The enemies are within, Mr president

I do not really get the substance or logic underpinning President John Mahama’s assertion that doomsayers nearly crashed the economy because they among other things forecasted the cedi depreciating to as low as 10 cedis to 1 dollar. (See: Doomsayers nearly Crashed Economy But Worse is over- Prez Mahama, 24th October, 2014) The president’s propagandist posturing in this matter clearly points to the falsehood that doomsayers are to blame somewhat for the cedi’s poor performance against the dollar. It should be noted that the tongues of doomsayers, if there are any, do not lick the value of a currency. It is rather a pervasive poor management of the economy coupled with crass corruption in both public and private sectors of the economy that culminates into the depreciation of any currency in the world and the cedi is no exception. The president in his usual zest and best refused to narrate to his audience at the said meeting how the rate of industrial growth has dwindled in the country leading to the massive importation of rice, flour, dairy products, cooking oil and even toothpicks. Well, as it is expected of a president whose political stock is solidly steeped in propaganda, he once again became dump on the chain of scandals and corrupt activities that were created and executed by his appointees and members of his government. Did he give the total and accurate amount of money that the WATERVILLE, SADA, GYEEDA, SUBAH, the NSS scandals among others have consumed? Without mincing words, Chairman Rawlings was apt in his view when he said there were and there still are ‘greedy bastards’ and ‘babies with sharp teeth’ who are derailing the gains the country has harnessed over the years through the wanton stealing of state funds. Taking a cue from the preceding observation, maybe I am right in remarking that the country has been or is being milked dry of the needed revenue both foreign and local to stabilise the cedi in its downward spiral. The knee jerk measure introduced by the Bank of Ghana to limit the withdrawal of dollars by dollar account holders succeeded in encouraging those who had dollars to shun depositing them in their dollar accounts. Meanwhile, the government did little if nothing to improve the flow of dollars into the economy as the country’s imports outstripped exports. Presently, are the proceeds from the cocoa syndicated loan and the third Eurobond that was issued enough to propel the cedi from stabilisation mode to appreciation mode? Now, we are told time without number that the cedi has stabilised in its depreciation. I trust that corruption will also stabilise and unabatedly depreciate further. In this regard, the perceived doomsayers are highly insignificant in the value depreciation of the cedi. It will be in the interest of the president to remind himself that investors are not scared away by the empty noises of perceived doomsayers. Rather, they are moved to invest due to the positive prevailing economic conditions and the appropriate and viable measures that are put in place to assure investors of good returns on their investments. Hence, if donors and investors are not pouring in foreign currency to mitigate capital flight, then, it behoves the government to put its house in order and not cheaply blame opposition figures who are willy-nilly bound to ask the government to be accountable. The president, therefore, must see to it that those vultures and fleas that are tearing the flesh and sucking the blood of the country and pompously occupying privileged positions in his government are shown the exit. They are the enemies of the country. They are the doomsayers and harbingers of poverty whose selfish acts are depriving the country of the funds needed to develop the country. But sadly, that seems not to be the case. Persons who have draped the country with shame have been maintained, reassigned or given a seat at the seat of the presidency. Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, under whose watch Ghana became a subject for international ridicule during the 2014 world cup, is still nestling at the Flagstaff House. Interestingly, this is the same refurbished Flagstaff House that Mr Asiedu Nketiah, the General Secretary of the NDC, in his antagonistic stupor described as a hencoop. By the way, is his company still moulding and selling blocks at a cheaper rate to the Bui dam contractors? The president’s inactivity and indecision have had a comatose effect on the economy and his apparatchiks. As a result, government appointees have the stinking temerity to steal and approve bogus contracts without any fear of jail term. Mr Abuga Pele, Mr Alhaji Alhassan Imoro (former boss of the NSS), Mr Alfred Woyome among others have stolen and dissipated the nation’s funds which are yet to be refunded. That is not all, members of the National Petroleum Authority board that approved huge sums of money that could have been used to build an office complex but were channelled to rent an office space at East Legon, where are they now? Are they still at post, reassigned or they have been asked to resign? Mrs Lauretta Vivian Lamptey, the CHRAJ boss who was recently embroiled in $203,500 rent scandal, is still at post with the president apparently loudly silent on this matter. It is evident that the enemies and doom-mongers of the country are not necessarily the opposition elements. The dissenting voices of the opposition cannot add or reduce the value of the cedi as early on stated. Those voices are alternate views for good governance. The worst that perceived doomsayers can do is to make noise and the best the government can do is to prevent corruption and not be seen to cure it. Other retrogressive activities of appointees and policies that stagnate the development of the country must be replaced with progressive nationalistic policies. AUTHOR’S NAME: OKOFO-DARTEY SAMUEL E-MAIL: sodesq2000@yahoo.com