NPP'S ASTONISHING AND SHAMEFUL CYNICISM!

The cynicism of our political class never ceases to amaze me. Not too long ago, I remarked to a friend, in reference to our rather well-spoken and cultured (unlike the "bush" tribal supremacists in her crowd!), minister for information and national orientation, Mrs. Oboshie Sai-Cofie, that the policies of the regime of which she is an apparently much-favoured member, amounted to the political equivalent, of pinning mother Ghana down, to facilitate the gang-rape of our country (by sundry apparently 'respectable', high net worth oligarchs, whom, if the bush telegraph is to be believed, are nothing more, than politically well-connected white collar criminals!).

It appears that that criticism stung some of the female supporters, of the unimaginative regime, which we are currently lumbered with: including, one gathers (although I cannot personally vouch for it!), the minister for information, who is the very embodiment, of quintessential Ghanaian middle class chic!

And as is typical of a regime full of politicians, of the kind, a neighbour of mine once uncharitably described as: "...well-educated geniuses, who also happen to be "chew-and-pour" (learning by rote, to the uninitiated!) 'imbeciles' with Ph.D's," our rulers have dreamt up what they probably think will mollify, a nation, outraged, by the glaring inequalities in wealth, in the Ghana of today.

The government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) apparently now proposes to hand out taxpayers' money, to selected "very poor families" in Ghana - as a response to the criticism that the masses are poorer today, than they were yesterday: at precisely a period when the rich have seldom been better off, in Ghana.

And this, in a nation in which nursing mothers with new-born babies, are routinely detained, in maternity wards of hospitals, across our nation: because those poor women are unable to pay for their hospital fees. Why not fund our hospitals properly instead - so they can cater for the very poor, who deliver babies in their maternity wards, without exhausting their minuscule budgets?

And grown-up government ministers, are apparently agog with excitement, because they are convinced that in coming up with this insane measure (which makes a complete nonsense, of the fiscal discipline they are so proud of), they are under the illusion they have discovered the holy grail of Ghanaian politics: the biggest "big idea", yet - guaranteed to enable Government lead the masses up the garden path, without them ever cottoning on, to that grand deception!

Where, dear reader, is the free money for the "very poor", going to come from? And how long can this lunacy last? And above all, precisely how many of the "very poor", exist in Ogyakrom? And this pure nonsense on bamboo stilts, the bright "big idea", is apparently emanating from the very heart of a regime, which, when it first assumed power, said it was coming to create an environment, in which business would so thrive, that future generations, would come to refer to their period in office, as the golden age of Ghanaian business.

You would think, dear reader, would you not, that to lift the very poor out of poverty, the government would seek to also create an environment, which would enable the very poor, too, to have access to (unsecured!) micro-credit: and pull themselves out of poverty, through their own personal initiative, and individual effort? So much for the lackeys for neo-colonialism's "less government, not more government" mantra! Like many things about our local neo-cons, that too, is a sham: just another "the-end-justifies-the-means" falsehood, amongst many falsehoods: mere conveniences, parroted endlessly, to cloak a Machiavellian ruthlessness - and determination to hang on to power, at all costs!

Those who suffer daily in it, often refer to Ghana, as "Ogyakrom": the hell on earth, created in Nkrumah's Ghana, for ordinary people, as a result of the unthinking adherence, by all the post-Nkrumah era regimes - but none more so, than the ruling NPP, and before it, the previous regime, of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to the strict monetarist economic policies, so beloved, of the doctrinaire neo-cons, who stalk the corridors of power, in the Washington offices, of the Bretton Woods multilateral financial institutions.

And over the years it has resulted in the impoverishment of millions of ordinary Ghanaians - who often wonder, how it came to pass, that they were bypassed, so completely, by the economic 'boom', which has enabled Ghana to experience GDP growth rates of close to between 3 and 4% in real terms, on average, for the past few years.

On the whole, there is general agreement, in the country, that this sustained growth, has benefited only a privileged few - who can only see the upside, of an era of sustained economic growth, from which they alone have profited (and how mightily, too!), such as: the stabilisation of our currency; the creation of a boom in our capital markets; enrichment of sundry stock-brokerage firms, at the speed of lightning - and the earning of mega-salaries, by their fast-living, and grossly-overpaid employees; the accumulation of vast fortunes by the founders and owners of private sector non-banking financial services corporate entities - and above all, the empowerment, of the scions, of politically well-connected family clans, to become tycoons, overnight: enabling spectacularly dull middle-aged men and their siblings, previously not well-noted for financial brilliance, to metamorphose, into the owners of US $10 million-dollar hotels!

The bind, in all this, for the party in power today (which appears to be totally bereft of original thinkers!), is that it faces their party with a conundrum, at election time: how do you convince the impoverished masses, that as a result of the nation experiencing growth rates, of between 3 and 4%, on average, for the past few years, and thus ensuring, year after year, the constant pointing of the fundamental economic indicators, in a positive direction, quarter after quarter, and reporting year after reporting year, the ordinary person is consequently better off today, under the NPP's tenure, than he or she was, yesterday, under the tenure of the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime - when those same Ghanaians, insist, that the quality of their lives has deteriorated: and that they, do not feel the prosperity, which those in power trumpet so loudly, and endlessly, in their near-empty pockets?

