THE NDC ADMINISTRATION MUST PROBE THE KUFUOR REGIME QUICKLY AND THOROUGHLY!

During the campaign for the December 2008 elections, one of the key campaign themes of the presidential candidate of the party in opposition then, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor Mills, was what he described as “massive corruption” in the regime of President Kufuor. It is important that having won the presidential election and become Ghana’s new president, Professor Mills acts quickly to expose that “massive corruption” and bring all those who participated in the gang-rape of mother Ghana, during the tenure of President Kufuor, to book.

He will lose his credibility rapidly, if he fails to establish the fact that, indeed, there was massive corruption during the NPP era – and it is important he does not fail to act quickly to ensure that all those who were culpable are prosecuted and jailed. It is crucial that the NDC never forgets that one of the key factors that led to the defeat of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime was the widespread perception amongst most independent-minded voters, that it was one of the most corrupt regimes Ghanaians had ever seen.

Exposing that massive corruption will count as an achievement in 2012 – so that task must go hand in hand with the task of improving the quality of life of ordinary Ghanaians. The NDC administration must set up a task force that will dedicate itself to bringing to light as quickly as possible the daylight robbery carried out by the rogues in the NPP regime – and devote its energies to getting them to account for their stewardship.

They must not worry about being accused of witch-hunting by some NPP members – as such people have a vested interest in seeing that no one probes those who were corrupt in the NPP regime. After all, we must not forget that there were also many NPP members who served Ghana faithfully and honestly during their tenure of office, who want the world to acknowledge their honest stewardship. Only a thorough probe will avail those who served Ghana with clean hands during the Kufuor era, of the opportunity to prove to the world that they were indeed men and women of integrity.

Perhaps the new administration can start with Ghana International Airlines (GIA). The shadowy offshore vehicle used by the Americans (and their local partners?) to set up GIA, ought to be their principal target. If they can unravel the ownership structure, it might help them expose any abuse of power and conflict of interest, involving members of the NPP regime, which could prove that there was corruption involved in the setting up of GIA. That could prevent the Americans walking away with zillions of taxpayers’ money in the case they are pursing against Ghana overseas – specifically with that very objective in mind. The government ought to countersue them in the US law courts too, if it does discover any unethical acts in the setting up of GIA.

The NDC must understand that their return to power in the 2012 elections will be dependant on how their regime deals with those whom they accused of being corrupt during the campaign for the December 2008 elections. Ghana’s independent-minded voters do not regard the question of bringing those in the NPP, who abused the trust of Ghanaians by looting our country when they were in power, to book, as “witch-hunting. They see it as part of the process of ensuring accountability in our public life – so that those who are given the opportunity to lead our country do not betray Ghanaians by shortchanging their nation.

If President Mills is truly a president for all Ghanaians, as he keeps on telling us, then he must ensure that those responsible for the “massive corruption” he accused the NPP of, pay for their crimes against our country and its people. It is also incumbent upon the president of all Ghanaians, to act quickly to remove from office, all those public officials who benefitted from the patronage and nepotism of the previous regime – and are now actively showing their gratitude to their benefactors of old: by sabotaging his regime in many subtle ways.

Whiles some members of the new administration show such pride in their tolerance and God-fearing nature, and pussyfoot around the issue of investigating yesteryear’s rogues, ruthless and amoral saboteurs in the system, are also busy making sure that evidence of the corruption from the past is safely hidden from their regime of “born-again Christians.” President Mills must not forget how President Kufuor and his tribal-supremacist fellow-travellers grabbed asset after asset through the abuse of power – and had the effrontery to call those who pointed out their greedy and destructive behaviour as lazy and envious people.

Ghanaians elected the NDC and President Mills to power to run our nation with a firm hand – and to deal with the ruthless individuals, who apart from looting our country on a massive scale, also played the tribal card so outrageously: and ended up nearly destroying the nation of diverse-ethnicity that Nkrumah succeeded in moulding into a united and detribalized society. With respect, if the president does not have the heart to punish those criminals (some of whom were even prepared to kill to remain in power, apparently, despite being voted out of office), let him step aside and devote the rest of his life to prayers and devotion.

If President Mills does not know what stuff those hypocritical traditional rulers, who are now playing the role of peacemakers and reconcilers, are made of, let us remind him that they too ate greedily from the same trough Kufuor and Co. had their long snouts in. They collaborated to milk our country dry together – and were actively working in an unholy alliance with Kufuor and Co. to Balkanize our country, for their mutual benefit. Even as those sly crooks act as mediators, they are at the same time secretly urging others to cover the tracks of the shameless thieves who took our country for such a massive ride, during their tenure (and whom it must be said, were only a very small, albeit powerful minority, amongst the vast majority of decent-minded NPP members).

Let the president cast his mind back to the past and think of the astonishing accusations Nana Frema Busia leveled at his predecessor and some of those in his inner circle, to understand that he is not dealing with angels. Let him listen to the tape-recordings of the treasonable conversations of the Maxwell Kofi Jumahs and the Atta Akyeas, which were played by the brilliant Raymond Archer on Radio Gold FM during the December 2008 elections. Probing the Kufuor regime thoroughly is a matter of priority as far as ordinary people are concerned. It must be handled with the same degree of ruthlessness that those amoral and shameless rogues dealt with their opponents, when they were in power.

With respect, in case he has forgotten, this is a nation of some twenty-two million plus human beings he is leading, not a charismatic church with a few thousand members beholden to some self-appointed “Bishop” – and it is important that President Mills understands the difference. Even Jesus Christ asked his followers to give Caesar his due: and to give God what was his due too. He is dealing with ruthless political opponents, not angels – more so, when they happen to be men and women who grew super-rich literally stealing national assets: and who now desperately want to get away with their crimes against Ghana at all costs.

If President Mills neither has the strength nor the heart to make them pay for their crimes against our nation, let him quickly step aside – so that those who can better protect our nation and punish those criminals can take over the reins of government from him. The rogues we are dealing with are callous and super-ruthless individuals, who never believed that they would be turfed out of power so soon, by Ghanaians. They ignored those of us (who were their critics only because we loved mother Ghana) who constantly reminded them not to forget the wise Ghanaian saying: “No condition is permanent.” President Mills had better make sure that he also never forgets that old Ghanaian saying, either. A word to the wise…