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Opinions of Monday, 12 September 2011

Columnist: Dagadu, Efo Yao

The President’s Lies And The $5 Million Medical Fund

The latest in the series of leaked cables by the whistle blower website wikileaks, which reported no other than the Deputy Minister for Information Hon.(?) Baba Jamal as having told officials of the US embassy among other things, that President Mills is suffering from throat cancer should not come as a surprise. This is because the source in question is already noted for making irresponsibly serious but true comments at any fora only to turn around when the implications of these comments hit him, to say he was only joking.
What is serious here is the fact that he told these US diplomats that our president is a liar. According to Baba Jamal, though our President is very ill and is suffering from throat cancer the First gentleman will swear to the high heavens that it is not so. Baba Jamal in explaining the lying tendency of the president told the US embassy officials “in Ghanaian culture, a politician cannot admit illness so we should not expect President Mills to be forthcoming on this”. Unfortunately, in a meeting with US embassy officials on January 26, 2007, wikileaks reports that our God-fearing president lied through his teeth when the matter came up for discussion.
This frequently re-occurring tendency for President Mills to lie and be hypocritical should be a source of worry to all Ghanaians who desire to see our motherland take its rightful place as a shining star of Africa, and the world for that matter; a position which has been desecrated with lies, hypocrisy and clueless leadership.
The revelation by the Young Patriots that the country spends an estimated $5 million dollars annually on the President’s health should adequately explain the man’s decision to cover up his illness no matter the cost. For how in God’s name could the fox of a Prof. fund such huge medical bills?
“IT LOOKS LIKE”:
After tasting the juice of political office when he was vice president, Professor Mills decided that the best way by which he can lengthen his time on earth having been inflicted by a disease which often attacks heavy smokers and drinkers (I hear he was once one) was to become president of Ghana. This way he would have access to the country’s monies to fund treatment of his health condition.
Word is that the illness reared its ugly head when he was vice president. However, because his treatment was being funded by the state, we missed the signs. When the NDC went into opposition however, the Prof. also went into recession, most likely due to lack of funds. This is what caused the drastic reduction in weight, appearance of the funky specs, blackening of the palms, nasal vocals and unsteady strides.
Having decided that the presidency of Ghana is his saviour Fiifi Mills presided over the most dirty political campaigning in Ghana’s history and after about ten years of spewing lies and insults and six attempts at the presidency Ghanaians decided to give him a try, thereby giving him access to the much needed funds for his medicals.
Though the president still looks frail, it is obvious that his rate of deterioration, though ongoing has slowed down. The explanation for this is the $5 million treatment our president is receiving.
Right from day one, Professor Mills has never had the interest of Ghana at heart. He has been more concerned about his health and how he will enjoy his last days as first gentleman.
Professor Mills was so much in a hurry to take over the reigns of power that he kept on mixing up lines when he was swearing the oath of office at the independence square. So incoherent was he that I have been wondering if the transcribed version of what the president said could be held in a court of law as the presidential oath of office? He was at it again, rushing through his first state of the nation address, pronouncing “economy” as “”ecomini”. Indeed I am told that speech specialists rehearsed with him the pronunciation of Obama, fearing he will refer to the US President as Barrack Osama.
President Mills has been heard screaming at the top of his voice against corruption and the use of insulting language in our body politics. Yet he fails to act decisively when his boys and girls use public monies to buy khebab, pampers, hampers and plane tickets for girlfriends. He fails to act when his boys and girls go on an insulting spree, defaming eminent people whose achievements, they, their parents and leader can never aspire to.
He has been deafeningly quiet as his Ministers and aides continue to put up twin and triple mansions, and ride in the latest and most expensive luxury cars. Only recently, his Minister for Road and Highways took delivery of a brand new BMW, valued at $160,000, which according to the man, will be used to go round and inspect road contracts. The cheek of it.
The greedy bastards around Professor Mills continue to sign “hu hu hu” project and loan contracts only after receiving a rubber stamp from parliament presided over by Hon. Doe –Adjaho, after doing away with the malleable Speaker Joyce-Bamford-Addo and as usual the meek and unfit Prof. stays mute.
Whenever he sees that Ghanaians are closing in on his corrupt practices, he switches over to hypocrisy calling for a second look to be taken at those agreements, for issues the minority have raised to be looked at. Remember he did this in the case of the STX contract and the $3 billion loan.
Then majority leader, Alban Bagbin was one of the first to call for a ministerial reshuffle yet when he was giving the works and housing portfolio and commissioned to make the STX deal a reality, so as to provide staff of national security with decent accommodation, he was only able to manage what looked like a small backyard garden on the Adenta-Dodowa road. He is still at post.
Do you remember the almighty “Dzi Wo Fie Asem” foreign policy Professor Mills announced his government was pursuing? And why not? Anything that had nothing to do with him hitting his $5million dollar mark for medical expenses was irrelevant to him. Like his former boss Jerry Rawlings who took some $5 million from General Abacha to be his PRO and defend his indefensible actions, some are saying that Egya Atta received some contributions from Laurent Gbabgbo towards his medical fund in return for being his PR consultant.
As I write this piece. President Fiifi Mills and his boys and girls cannot lay claim to any major achievement they have chalked since assuming office. They are only struggling to maintain what they came to meet and even there, failure be what? The NHIS is going down, LEAP is going down, nothing new is being added to NYEP, and donor support for the SFP has been withdrawn. Over-crowding in classrooms has escalated as a result of the cancellation of the shift system, classrooms under trees have not reduced, the free school uniform has become a mirage, there is widespread shortage of gas, infrastructure development has ground to a halt, yet the president tells us that “debi debi ebe ye yie”. But we know that, e dey be for them keke. After all the president is getting his annual $5 million and other tokens whilst his greedy bastards protect (?) his office by attempting to distract public attention from their failures, by throwing insults at anyone who dares touch on issues.
In the face of all these, Egya Atta looks on, hiding behind his asomdwe hene and fa ma nyame mask. Why? They don’t lie within his interest. He is thinking about staying quietly in the castle, enjoying the fresh sea breeze(fresh air is good for cancer patients), and being content that his annual $5 million for medical bills will always be intact.
John Atta Mills has found the antidote (?) to his illness: the presidency. He is bent on holding on to it no matter the cost. Before the end of his first year in office, the president was already talking about running for the position in 2012, and even before that can happen the man who claims to have been appointed by God is already talking about handing over in 2017! No wonder he spent GH¢90 million just to file his papers at their campaign center.
President Mills since assuming power has been concentrating his efforts on wrestling the party from Jerry Rawlings, bringing the CPP and PNC into the NDC fold, by keeping mute over actions by undisciplined foot soldiers, judge-threatening party leaders, block-laying mosquitoes, and of course the jokers.

