Students of political science in the nation’s university are likely to take on a new expression in their lingua franca. The expression, which I foresee, would be ‘to pull an Atta Mills’.
What is the meaning of the expression ‘to pull an Atta Mills”? The expression would stand for people, particularly politicians who say one thing and do something completely other.
It would stand for inconsistency and double-dealing. It would stand for being two faced on issues. Politicians across board do this but that of our President and his government is too much.
When he was swearing in as the President of Ghana, President Professor John Evans Atta Mills said he would endeavor to be a President for all Ghanaians.
It was not long after that that his friends in the NDC were chasing his political opponents (and in some cases even members of the NDC) all over the place, harassing and intimidating them.
Today, there are millions of Ghanaians who feel particularly unGhanaian whilst the President looked on. That is pulling an Atta Mills. Days after it came out that the former President John Kufour was going to occupy a state building as an office, it emerged that he had sought for, and received the permission from President Atta Mills, through his Aide Mr. Paul Victor Obeng, to occupy that building. Since then, Kufour has been chased out of the building. That is pulling an Atta Mills.
When he was campaigning for power, President Atta Mills consistently belabored the fact that Ghanaians were suffering. He said that Ghanaians were over taxed and that fuel prices were abnormally high. Since then, he has increased fuel prices.
That, my brothers and sisters, is pulling an Atta Mills.
In the Manifesto of the NDC for the 2008 elections, the Manifesto for a Better Ghana, the party and Professor Atta Mills promised that they would create a lean government. They promised that they would appoint forty percent of appointees from our women folk. They promised to introduce and implement a comprehensive set of tax policies to ensure that the Ghanaian is relieved. Again, Atta Mills failed to live up to this promise! Folks another pulling an Atta Mills. But for me, the greatest of these gimmicks I have seen in spite of the constant and consistent claims by Professor Atta Mills that this country was broke, it emerged that he had splurged 3.6 billion old Ghana cedis on members of his transition team.
That, folks, is pulling an Atta Mills of Herculean proportions! Clearly, our President Associate Professor Atta Mills is a man who is an expert at saying one thing and doing something completely different. He thrives on deceit and lies, and for me, this behaviour has a great potential of completely undermining the integrity of our politics and politicians. The level of hypocrisy that we are witnessing in presidential terms is probably unprecedented in the history of this country. Our President has refused to receive per diem with the claim that he does not need it. At the same time, he is refusing to travel much, even when it is required to drum up investment, because he says that Ghana is broke and he needs to cut down cost.
Then it emerges, like a bad dream, that he spent 3.6 billion old cedis on members of his transition team.
When I heard of this matter, my body went cold with shock. I could not understand and I could not believe that our President could be that capricious or I should add the other one! I mean, this is a government that has been shouting at the rooftops that this nation is broke. In this direction, it has even increased fuel prices by a cumulative percentage of 40%, which is causing hardship in many homes across the nation, particularly for the rural poor.
So I wonder how we are going to justify the payment of three billion six hundred thousand cedis to our folks in the village?
The level of hypocrisy that the Atta Mills Administration represents is truly mind-boggling, and leads one to wonder whether such dishonesty is acceptable in governance.