a daily occurrence. Even soldiers were disarmed by armed robbers at the outskirts of Obuase, while innocent women were raped at random by armed robbers. Remember “Amina Yutong” rape case? It happened when the NDC was in power. That was when legalistic purists in the NDC dusted their law books to unearth “Causing fear and panic” law to shut people up.

It was when Mr. Rojo Frimpong of the Ghana Commercial Bank was murdered by unknown assailants that the late Professor Mills coined the phrase: “Contract killings”. He pointed accusing finger at the NPP and virtually called them murderers. When President Mahama looked into our lean faces and told us that Ghanaians were forgetful, I really did understand him so well.

With the current rate of contract killings, Ghanaians have all too soon forgotten what the late President Mills told us. Today in John Mahama’s Ghana people are daily mowed down in ‘contract killing’ style but Ghanaians have kept quiet.

One of the most difficult problems that the Kufuor administration encountered was the issue of filth in the capital city. In the run-up to the 2008 elections, Accra was engulfed with filth and all efforts adopted to do away with the filth proved futile.

The NDC capitalised on the issue and included in their manifesto that when voted into power, they will use only 100 days to do away with filth in Accra. That simple campaign message sunk in so well that people started praying to see the back of the NPP administration so that the NDC will come to save the situation for them.

Is Auntie Ama Benyiwa Doe there? She was the one who spearheaded the campaign and told market women in Accra that it was unacceptable for the government to sit down while people were selling food very close to refuse dumps and that immediately the NDC came to power traders will have a neat environment to ply their trade.

Indeed, Ghanaians are very forgetful as the President said. What are we seeing in Accra, six years after handing over power to the NDC?

It was Rawlings’ (P)NDC regime that introduced Cash and Carry in our health delivery system. From the days of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to Dr.

Hilla Limann, Ghanaians were not paying for medical treatment until Rawlings came to introduce his Cash and Carry killer system. During the 2000 electioneering campaign, the NPP promised that when voted to power the issue of Cash and Carry will be a thing of the past.

In fact, the NPP did not tell us that they were going to introduce a National Health Insurance Scheme because it was their tramp card. Then the NPP came to power and introduced the NHIS which saved many lives. Hospitals and clinics became overcrowded on daily basis simply because people then found it convenient to access medical care after paying few Cedis as premium.

Then the NDC wrote in their new manifesto that when voted to power the issue of paying premiums every year to enjoy the NHIS will be a thing of the past because they were going to introduce a new system whereby Ghanaians will pay a one-time premium till they died. Because the scheme had then not covered all Ghanaians, those who did not get money to pay the premium to join the scheme were carried away by the promise of a one-time premium.

Poor Ghanaians who were living in the villages in particular prayed to the Almighty God to get away the NPP regime so that the NDC will come to give them the opportunity to pay a one-time premium which will enable them to also enjoy the NHIS.

Six years after that juicy promise, what are we seeing today in John Mahama’s Ghana as far as the payment of one-time premium is concerned? And when the man is saying Ghanaians are forgetful you do not agree with him! Yes, we are. As for the people of Dagbon they are more forgetful than the rest of Ghanaians.

The NDC wrote in their manifesto that they were going to set up “a truly independent presidential commission” to look into the murder of the Ya Na and bring the perpetrators to justice. After taking over power for more than two years and the people of Dagbon challenged the late President Mills to honour his promise of finding the killers of the Ya Na, the late good old Professor was jolted.

So one dawn he sent fully armed soldiers and policemen to invade Yendi and arrested about 45 innocent souls, carried them to Bimbilla and started screening them. At the end of the day 14 of the suspects, including one septuagenarian were bundled into military vehicle and driven to Accra where they were locked up in various cells.

These poor folks who were all Abudus were put before a court of competent jurisdiction and tried but as fate might have it they were all acquitted and discharged. Then hell broke loose in Tamale where some incensed Andani youth burnt down the NDC regional office.

The late President Mills was on a working visit to the three Northern regions and had to quickly fly outside the Northern Region for his dear life. Later on when things calmed down, Mr. Mills went to the North to promise them that he was going to bring the FBI to investigate the issue.

Ladies and gentlemen from Yendi, permit me to ask this simple question: Where are the FBI operatives? So you see the type of people you are dealing with? They wanted your votes and they had them in abundance and so they seem to be telling you people up there to go to hell if you care. The chickens have come home to roost but the coop is wet. No Havana Cigar today because I have contracted a serious catarrh.