Investigative journalist Manasseh Awuni Azure is not impressed with the performance of President Akufo-Addo three years after assumption of office, opining that “Trusting this government is worse than investing in Menzgold” - a company that has been struggling to pay locked up funds of customers.
The journalist in a Facebook post, Tuesday, recalls how he had higher hopes in the Akufo-Addo-led government following some moves made by the president in the early stage of his reign which was an indication he was poised to deliver on his mandate and not repeat mistakes his predecessor John Mahama made.
He seems to have been ‘scammed’ by the posture of the president after what he says is a below par performance, making him gnash his teeth.
“I wrote a long article praising President Akufo-Addo when he declared war on galamsey. In my view, it was genuine. I wrote a long article praising the president when he appointed Martin Amidu as Special Prosecutor,” he says.
“I praised the Attorney-General and the government for their fight against corruption when the A-G ordered the police CID to investigate into the Robbing the Assemblies story even before I finished the series. In 2017, I was optimistic. Today, I look back and realise that trusting this government is worse than investing in Menzgold. Even they could not resist the temptation to continue the SADA (NDA) and GYEEDA (YEA) scandals they used as their campaign message in 2016. I'm just beginning to realise that even the soap I got instead of the smart phone I paid for is fake. Yes, fake soap.”
It is not the first time Manasseh has expressed disappointment in the government. In December last year, he posited that Akufo-Addo’s fight against corruption was unsatisfactory.
“Three years later, I am disappointed in the alternative. The ‘incorruptible and no-nonsense’ personality of Akufo-Addo turned out to be a well-packaged lie. That personality turned out to be a poisonous bait some of us swallowed hook, line, sinker and rod, without questioning because we were too hungry for change,” portions of his write-up read, although he emphasized he had no regrets voting John Mahama out.
Prior to that, the journalist had in September called out Akufo-Addo on his efforts to fight corruption. Mr. Awuni sought to find out how the president was boldly able to cite scandals including the World Cup, GYEEDA, SADA, DVLA and the Metro Mass Branding sagas as adequate basis to conclude that enough action was not taken by Mr. Mahama to fight the canker that is increasingly becoming worrying.
He agreed undoubtedly with the president’s assertion that more had to be done by the previous government to deal with the cases of corruption that emerged during their tenure but argued that if Akufo-Addo, even with actions including the imprisonment of two indicted persons - Abuga Pele and Philip Assibit (both who were involved in the GHC4.1 million GYEEDA scandal) -; cancellation of contracts and introduction of the YEA Act, could tag Mahama’s corruption fight as a ‘sham’, he should be prepared and willing to accept the verdict of Ghanaians on his fight.
“I agree with President Akufo-Addo's assertion that more had to be done in the GYEEDA case, but if he was bold to call Mahama's fight against corruption was a sham even with the above actions, then he should not take offence when Ghanaians think his efforts in fighting corruption are shambolic”.
‘4 more for Nana’
President Akufo-Addo while addressing a large crowd of New Patriotic Party (NPP) supporters at the forecourt of the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre in Accra to climax the national delegates conference of the party on December 22, 2018, appealed to Ghanaians to give him four more years to enable him to continue the good work he has begun.
He said three years of his administration had seen a lot of developments, for which reason he was hopeful that Ghanaians would retain the NPP in power when the country goes to the polls in December 2020.
“What I have seen, which encourages me, is the strong support of the Ghanaian people for the work that we have done. All over the country, everywhere that I go, I am being met by large crowds of enthusiastic people. They are the one who began the cry: “four more for Nana”.
“The transformation that the people of Ghana looking for cannot take place without the NPP in office. Our party is the only party capable of engineering and masterminding the transformation of Ghana to a prosperous and forward-looking country and economy,” Akufo-Addo remarked.
Manasseh Awuni Azure