Professor Mills is so engrossed in staying alive that he does not care what happens elsewhere. For him, what is the worth of good drinking water, money in our pockets, food on the table, ability to pay school fees and all that “crap” if he cannot live to enjoy those achievements? He believes in the philosophy of “dzi wo fie asem, and God for us all”!
I doff my hat to the NPP flagbearer, Nana Akuffo-Addo who aptly refers to President Mills as Professor DoLittle. At a press conference in 2007 at the Alisa Hotel, the NPP flagbearer urged Ghanaians to look out for certain qualities in a leader. They included: an impressive record of selfless active work for the people of Ghana, the ability to inspire, mobilize and unite the people of Ghana, the ability to articulate a vision which will transform the economy and modernize our society, and above all a leader who is strong, compassionate, sincere and passionate about Ghana. Fiifi Mills, it is clear does not fall into any of these categories.
As accurately predicted by a top politician on Good Morning Ghana back in 2009, President Mills will go down in political history as Ghana’s first one term President.
I urge him to use the opportunity to serve the country without fear or favour so that he will go down in history as the one term president who did so much for Ghana instead of the one term president who saddled Ghana with a huge medical bill and an unrealistic debt stock caused by accessing nonsensical high commercial interest rate loans.
It is either the president is engrossed in growing his $5million per annum medical fund, or he is plain clueless about how to lead the country.
In this case will “Professor Clueless” fit?

EFO YAO DAGADU
efoyaodagadu@yahoo.com