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Opinions of Sunday, 27 November 2011

Columnist: The Herald

Sammy Awuku’s Insanity To Run Mills Out Of Office

When you think you have seen it all—including the most bizarre—in the caricature land, which Ghana is, something silly and bizarre quickly crops up in or about the place or its conscience-deficient minders in the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

I often wonder, why the lion is recognised as the king in the animal world, while the elephant is hardly ever mentioned as a worthy contender to the title in many countries and cultures.

Yet the NPP) has chosen the big-for-nothing elephant which never forgets anything but merely relies on its size and weight as a weapon to intimidate other animals.

Rational and reasonable Ghanaians should be scared to death about the recent pronouncement made by Sammy "Dito dito" Awuku, a Deputy Communication Director of the NPP that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government led by John Evans Atta Mills has only succeeded in creating jobs in three areas… sakawa, armed robbery and prostitution.

“The NDC government had done nothing to create employment for the youth but has expanded Sakawa, Armed Robbery and Prostitution: that is not our destiny as a country take a walk along the streets… they have exposed the Ghanaian youth to an expansion of Armed Robbery on our highways, Sakawa and Prostitution,” Sammy Awuku said.

This morbid craze to throw out the baby with the bath water, by the NPP in their conspiracy to run President Mills out of office by simply giving his dog a bad name just to hang it, as I clearly intend to show in this article, is driving me and well meaning Ghanaians nuts.

The way I see it, it is either that Sammy Awuku had nothing to say when he appeared on Adom FM’s flagship programme “Dwaso Nsem,” hosted by Adakabre Frimpong Manso, or he is simply not mature enough to contribute to such an important discussion about the budget that the Finance Minister, Dr. Kwabena Dufour presented to Parliament last Wednesday 16-11-2011.

A budget statement is a serious document, which outlines government’s commitment in terms of income and expenditure for a particular fiscal year, and must not be left for minors and political neophytes like Sammy Awuku who behaves like a Zombie, want to tamper with.

Armed robbery and prostitution, although unpalatable and unavoidable is an age old problem that have been with mankind since creation, even the most advance and developed countries are battling with this two societal problems.

We must all join hands to commend the Inspector General of Police and his gallant men for a job well done.

They have exemplified themselves quite creditably this year, their sense of service and dedication is high and it is something we should all be proud of.

Sakawa, as far as I am concerned, became pronounced and rampant in this country during the eight years rule of ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor, who did nothing to uplift the living standards of the people of this country, except his family and his cronies who have all suddenly became rich, because Ghanaians said so.

Why? We all sat back kept quiet and watched, while our collective till is being shared by a few privileged people. But since I don’t want to sound as gullible and irrational as Sammy Awuku, I would not want to give any political connotations to these crimes that continue to affect the moral fibre of our people.

Armed robbers don’t attack by faces; they do that regardless of who is involved, why must we give this too political coloration, when crime as we know it does not come in NDC or NPP colors.

I am always saddened when I travel around Accra and see our sisters and daughters line up and sell their bodies for money. As the Bible says our bodies are the temple of God. May be Sammy is blessed and must be thankful to God that a relative of his is not selling her body to make ends meet.

We must collectively, regardless of where we belong, to come together and strive to end this menace, instead of this childish and unfortunate statement all in the name of wanting power.

Our democracy, since the introduction of the Fourth Republican Constitution in 1992 is a work in progress, it is a tottering democracy, and we must all jealously guard it, rather than talking loosely because of freedom of speech. Every day when we wake up we strive for new things and ideals to help in the forward march of this dear nation towards prosperity.

I was so sad reading on the internet the fact that the total gross domestic product (GDP) of Brazil is bigger than the whole of Africa, sad indeed.

Our economy is dependent on donor support; we are still grappling to maintain the superfluous and artificial middle-income status that we attained in 2006.

We are still at the primary level of production and so instead of manufacturing we have become a consumer of what has been produced elsewhere. By not producing what we consume, what we are doing is creating employment elsewhere. And here China is the biggest beneficiary.

Graduate unemployment and general unemployment has become a problem because our manufacturing sector is not doing well at all. We have not tapped into our selves to bring out the best in all of us.

Secondly, there is an inflation of qualification; especially first degree. Day in and day out new private tertiary institutions are springing up, we are not e a country that monitors the training of students to prepare them not to only go to school, get a degree and look for job, but rather use he’s degree or diploma to create jobs, or if you may choose, education that is entrepreneurially- based.

The Atta Mills – led government has only being in power for three years, and the problems of this country cannot be laid on his shoulders.

A survey by infantile Sammy Awuku and his NPP would have revealed that majority of the Unemployed Graduate left school when ex-President Kufuor was in office.

He should show me how many factories they (NPP) established apart from the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) which was used as job for the boys for their party supporters. We need serious minded people to profess solutions to move this country forward, not this cheap politics and propaganda crap which is not going to win them any votes, anyway.

Listening to people like Sammy Awuku, and my heart bleeds for the future of this country; this is a leader of tomorrow speaking? We have a long way to go.

People have said that the old guards must give way to the young ones, as we are the future of this country, but it is becoming clear that we are not ready.

Sammy Awuku is fast establishing himself as a nuisance and a non-entity on the air-waves. I am not surprised because it is the stock in trade of the NPP; yes, he creates a problem where there is none.

The way I see Sammy Awuku and the NPP is that they, are dazed by the good policies and the economic paradigm contained in the 2012 budget, so the best way to still remain relevant and for their voices to be heard is to run the government down.

If not, these are a group of people who claim they love Ghana more than everybody.

Gradually, their shallow minds are being exposed anytime they are engaged in a serious debate. Like a Chinese proverb says the first to throw blows has run-out of ideas, they will beat a retreat and begin insulting and throwing tantrums, without substance.

If you doubt me, listen to Nana Akomea, John Kumah, Gabby Asare Otchere Darko, Ursula Owusu, the Vuvuzela woman, Sammy Awuku etc.

The evidence is in and it is unequivocal. I will be blunt. Your politics have failed, and President Atta Mills is flying high.

It is unfortunate, to say the least that the 1992 Constitution has provided space for non-starters like these to pollute the air with the kind of miasma that is carcinogenic.