"I Will Resign If..."-Kofi Wayo

The founder and leader of the United Renaissance Party (URP) and businessman, Charles Kofi Wayo, popularly known as ‘Chuck’ has disclosed that he would resign from the Coalition he entered into with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) prior to the 2008 elections should the government fail to deliver on the campaign promises made to Ghanaians by August 4, 2010.

Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana programme recently, Mr. Wayo blamed the elites of this country as having done very little to alleviate the plights and sufferings of majority of the people of this country but used the opportunity to enrich themselves. He did not mince words in pointing out that the leaders of this country have been repeating the same old things we began with as a country as that has not helped in the developmental efforts of this country.

“We are still doing the same things that brought Rawlings to power. Rawlings was a reformer but he was destroyed by the elites who surrounded him”, he retorted.

Mr. Wayo bemoaned the appalling standards of living of the ordinary men and women who have in diverse ways contributed their quota towards national development. He said, “Farmers don’t get pension, the taxi drivers, traders, fishermen, the cripple do not get help from the State.”

He however commended the leadership style of President Evans Atta Mills and mentioned the fact that he was not corrupt. Mr. Wayo stated, “President Mills gave off his per diem for the benefit of the man on the street and wants his Ministers to do the same. Prof. Mill is more ethical and humble.”

The URP leader was full of praise for His Excellency Prof. Mills and stressed that once the head was clean, the bottom would be cleaned up in no time. “I am happy with his intentions, he has no Giselle behind him and I see great hope for the future, Prof. is a gradualist but quite tough. He has shown the intent of fighting corruption”, he remarked.

Touching on the problems of confronting the energy sector, Chuck Wayo said the place had been turned into an arena of corruption when he and his group were appointed by the President to the board and that they were trying to unravel the damage at the Energy Ministry and was hopeful that things were going to get well and better very soon.

Presenting his thought on the 2010 budget that was presented to Parliament by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning about two weeks ago, Mr. Wayo noted that our economy has been run in the colonial mentality for the past 52 years and that it was time “we resisted the Breton Woods Institutions”.

He said our country was fifteen times richer than England and yet we are stucked in abject poverty notwithstanding the fact that we sat on abundant resources but have allowed ourselves to be overwhelmed by external actors to cause serious damage to us.

Mr. Wayo appealed to the President to take very good care of the security agencies notably the police, army among others as our very existence as a nation-state depends greatly to them. He also asked for better remuneration for ordinary workers in the country for they have suffered for far too long.