Furthermore, irritatingly, and to the complete befuddlement of our super-clever rulers, those same 'ungrateful' ordinary people, seem to take for granted, the many impressive infrastructural projects, completed over the years, during the tenure of the party in power - and point out, rather sensibly, in my view, that that is the primary responsibility of all governments, elected to power, in our nation: and that in any case, it was taxpayers' money that was utilised for same: not the vast private fortunes, accumulated so rapidly, during their tenure, by our rulers!

The patent failure of the expensive sophistry, employed by this regime, to try and delude Ghanaians that they are experiencing the feel-good factor, is obvious to all, but the dullest, in our nation. For, despite the trillions of taxpayers' money spent by our secret services to date, during the NPP's tenure, thus far, there has been very little return, on that massive investment - in real terms!

Yet, it has involved the recruitment of a whole army of individuals and organisations, which have all sold their consciences for a handsome profit, and are actively engaged in pro-government propaganda, on the NPP's behalf.

Sadly compromised in this sophisticated scheme, designed to kill press freedom by stealth, have been: a dazzling array of media professionals; countless sycophantic media houses; as well as scores of dim-witted, praise-singing, serial callers (male and female!) - who constantly crucify the English language, as they attempt to justify the unjustifiable, subjecting decent people in the process, to a stock of parroted drivel, from the "political-deceivers-handbook": drilled into their tiny brains, by over-paid secret service handlers, tele-guiding them by text messages, on our television screens and airwaves! Hmmm, Ghana, aye Asem o!

Let me humbly point it out, dear reader, to the masters of the universe, currently in charge of Ghana, that selecting a number of poor people, and handing over hard-pressed taxpayers' money to them, for no reason, other than that Government wants them to feel they are sharing in the prosperity they see around them (some of it in the shape, for example, of a state-owned fleet, of some of the most expensive luxury vehicles in the world; and the long convoys of expensive spanking new SUV's, which move the small army of security personnel, who have to accompany our leaders, in order to protect them - from only heaven knows what!), is a cynical and unethical way, for any democratically elected government, to proceed.

For, what our nation rather desperately needs, is social transformation, which will make it possible for ordinary people too, to enjoy the following basic necessities of a civilised life: the right not to have to put up with living in a nation whose public space is drowning in filth, because no one in authority has the courage, to dismiss the incompetent buffoons, appointed in the distribution of political patronage, as district chief executives, and as municipal and metropolitan assembly chiefs; have access to good quality housing, at affordable rental rates; be provided with efficient and affordable utility services; have access to good public schools, from primary to tertiary level; live in a nation in which public safety is assured; and above all, become the citizens of a nation, in which taxpayers' money, is not frittered away, by unscrupulous politicians, in dubious vote-buying schemes, designed for the primary purpose, of giving bribes to a section of the voting public, to entice them to vote their benefactors, back into office.

Power, it is said, corrupts - and their long years in power, appears to have corrupted the minds, of some of those in power, today. Who, in heaven's name, came up with such a mad and bad idea: to dispense charity to a proud and honest people, who want well-paid and sustainable long term jobs - not demeaning cash handouts from the Ghanaian nation-state?

Is this not the political equivalent, of giving the very poor in Ghana, fish: instead of teaching them to fish, themselves, and providing them the wherewithal, to buy netting and canoes - to enable them to go fishing, on a regular basis, to catch fish with: and earn regular income to improve their lives with?

Has it not struck those who claim to have come to power to bring about a golden age for Ghanaian business, by creating an enabling environment, for business to thrive, that if the state were to provide rural banks with sufficient funds to enable them make micro-credit available to groups of poor people, without demanding collateral from them, that is far more likely to empower the youth?

And would we not consequently witness the flourishing of youthful enterprise - enabling many young school-leavers from the poorest homes, for instance, to buy tools, to enable them work as self-employed carpenters, electricians, welders, vulcanizers, etc. etc.; acquire market stalls; buy taxis; trotros; open electronic repair shops; hairdressing salons; tailoring workshops; barbering shops, etc. etc.?

And if this regime was to be creative enough to let the APEX Bank enter into a joint-venture with internationally well-respected and innovative micro-credit institutions, such as the experienced Australian micro-credit organisation, Opportunity International, would it not make it possible for rural and community banks in Ghana, to make credit and training in managing micro-enterprises, available, for poor families up and down our country, and enable them free themselves from poverty, by their own bootstraps?

The masters of the universe who dominate the NPP, must not insult the intelligence of the poor, in Ghana - for, the poor will never forgive such an insult from the party of those, who have so enriched themselves (and their cronies), and become so breathtakingly wealthy, in the relatively short period, in which this myopic regime has been in power for, that some of them were able to finance their individual bids to realise their presidential ambitions, with billions.

Were most decent-minded Ghanaians not astonished, dear reader, that a brace of seventeen wannabe presidents, collectively spent trillions of the useless old cedis, the bulk of it used to bribe their party's, mostly poor, and largely forgotten, foot soldiers - to ensure and facilitate positive outcomes, for their personal presidential dreams? What astonishing and shameful cynicism! In the NEPAD era, are these our apostles of African peer-reviewing, good governance? Hmmm, Ghana, aye asem o!