Opinions of Tuesday, 17 January 2023

Columnist: Joel Savage

Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Senior Advisor to the president, must resign; he is a factor in Akufo-Addo's failure

Yaw Osafo-Maafo is a former Senior Advisor to the President Yaw Osafo-Maafo is a former Senior Advisor to the President

Senior Advisor Yaw Osafo-Maafo works for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. One of his brief biographies states that he was born in 1942, making him 80 years old. Readers interested in reading about many politicians' well-written biography, would conclude that they are intelligent and have a good education, yet these biographies are useless, just as exactly as the people they represent.

Africa as a whole has not advanced because, in addition to corruption, many politicians are appointed to positions for which they are unqualified, making it impossible for them to exhibit any progress. If Osafo-Maafo is the president's top advisor, why should he be working for the nation and receiving a monthly salary when the president he has been advising has failed miserably?

I, Joel Savage, even though I am a common writer, I worth more than Osafo-Maafo, since everything I said about Akufo Addo regarding the country's governance and the tragedy that can potentially befall the country has come to pass, despite all the attacks and insults leveled at me more than any ModernGhana columnist. The failure of Akufo Akufo as president, therefore; exonerates me.

There are numerous academics and researchers in Ghana, but no one is interested in examining and evaluating the politicians chosen to hold public office. Any concerned and conscientious person should have objected to Osafo-appointment Maafo because he was a politician who served in the NPP government under former president John Kufuor but was sacked due to corruption.

What do Akufo Addo and Ghanaians expect from someone like Osafo-Maafo, who was fired by the previous president of the NPP? “The worst mistake the NPP made was trusting and selecting Akufo Addo as their presidential candidate,” was an article I wrote on February 17, 2022. I emphasized that since leadership plays a crucial role in everything, Akufo Addo failed because he is not an effective leader.

When that article was published, the only comment I had was "Joel Savage, you are an unprecedented bloody full stupid idiot!" But now that the dust has settled, those true idiots can see who among them is smart. Although there has been a reduction in reading due to "Youtube," I can understand why many columnists are having trouble getting readers while I still have thousands of readers.

Considering everything I said would occur, including widespread corruption, careless spending, and poor economic management, I could have been the president's better counsel without salary, than Osafo-Maafo. Today, everyone, including NPP politicians, is experiencing difficulties.

My witness is Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the minister of information. I penned a special essay begging him to persuade Akufo Addo to take over the NDC government's unfinished projects, but nothing worthwhile came of it.

Would any knowledgeable Ghanaian agree with me that Akufo Addo would have scored higher if he had swallowed his foolish pride and taken on the abandoned projects? This president has been a sod-cutting marathon, but no projects are in the works. Even after destroying a hospital without replacing it, he continues to stir up controversy with "Agenda 111." Is it typical?

There are still some fools in the party talking about breaking the eighth cycle even though this president and his relative Ken Ofori-Atta have irreparably damaged the nation. I agree with them because Ghanaians are resilient to adversity. They also support a government that pledges to lower taxes but instead introduced new taxes, such as the E-Levy, to destroy the livelihoods of ordinary Ghanaians who have been denied access to better living conditions and jobs.

They will undoubtedly end the eighth cycle because Ghanaians enjoy bearing the weight of inept leaders who have burdened the nation with debts without holding them accountable. If Ghana, one of the most resource-rich nations in West Africa, couldn't increase its earnings from cocoa, bauxite, gold, oil, manganese, etc., or the NPP couldn't utilize them, then an intelligent Ghanaian would need to ask what transformation Ghana could experience if the IMF provided financial support under the NPP?

Mr. Daniel Yaw Domelevo, the former auditor general, must retire because, in Akufo Addo's opinion, the time has come for him to go on pension, unlike Osafo-Maafo, who is 80 years old, and Maxwell Kofi Jumah, the director of GIHOC, who is almost 72 years old and whose son is married to one of the president's daughters. So, who is the president lying to? Akufo Addo loves corruption so much that he will fight anybody who stands in his path as a threat to avoid being investigated.

He forced Mr. Daniel Domelevo into retirement because he fears he will be investigated. Consider the dishonest judges he chose to protect him, such as Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah. Ghanaians shouldn't be shocked by his failures because those who are that crafty and crooked never succeed and, to be honest, none of the NPP politicians who are running for president have a solution to reverse the current economic and financial disaster because they are a part of this disastrous administration.

The fact that Akufo Addo, despite his advanced age, is unwilling to change his dishonest and cunning behavior or acknowledge that his corruptible character contributed to his downfall because he is a man devoid of emotion, conscience, shame, and integrity, hurts me. Instead, he continues to attribute Ghana's problems to OVID and the Russia-Ukraine war. What do Ghanaians expect from such a leader and those running for president from the NPP government?

Yaw Osafo-Maafo is a disgraced politician, who is unworthy of funding from the general public. He is useless, which is why Kufour fired him, but together with Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah, Charles Bissue, Paul Adom Otchere, Eugene Arhin, and the late Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie - Sir John, Akufo-Addo, who also enjoys corruption kept them in his administration. Why would any intelligent Ghanaian entertain such an incompetent shameless politician who put up a billboard to celebrate his 80th birthday? He is a waste of resources for the country.