Naana would do well leading an NGO

On Monday, the officials and members of the National Democratic Congress were in good voice at the inauguration of the running mate to former President John Dramani Mahama. The gathering at the University of Professional Studies, where Campaign Manager Mr. Joshua Alabi was Rector and Vice-Chancellor, was being lectured on the preference of Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.

Apparently, the person being touted as the best thing to happen to the umbrella party has views only on women and children affairs. Apparently, we men are not her concern, which raises a lot of question marks on her ability to lead the Government Economic Management Team from the front.

I hope hot-headed activists of the NDC would not misunderstand my assertion. I am not undermining her feminist credentials. It is absolutely clear that Mrs. Jane Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang did not bring any innovation to education in this land of our birth. And that is my concern.

What I do know is that as Minister of Education, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, supervised over a declining outfit. A basic item like chalk was in short supply throughout the country.

There was this incident which was headline news all over the country. Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur, wife of then Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana, went for an event with teachers at Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region.

A poorly paid and overworked teacher asked for the most basic item used in the classroom –chalk- for all teachers in the country. Apparently, the wife of the second most powerful person at the time felt offended at the teacher’s request.

The Sekondi-born Second Lady burst out in Fanti: “Yerenma Hon Chalk Nde, Yerenma Hon Okyena.” We won’t give you chalk today, we wouldn’t give you tomorrow.” The embarrassment to state officials was beyond comprehension, as the electronic media especially, had a field day.

I bet the road from Kukurantumi was quite long for the otherwise ebullient Matilda. Someone whispered into my ears on the day she paid that unusual tribute to her husband body as it lay in state at the International Conference Centre on the day Paa Kwesi went home. Apparently, the reference to hypocrites and many other unprinted words had everything to do with the repercussions of the chalk episode.

It was under the watch of the former Vice-Chancellor that many strange things happened to education in Ghana. One of the novelty events was the decision to construct the e-class blocks to augment the senior high school project. Snag is, under the feeble hands of Jane Naana, the NDC Members of Parliament hijacked the project and sited them in villages without the population to attend these day schools.

In Agona East for instance, Madame Queenster Pokuaa Sawyerr was very influential in getting the school to be located at Namanwora, a mainly Zabrama community, completely ignoring Agona Duakwa, the largest town with the population to match.

The John Evans Atta Mills High School was constructed in the bush more than five miles from Otuam, the largest town in the Ekumfi District. The administration of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is trying to provide the necessary infrastructure to convert these structures into boarding facilities.

The three major decisions taken under Naana’s watch have been all repudiated by Mr. John Mahama, the very person who has now chosen Jane to partner him. The good old professor was firmly in charge when the decision was taken by Cabinet to cancel allowances for teacher trainees, as well as nursing trainees.

As Mr. Mahama travels around the country trying to convince Ghanaians to return him to power, he has seen the wrong side of the decision to cancel teacher trainee and nursing trainee allowances. The cancellation of teachers’ book allowances also hurt. In plain language, Jane aided to shoot the NDC in the foot.

The British would tell you: “A decorated pig is still a swine.” On Monday night, as the party faithful sang in praise of Jane Nana Opoku-Agyemang at her induction ceremony, as vice-presidential candidate to partner the former President, you could feel that the work-load on the campaign team is heavy.

After Mr. John Dramani messed up with our lives and got the sack at the polls, it is intriguing to know what the former Minister of Education is bringing on board to enhance the ticket.

If you ask my humble opinion, I would not hesitate to tell you that the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast would rather pile on the baggage.

Already, the NDC has a huge problem with candidate Mahama. Money is not the problem though. The one-time Bole/Bamboi parliamentarian is listed among the richest in society.  He is reputed to be worth a whopping US$900 million, according to Forbes Magazine.

That alone is a big problem. How did Mr. Mahama suddenly become that filthy rich. I may be naïve, but the general consensus is that politicians seek power to serve. I think Mr. Mahama’s source of riches ought to be investigated. For instance, how much was he worth when he was sworn in as Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana on January 7, 2009?

I am of the opinion that it should be possible for the assets of Mr. John Dramani Mahama and all presidents, vice-presidents and ministers of state declared on the assumption of office, as well as their net worth on leaving office, ought to be made public.

The present system, under which assets declaration remains in a bunker kept by the Auditor-General, does not help anybody. What is the essence of assets declaration when the people of Ghana have no means of knowing what their state officials declare?

Like the affable Supreme Court Judge, Mr. Justice Jones Mawulorm Dotse, once said, the whole governance system under Mr. John Dramani Mahama operated on the basis of “create, loot, and share.” I cannot still imagine how men without balls at the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice justified the collection of a Ford Exhibition vehicle from Kanazoe, the infamous Burkinable contractor, in exchange for huge road contracts that were shabbily executed, in addition to the whopping US$650,000 renovation of the Ghana Embassy in Ouagadougou.

In any other society, that would have to bribery and corruption. Mahama was a disaster as head of state of this republic. The four-year Dum-so aside, the whole state economy was always wobbling.

Major decision making was unusually faulty. I am at a loss to imagine that the newly-inaugurated Vice-Presidential of the Republic of Ghana, a country with very strong views on homosexuality, would choose to have Andrew Solomon, the world’s most notorious homosexual, to moderate the launch of his autobiography, My First Coup d-Etat. Mr. Andrew Solomon paid US$20,000 for the first book at the auction.

To make matters worse, the Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana went to the official Manhattan residence of Mr. Andrew Solomon and his husband in New York for a meal obviously attended by fellow homosexuals. I am still seething with anger that my Vice-President was so happy with the food he ate with these homosexuals that he described it as ‘sumptuous’ in his book. I am getting the impression after the homosexual angle to his book launch that the former President of the Republic would do anything for money.

Subsequent events like the riddle over the Airbus bribery scandal, in which Mr. Mahama is accused, as President of the Republic, of negotiating with his brother to buy three aircraft for this country.

The fallout is what played out in the British and American courts suggesting that the former President was apparently involved in sleaze.  Mr. Mahama could say anything in his defence, but the court of public opinion has already pronounced him as one head of state who promoted bribery and corruption at the highest echelon of government.

Like Macbeth in Act One Scene Two, all the Atlantic Ocean cannot cleanse the presidential act that allowed Mr. John Mahama’s brother to negotiate with the government run by the former President, and to use this country as the launch-pad for a massive US$5 million kick-back.

Mr. Mahama’s feeble attempt to exonerate himself in this bribery so foul would not wash. For me, the former President has no business contesting the presidential race again.

As for Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, she has done well for herself as an academic. It is not everybody who could head the administrative and academic board of the University of Cape Coast. We celebrate her for her academic achievements.

I cannot vouch for the varsity don adding anything tangible to the Mahama ticket. Less I forget, Naana is promising to take charge of women and children empowerment. I believe she has a better chance through a Non Governmental Organisation after Mahama has been trounced soundly at the polls.

I shall return!

Ebo Quansah in Accra

The post Naana would do well leading an NGO appeared first on The Chronicle Online.

Read Full Story