Recent events in the north of Ghana, and elsewhere in the country, lead one to conclude that our secret services need to keep an eye on the more fanatical elements amongst the membership of some of the opposition parties - particularly those whose political forebears resorted to terrorism in the past: at a certain juncture of our nation's history.
As those old enough at the time know, callous and power-hungry politicians waged an unrelenting bombing campaign of terror, during the early post-independence period.
It was aimed at causing fear and panic amongst the Ghanaian populace - and successfully bombing their way toward achieving (they hoped!) their ultimate objective: securing power by assassinating Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and physically removing him from the political scene permanently.
Their hope, was that his enormous influence both at home and abroad, would then wane - especially as it was resulting in the broad masses of the Ghanaian people becoming politically conscious and aware of the many dark forces inside and outside the country, which wanted Ghana to remain a subjugated puppet-nation, faithfully serving the interests of neo-colonial and imperialist powers.
(Incidentally, Nkrumah's 'crime', was that he wanted Ghana's abundant natural resources, which the neo-colonialist and imperialist powers coveted, to be utilised to improve the living standards of the ordinary people of Ghana. But I digress!)
There is no doubt in the minds of a number of political analysts that some of the more extremist elements amongst today's crop of local stooges for neo-colonialism and lackeys of imperialism in Nkrumah's Ghana, could be masterminding and exploiting some of the current spate of armed attacks on buses plying some of the bus routes up north and elsewhere in the country, for political gain.
The vulnerability of the all-important transport sector to the machinations of such desperate nation-wreckers, clearly does make the case for quickly transferring the Intercity STC bus company to the new holding company for its commercial ventures, which has been set up by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
According to bush-telegraph sources, the similarity in the world view of the hardcore elements of today's political descendants of the murderous and tribal-supremacist seccesionists of the erstwhile National Liberation Movement (NLM), the equally ruthless tribal-supremacist types in the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who were behind the election-rigging and violent disruptions of the process in some areas, during the December 2008 elections, see the attacks on long-distance buses as a perfect mass-fear-inducing political weapon (MFIPW), just as effective as that employed by their bomb-throwing NLM forebears - whose campaign of terror during the Nkrumah-era, resulted in over 300 deaths and countless injuries: and created a climate of fear and panic, whilst it lasted.
Obviously, compared to planting bombs in bouquets of flowers and handing them to school children to give to their political opponents who they want to murder, supplant and take over the running of the nation from, staging daring armed raids on buses to rob their passengers with the aim of creating a climate of fear and panic in Ghana, is small beer to those who are prepared to do anything to return to power again in December 2012 - and get into positions that will enable them to lord it over ordinary Ghanaians, once more.
Nothing would make such narrow-minded individuals happier, than being able, once more, to envelope our ethnically-diverse unitary Republic with the dreadful miasma of their intolerable Kokofu-football tribalism and endless Konongo-kayaa nepotism.
Luckily for Ghanaians, although during the NPP-era's golden age of business for Kufuor & Co., the same subtle tactics that were employed to kill off Ghana Airways in order to enable yesteryear's greedy-bastards-brigade to asset strip it, was employed in a similar effort to kill off Intercity STC too, and asset strip that state-owned entity, the sly and greedy elements in the Kufuor & Co. crony-capitalist business that was the NPP regime, were turfed out of office before that "let's-chop-Ghana-small" rip-off conspiracy, gained any traction.
Clearly, a revamped Intercity STC would be the perfect corporate vehicle to use to thwart those behind this dangerous terror game-plan, which amounts to political brinkmanship of the worst sort - and is meant to create disaffection amongst Ghanaians against the Mills administration. (So, that, in a nutshell, is what apparently some of the armed raids on passenger buses are said to represent, dear reader.)
And on the basis that were it owned by the GAF, most Ghanaians would be confident that whenever they undertake a bus journey anywhere in Ghana, to any part of their country, they would be safe from armed robbers - if they travelled by the GAF-owned Intercity STC bus company - the government of President Mills must act swiftly to transfer this strategically important player in the transport sector of the Ghanaian economy, to the GAF.
If the company's ownership is transferred to the GAF, as a strategic national security measure, it will also guarantee that the travelling public will never be held to ransom by private bus companies agreeing to go on strike - as part of a conspiracy to bring down a government or make it unpopular, to achieve the same end: as there will be at least one long-distance bus company, the GAF-owned Intercity STC bus company, which will not be part of any such conspiracy: and which will therefore be able to keep the nation moving, regardless.
If the GAF took possession of the Intercity STC bus company, it would put in place the necessary security measures to ensure that their buses would never be preyed upon by armed thugs working at the behest of the criminal types amongst our political class.
According to the cynics in our midst, some of the masterminds behind the spate of armed attacks on long-distance buses, could be the selfsame rogues who once upon a time recruited thugs, whom they then proceeded to dress as soldiers and policemen, gave arms to and promised to facilitate their release, were they to be arrested for disrupting voting at election centres by snatching ballot boxes, during the December 2008 presidential election, and the subsequent run-off election to decide who became Ghana's president in January 2009.
Apparently (if the cynics and conspiracy theorists in our midst are to be believed!), the spate of armed attacks on long-distance buses, is part of a grand plan (perfected after lessons learnt from the Amina Yutong bus gang-rape fairy tale fiasco) to defeat the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the December 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Its purpose, is said to be to create a perception amongst ordinary Ghanaians that insecurity plagues their country's highways. It is said that those behind it are hoping that it will cause sufficient fear and panic amongst the travelling public - and get millions of them to vote out the Mills administration from power.
The idea is that the government will naturally be blamed by voters for the lawlessness resulting from its alleged "weak leadership" that the NPP's "Enkoyiea" propaganda narrative would have Ghanaians believe, has emboldened criminals in Ghana, now terrorising the travelling public.
It is for all the reasons above, that the Mills administration would be wise to transfer Intercity STC to the GAF quickly. Perhaps issuing long-term government bonds to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) as payment for its stake in Intercity STC, or giving it tax credits for same, might be acceptable to SSNIT.
Finally, a little lateral thinking: Together with the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and any consortium of banks they are able to convince to back them, a GAF-owned Intercity STC could partner the Brazilian bus builders, Marcopolo, to set up an assembly plant in Ghana, to supply the local and West African sub-regional markets - and guarantee a steady supply of new buses regularly to replenish their respective bus fleets that way. A word to the wise.,.
Tel (powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
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