May President John Mahama Not Forget His Own

It appears the juicy trappings of political power have depleted President John Mahama’s verve to transforming the economy. The NDC and for that matter this government claim to be social democrats and as a result draw massive support from the grass roots. Nevertheless, the yawning economic gap between the rich and the poor in the country squarely brings into sharp focus this question: can the government of the day identify any social intervention programme it has introduced and sustained which is geared toward mitigating or improving the lot of the poor masses who blindly love to vote for the NDC?

Now, let me be blunt. The economic growth of the country has double slowed with occasional hiccups. If previous governments seemingly failed to initiate any concrete policies to reduce poverty drastically for which reason the NPP were shown the exit, why should there be an upsurge in the economic woes of Ghanaians in the tenure of John Mahama? As a social democrat, when President Mahama wakes up from his soothing slumber, I wonder what really consume his thoughts so far as the poor majority are concerned. It is apparent his appointees have morphed into chronic capitalists who have a rapacious taste for expensive western lifestyle.

Now, as a result of the political and economic recklessness in the country, the environs of the business district of Kumasi have become the hub and home of truck pushers and under aged teenage girls who carry loads of goods on their heads for paltry sums. And some of these economic pariahs, I can vouch, do vote massively for the NDC and John Mahama who by virtue of his ethnic and regional orientation is more of a blood brother to these neglected Ghanaians.

Has John Mahama, therefore, forgotten his own? Is there any social intervention or relief to assuage their deplorable plight? I know Ghana’s economic doldrums are strangling every Ghanaian but that of the ‘Kayayeis’ and truck pushers are dehumanising. My recent experience, of course, has engendered this observation. I got to the Kumasi VIP bus terminal one late evening around 10:00 pm from Accra.

After a short walk, I got to the Asafo interchange and beneath the interchange I saw persons strewn on tattered cloths and paper boxes sleeping. Some of them improvised their pans as pillows. Bits and pieces of information I gleaned afterwards revealed these homeless Ghanaians were mostly indigenes from the three Northern Regions.

My fears heightened when I proceeded to Pampaso through Adum to catch a ‘trotro’ to Bantama. In front of some of the shops at Adum, these Kayayeis’s with their kids preferred making the open spaces available their homes. The most pathetic scene was how the kids who closely cuddled to their mothers were crudely exposed to the open gutters that breed mosquitoes.

It would interest you to know that it is in front of these shops that these ‘Kayayeis’ bath their kids and prepare their meals. Most of the kids born to these less privileged individuals, I suppose, hardly have access to quality basic education. And if nothing is done to keep most of these kids in schools, I can without any shred of doubt posit that in the no distant future, the rate of crime in and around Kumasi would be alarming.

What therefore is the role of our President in this matter? The earlier he introduces sustainable and broad social intervention policies, the better it will be for these suffering masses. One of such policies in a short term is the construction of hostels to accommodate them. This initiative, if my memory serves me right, was mooted and harped greatly during the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections by Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo. Why can’t a government that prides itself as representing the supreme interest of the poor do them that favour of constructing decent accommodations for those it garners most of its votes from?

In the long term, the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) that is now fraught with corruption and crude clandestine activities must be sanitised and refocused to reduce poverty and create sustainable job opportunities. There should not be a repetition of the botched ‘akonfem’ and tree planting fiascos which, of course, drained the country’s coffers.

Why should a group of northerner thwart their own development? Those who constitute the board of SADA and those in charge of ensuring the smooth operation of the programmes inherent in SADA are mostly Northerners not Asantes or Fantes. But sadly, per the rot associated with SADA, one can only surmise that these individuals are rather pursuing their own interests other than those they are to ensure their welfare.

Moreover, those needless policy branches under GYEEDA that are sapping the finances of the nation must be pruned. I have never heard or seen any of GYEEDA’s initiatives specifically designed for these poor porters and truck pushers. Beyond that, the government must look into factors that prop up the canker of young girls and boys flocking from the three northern regions in search of non existing jobs down south. The necessary measures need to be put in place to stem that unusual tide. Could there be a syndicate ‘puppeting’ this rural urban drift?

Just as the onus lies on Africans to develop Africa, so do I maintain that it will principally take northerners to develop the three northern regions. And thankfully enough, the President and most of his key ministers are northerners. I am not by this suggesting that the President should neglect the other regions. Even if the President and his fellow financially endowed ministers and appointees who are of northern descent are refusing to do what are expected of them, there are well educated and financially sound northerners who can set that pace.

The President will incur the wrath of Ghanaians if at the end of his tenure he fails to deliver quality development to the people of Ghana. However, his own will never forgive him if he fails to develop his own backyard where poverty is prevalent.

SOURCE: OKOFO DARTEY SAMUEL

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