Promises on campaign platforms with the sole intention of hoodwinking the masses into believing that “A Daniel has come to judgement” is as good as saying: “Atta Mills will drastically reduce the prices of petroleum products”.
This is the situation Ghanaians now find themselves in after making that costly mistake of voting back into power the NDC whose President is virtually being held hostage by a gang of desperados who believe that, nobody, but themselves should dictate the tune to be played. In other words, they have arrogated unto themselves, the course the country, albeit, the President should chart. Today, I have decided to tackle an aspect in the founder of the NDC, Ex President Rawlings outbursts and frustrations which led him to refer to some members of the Mills administration as ‘greedy bastards’. But who are these greedy bastards? The Chairman did not give a clue; neither did Bagbin, Nyaunu and many other top gurus in the party.
Having followed and analyzed the speeches of the leader and founder of the NDC for a long time, I can confidently tell you who these greedy bastards are. They are easily noticeable and are the powers behind Mills presidency. Forget the fact that a few years ago, they had thrown their full weight behind the Rawlings presidency and acted as if their very existence depended on the success of his regime. But now that the pendulum has swung round, they are playing Peter’s role by denying their founder at every forum. Yes, friends today, enemies tomorrow. For he who pays the piper dictates the tune. Such is the world and I do not blame such people. After all, man must ‘wack’. The National Security Advisor, Colonel Gbevlo Lartey, the Minister of Defence, Lt. Gen. Joseph Henry Smith and the Chief of the Defence Staff, Major General Peter Augustine Blay qualify to be on top of the list of those greedy bastards judging by the founder’s prescription.
What did the NDC say during their campaign? It made the prosecution of the ‘murderers’ of Issa Mobilla the number one priority. This was captured in their manifesto. But nearly a year after being in power, the party has disappointed its teeming supporters and Ghanaians with the shoddy handling of the “Issa Mobilla’s show”.
It will be recalled that the National Security Co-coordinator had chosen to engage in acts which were detrimental to the well being of Ghanaians by resorting to seizures of vehicles belonging to hard-working Ghanaians and foreigners alike. This was under the guise of retrieving vehicles from members of the previous administration. These quixotic acts reached a crescendo when the security capo had the vehicles of the immediate flagbearrer of the NPP and the then Managing Director of Barclays Bank snatched in a commando style operation reminiscent of Aneni’s armed robbery exploits in the old Delta State of Nigeria. The irony of the whole episode is that Colonel Gbevlo- Lartey chose to engage in acts which were at variance to his continuous stay in office as National Security Co-coordinator. Chasing and seizure of cars, even though were necessary, they were not captured by the party’s manifesto. But the arrest and prosecution of Issah Mobilla’s killers were enshrined in the party’s manifesto. But when it came to the main reason where he was expected to put his expertise into use, he was found wanting.
The escape of Private Seth Goka: L et it be known tor all who care for justice and truth in this country that the escape came during the tenure of the NDC. And so, you can see the frustration and anger of the founder of the party, ex- President, Rawlings. Since the NDC had made it a campaign issue and even put it in their manifesto, one would have expected that, immediately after assuming the reigns of power, the party would, effect the arrest of perpetrators’ of that dastardly act and commence their prosecution in the court of law. The damage control defence put up by the Armed Forces Public Relations Department led by Colonel Nibo that Seth Goka and his “two partners in crime” were involved in a joint military cum police patrols to stem the tide of armed robbery in the capital is not tenable and could only be regarded as “medicine after death”.
How could the military authorities give arms to soldiers they claimed had murdered an unarmed civilian placed in their custody? Assuming that the decision to use the three military personnel on patrol duties was initiated by the previous administration, couldn’t the Mills administration and the military hierarchy have reversed this seemingly anomaly?
The Questions and more Posers: If I may ask, when Seth Goka did not return to base, what efforts did the military high command initiate to alert the public that a notorious “criminal” and “murderer” had escaped. I would want to be enlightened on this. If one is declared AWOL is the declaration made public? What efforts have the Military High Command as well as the Defence Minister and the National Security Co-ordinator made to fish or smoke out this supposedly “dangerous criminal”. So they want to tell us that, if the matter had not gone to court, the public wouldn’t have known of the escape. This incident happened around the 16th of March, 2009 or thereabout and it was only about two weeks ago that we heard about this escape. Why this long lapse of time? Were there attempts made to cover up the escape? Was there any official connivance at his escape? What happened to the other two? What about the gun and ammunition issued to Seth Goka when he joined the military/Police patrol team on the night of his escape? Were they retired? When was a report of his disappearance reported to the appropriate authorities?
I just don’t want to think that there is more to this disappearance than that meets the eye. And of course, tongues are wagging and people are saying the “unsayables” and thinking the “unthinkable”. We should get to the root of this disappearance. How did Goka escape from the barracks? As a man on the “wanted list” couldn’t a dragnet have been placed around his person and his residence? A Presidential Commission/Committee is a Must : In line with the President penchant for establishing committees to investigate almost everything that affects our nationhood, including a committee to come up with appropriate remuneration for the victorious Black Satellite Football team, I suggest the setting up of a Presidential Committee to investigate the this great and “daring” escape. I also suggest the deliberations of such a committee be televised/telecast life. This must be done to enable the public to judge for themselves whether there were any attempts made to cover up that escape. Remember President Nixon and the Watergate scandal?
Conclusion : Gbevlo Lartey, John Henry Smith and Pater Augustine Blay have captured my attention in this write-up as the firsts on the list of Greedy Bastards who obviously belong to the Team B category because they by their act or inaction betrayed the trust of the masses by allowing a person, who, obviously was a security risk to escape from their hands. What is their defence? Was if negligence or deliberately turning their backs when they knew the attempt was about to be made? Did they lack the expertise to deal with the situation at hand? Was Seth Goka just too damn clever for them or it was simply incompetence on the part of the security capos?
The next series will capture the likes of Kwame Pianim, Dr so so and so, Mrs. Fairness and many others. Infact the list is inexhaustible. Find out why they qualify to be on the writer’s list;
But it is not going to be all that gloomy for the NDC. There are many of Mills appointees who would have met the criteria or standard set up by ex-President Rawlings. Just wait until the list comes out. But for now, our focus has been on those “unfortunate victims” at the Defence and Security sectors. The questions that must be agitating your mind and that of other Ghanaians is, “why did they do what they did?”
Thankfully, the God Father is not dead but alive and so I shall definitely return.
Daniel Danquah Damptey
E-mail Address : - Daniel [email protected]