ARE WE DRIVING THE LAST NAILS INTO THE COFFIN OF GHANAIAN DEMOCRACY?

Quote: "The release referred to Memorandum to Parliament on the Agreement, which obliged the VALCO to enter into a binding and irrevocable Power Purchase Agreement/ Electricity Supply Agreement with the VRA, which should also deliver a certain quantum of power based on certain thresholds in term of tonnes of aluminium for a period of four years. The Memorandum, the release said also referred to the terms of agreement for a consortium to make an initial payment of US$25 million within 15 working days from the execution of agreement and upon approval of the agreement by Parliament."Unquote.
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Hmmm, Ghana - enti ye awiaye paa enia? Just what kind of a "tom-fool" agreement is this? Do these well-educated imbeciles running our country, never think about Ghana's national interest, at all?

"The outstanding amount of US$150.5 million is to be paid within 45 working days after the VALCO smelter has commenced production with two pot lines in normal operation, the execution of the transfer of shares by the Government, shareholders agreement between the shareholders of the company and the delivery of the share certificate signed by VALCO in favour of the consortium."

Gosh, are some of our leaders so clueless - or is it the case that they simply do not care one jot about foreigners taking us for a huge ride: as long as they get their kickbacks to funnel into the accounts of their  special purpose offshore vehicles?

This is just unbelievable - have they forgotten how hard-pressed electricity consumers had to subsidize Kaiser Aluminum for decades, in the socialization-of-private-risk deal they wanted to continue with - long after we had met our side of the bargain that brought them here to begin with? How right Fremaa Busia is about the morality of some of our leaders - some of whom are nothing more than gangsters. Incredible!

So to enrich a few powerful crooks in government, present and future generations of Ghanaians have to allow the Atiwa Mountain range rain forest to be torn down – so that the short-term lunacy, at a time of global climate change, of an integrated aluminum industry, whose final products will never be competitive with that of Alcoa’s new aluminum smelter in Iceland (because it gets thermal power from underground hot springs at practically no cost!) can be rammed down our throats: and railroaded through parliament and undermine our democratic institutions, yet again?

Must we, as a people, be robbed of the value of the billions of dollars of yet-to-be discovered medicinal plants (which can form the basis of a sustainable green industry to benefit our people till the very end of time!) in that important rain forest; run the risk of the sources of the drinking water supply of some of our cities drying up; see a significant part of our nation’s biodiversity disappear, when the Atiwa Mountain range rain forest is torn down - just so that a few high net worth individuals can grow even wealthier still, and all that at the expense of the long-term well-being of our country and its people? Why, do they think we are all fools, or what?

Why must we destroy nature, something that helps give us a good quality of life, just because (taflatse!) a few men and women, uncouth philistines whose greed knows no bounds, and who know the price of everything under the African sun, but the value of absolutely nothing of worth in this life, want to be remembered for what they think is a great legacy?

With respect, we will not permit the rape of the pristine natural environment of one of only two uplands evergreen rain forests Ghana has, to ever go ahead, at a time of global warming. The quality of life that that ensures for our country and its people, will not be sacrificed on the alter of the hidden personal wealth creation agenda, of people whose greed knows no bounds. Period.

What legacy is a project that threatens a valuable resource of nature, a unique and important West African rain forest, crucial to the continued well-being of Ghanaians, and vital for ensuring a good quality of life for all – one lived in harmonious existence with nature, at a time of global climate change: something that is supposed to impact nations like ours in Africa, negatively? Can they tell us what all that would cost if a monetary value was put on it – since they are such good and avid bean-counters?

"Meanwhile, Mr Abraham Ossei Aidooh, Majority Leader has announced that the date for Parliament to rise has been rescheduled from Friday November 7, 2008 to Tuesday November 11, 2008." Typical – they are showing the same ruthless disregard for the constitutional principle of separation of powers, which has been the hallmark of their tenure of office, thus far.

Yet, these hypocrites never cease blowing their own trumpet about their belief in democracy. They are showing their contempt for parliament’s oversight role under our constitution (that flawed document that was specially designed for the convenience of an absolute dictatorship, needing to metamorphose into an elected dictatorship in 1992!), that they have shown throughout their tenure - especially when they want to rip our country off, in collaboration with foreign carpetbaggers.

Well, let me boldly predict to Mr. Abraham Ossei Aidooh, that when the 21st century equivalent of the June 4th 1979 military uprising finally comes along, it will be precisely such tactics, the railroading through parliament of agreements that are inimical to our country's interests (but which personally benefit the few powerful crooks who now dominate the ruling party so completely), that those coming in to “house-clean” for a few months, whiles a new constitution is prepared for truly free and fair elections to take us into a new and genuinely democratic 5th Republic, will cite, as examples, of the very undemocratic nature of this regime.

So Mr. Abraham Ossei Aidooh had better revise his notes and cast his mind back to the Kalabule-period prelude to the events of June 4th 1979 - when the politically well-connected and powerful crooks of the day, also thought they were all-powerful and invincible.

If he recalls, in the end, they all regretted that they were driven by the unfathomable greed that had made them ignore truth and common decency, as they gang-raped mother Ghana with total impunity - much as the crooks in the regime of which he is such a prominent member, are now carrying on.

Let him remember the wise Ghanaian saying: "No condition is permanent" - as he scrapes the bottom of the pork-barrel to bribe his fellow MP's. They are merely driving the final nails into the coffin of Ghanaian democracy – which their complete disregard for the letter and spirit of the constitution, and their sheer bloody-minded arrogance, represents. A word to the wise…

Hmmm, Ghana - enti ye awiaye paa enia? Asem ebaba debi ankasa! May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana, always. Long live freedom! Long Ghana!