President Akufo-Addo
By: Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
I did not give much thought or credence to the Enquirer story captioned “Missing Cars Saga: Invincible Forces Stole 14 Land Cruisers – Sources” (Ghanaweb.com 2/13/17), because the Enquirer is notorious for blindly toeing the National Democratic Congress’ party line. If memory serves yours truly accurately, its editor once smeared himself with tomato juice and falsely claimed to have been mauled by some goons alleged to be loyal to then-President John Agyekum-Kufuor’s New Patriotic Party (NPP). Staunchly backed by one of the Ahwoi Brothers, widely alleged to be the owner of that rag, the Enquirer’s editor was literally given a judicial slap on the wrist and let go.
Nevertheless, I also find it quite credible that some operatives of the now-ruling New Patriotic Party would take advantage of the chaotic climate of the transitional period to squirrel some of the allegedly stolen Flagstaff House vehicles. It is pathetic enough to learn about the Ford Expedition Payola Scam involving former President John Dramani Mahama and Mr. Gibril (Jibril) Kanazoe, the Burkinabe building and road contractor. That earth-quaking scandal, we learned, occurred when Mr. Mahama was Vice-President to the late President John Evans Atta-Mills. It strikingly and eerily reflects the abject level of greed that characterizes the entire mainstream political terrain of the country.
Still, learning about the all-too-predictable story of some NPP operatives’ being involved in the car-stealing racket at the Flagstaff House in the transitional period leading up to the swearing-in of President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and approximately 72 hours in the wake of the same, does not get us any farther to the truth or reality on the ground, as it were. We still don’t know the exact number of the fleet of vehicles bequeathed to the incoming Akufo-Addo Administration by the outgoing Mahama regime.
What is even more perplexing is the fact that even the statutorily appointed official in charge of the fleet says that he does not know the exact number of vehicles kept at the presidency, because he lacks adequate staff to enable him to effectively take account of the same. The man was recently quoted by the media to be saying that the best person to contact for information regarding the exact number of vehicles housed at the presidency was Mr. Julius Debrah, the last man to serve as Chief-of-Staff to President Mahama.
I find this obsession with Toyota Land Cruisers among the country’s politicians and party-machine operatives to be rather bizarre and pathetic. For a people who are generally known to be hardworking and for getting their hands dirty with heavy-lifting duties, this is nothing short of simply annoying. For a brand-new edition of these so-called V-8 vehicles costs about $ 50,000, which is well over GH? 200,000. In other words, other than the President of Ghana and the most senior of his ministers, anybody in government capable of affording a Toyota Land Cruiser “just like that,” must be in the ungodly business of stealing the people’s money, directly or indirectly.
This is all the more reason why it ought to come as quite refreshing news to hear President Akufo-Addo warn anybody who sees making money – or him- or herself filthy rich – in government need not apply to serve with him or under his leadership. Already, President Akufo-Addo has declared his assets and strongly advised all his cabinet appointees to follow suit. This is unprecedented, if memory serves yours truly accurately. But even more significantly, it auspiciously points to the fact that Nana Akufo-Addo seriously intends to operate a transparent government.
If he is able to succeed in this effort, he would have carved an enviable niche for himself as a pioneer and set a progressive precedence for good governance in the country and, hopefully, become a paragon of emulative leadership. All civically responsible and levelheaded Ghanaian citizens ought to wish him well in this most salutary but as yet uncharted course of making governance and government actually work for the benefit of each and every citizen of the land.
By: Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
English Department, SUNY-Nassau
Garden City, New York
E-mail: [email protected]
*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs