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Opinions of Wednesday, 29 September 2010

Columnist: Transient Justice

Why the NPP should not come back to power….

I was thinking about what precisely the NPP would have to offer Ghanaians if they were given the opportunity to govern. I pondered for a few minutes but, could not think of one positive thing they could achieve that Atta Mills could not achieve…Admittedly, Atta Mills failed in his first 2 years he did nothing on water, nothing on electricity, nothing on sanitation etc etc. He was a disgrace and, my previous articles will attest to this. The real question is, would the NPP have done better?

The NPP created many nice programs for poor Ghanaians these included the school feeding program, NHIS etc etc. These efforts were great and, all Ghanaians should commend Kufuor for a job well done. Ghana made some nice progress under the NPP and, only a political hack would deny that. The real question is, can the NPP take us to the next level?

In my estimation Atta Mills is the man to lead us at this moment. His Nkrumahist ideology is precisely what we need right now. Namely, under the NPP we seemed to have adopted economic ideologies which put us in the position to have to sell everything… This was clearly manifested in things like the Vodafone deal which was done in order to balance the budget… Balancing the budget is important but, I still think it was disgracefully pathetic that we had to sell part of our heritage to do it… It is this type of ideology that causes me to fear bringing the NPP back….

The politicians in the NPP have a unique brand of arrogant capitalism which Ghana does not need at this time… This capitalism involves creating a façade of opulence while the reality is quite the opposite… In saying this I am not indicating that members of the NDC are saints! On the contrary they are just as arrogant but, AT THE TOP of the Current NDC administration that attitude does not exist… That is to say, Mills, Mahama and Duffour do not hold this attitude. All three men are “economically” humble and, they seem to really have Ghana’s full interest at heart… The rest are thieves and thugs who seek to break Ghana’s law to fulfill an evil, hateful, selfish agenda but, at the very top there is integrity, honor, and a sense of dignity!

Thus, in the presence of oil and other wealth the last thing I would want is a party like the NPP who are even capable of selling even the miniscule percentage of oil we currently get…. That impression was created for me by the Vodaphone deal etc etc. Nothing about the NPP suggests to me their desire to push Ghana from Neocolonialism. Their leader Nana may in fact be the least Neocolonially minded individual in the NPP but, the party as a whole because of a terrible ideology do not have the capability of pushing Ghana forward rapidly.

More disturbing is the fact that nothing in the NPP’s 8 years suggested to me that they believe in taking the tough choices and, living frugally by cutting some wasteful spending.

After all, this is a party that called critics who asked for more accountability “doom mongerers” and, when asked to cut frivolous spending called the tax payers “individuals” with “poverty mentality”….

Dr. Mills has shown me that he is a tad bit different than the Neocolonial minded leaders we have had after Nkrumah till now… This was show to me by how he handled the Oil scenario with Exxon and Kosmos and, how he looked to the East to create rapid development…

In saying this I am not indicating that I am completely happy with deals like the STX deal… but, to add 250,000 houses to the system is a bold idea. That is, 250,000 houses will equal over 1 million people having access to better homes which will mean they will give up their inadequate homes to those who may be living in even worse homes(Mud huts etc etc) Thus, this will benefit a lot more than 1 million people… The deal could be better but, it is better to have this deal than to continue with the status quo. Many Neocolonial forces will try to stop that deal in the same way Niger’s deal with the East was stopped by Neocolonial forces there and, the people got nothing to replace it and are thus still begging the French in 2010 for every facet of development…

With regard to Dr. Mills current trip to China… I think the decision was a good one. Ghana must look out for its interest and, when I look at all the options available this seems to be the one which is in our interest most. I hope for transparency and, will be demanding it of the administration as a citizen but, this initial step gets the ball rolling which is exciting for all Ghanaians….

Overall, with all the exciting development going on, I don’t think it’s safe to bring the NPP back. They may do alright but, it may be 2007-2008 all over again and, nobody wants that.

Penname: Transient Justice