A sage from Walewale in the Northern Region once remarked that sun-filled wonders will never end in Ghanaian politics - and that that will always be the case till the very end of time.
So it is little wonder indeed that highly-placed public officials sanctioned the Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMTL) bus "rebranding" contract. Ghana's public-sector is replete with super-clever individuals who believe in making hay whiles the sun shines.
The question that needs answering by those who govern Ghana is: What exactly was the point in "rebranding" buses in a nation whose government cannot even pay salary arrears it owes many of its own employees for lengthy periods - especially when those selfsame buses could earn revenue for the MMTL from advertisers on a regular basis?
Whose priority was that foolish example of sycophancy gone mad as presidential and parliamentary elections approach - in this sleight-of-hand political marketing initiative paid for with oil cash and aimed at glorifying a President who is a humble man who as it happens is easily embarrassed by such arrant imperial-presidency-nonsense?
This outrage is an affront to a hard-pressed people struggling to survive on a daily basis - in a harsh economic climate resulting from the profligacy of their nation's spendthrift political class and upper echelons of the public sector.
Who exactly was it who undertook the influence-peddling that made this crooked deal possible - and who was the highly-placed object of that influence-peddling whose say-so eventually made a series of top officials swiftly sanction it when it made its merry way to the in-trays on top of their highly-polished desks?
It is amazing that there are individuals at the presidency, who apparently think that all they have to do, in order to end the controversy over the award of the fraudulent contract to Smarttys Management and Productions Limited to "rebrand" 116 MMTL buses, is to find a super-clever narrative to justify it. Poor, souls.
If, that indeed is the case, then it would appear that it has never struck those genuises in President Mahama's inner circle, that hypothetically it is entirely possible for a president of Ghana, seeking re-election to a second term, with a legacy that any leader around the world can be proud of, to be still voted out of office - regardless of the fact that during that president's tenure he or she succeeded in turning the country into a veritable paradise on earth in which the citizenry enjoy a high standard of living as a result of their nation's booming economy.
Ghanaians are no longer prepared to be lied to and ripped-off by those who govern their country. Those who surround President Mahama ought to understand that this scandal is a vote-losing controversy that is unlikely to disappear any time soon, unless the public is told the whole truth about it.
Perhaps, one day, in the not too distant future, when some of those geniuses surrounding President Mahama look back at the events leading to the defeat of their charge (in the event he loses the November 2016 presidential election, that is) they will come to realise that public anger over the "rebranding" contract awarded to Smarttys Management and Productions Limited - and incredibly paid for with some 3.6 million cedis out of Ghana's oil revenues - was a major last-straw factor in the President's defeat.
For many indepedent-minded and patriotic Ghanaians, that "rebranding" contract awarded to Smarttys Management and Productions Limited, is an outrageous example of the "Chopping Ghana small" mentality - which makes powerful and well-connected individuals scheme to siphon off public funds into private pockets: through profiteering in executing government contracts.
It illustrates perfectly how high-level corruption - fuelled by the unparalleled greed of a well-connected few - is enabling a small group of individuals to rip Mother Ghana off successfully and send their net worth to stratospheric heights: at the expense of ordinary people.
Alarmingly, for thinking-Ghanaians, that crooked and unlawful contract was made possible, only because the money to pay for it came out of Ghana's oil revenues.
That evokes fear in many patriotic citizens that it is empirical evidence proving that oil revenues are being gradually dissipated through sundry clever rip-off schemes - and that our nation might now be suffering from the oil-curse.
That is why no amount of spin will be allowed to sweep this particular scandal under any red carpet. And any attempt at a cover-up will fail and end in ignominy.
It is symbolic of the abuse of power by our vampire-elites. And a hard-pressed populace - forever being asked to make sacrifice upon sacrifice for the common good by those governing their nation - is no longer willing to tolerate such shennanigans.
The many genuises at the presidency - such as the too-clever-by-half, smug, arrogant and amoral Stan Dogbes - had better awaken to that reality. Quickly.
Only the full and unalloyed truth about how a company owned by the narcissistic wife of a leading member of the National Democratic Congress ("that notoriously greedy Ibrahim Adams" to quote a fuming university student, who had been outraged that as chairperson of the ADB board, at a point in time, a company he was associated with had applied for a hefty sum in US dollars as a loan) came to be awarded that "Chopping-Ghana-small" sole-sourcing contract, will satisfy an enraged public now thoroughly fed up with high-level corruption in Ghana.
There will have to be prosecutions in this matter. This is actually a litmus test for President Mahama - who needs to prove that when it comes to high-level corruption, no one is indeed above the law, in the Ghana he leads.
There should be forensic auditing of the entire process leading to the award of this particular contract - and all those who broke the laws governing the public procurement process to award it should be swiftly tried and jailed. Ghanaians are no longer prepared to tolerate high-level corruption in their country.
President Mahama must demonstrate that he has the will to fight high-level corruption - by making an example of the owners of Smarttys Management and Productions Limited. The survival of his presidency depends on it - and any failure on his part to act will spell doom for his re-election bid: as sure as day follows night.
That obviously unethically-run company and all its greedy directors ought to be blacklisted and permanently banned from bidding for government contracts in Ghana, and banned from being company directors for life.
And they must also be compelled to refund the excess amount of Ghc1.9 million involved in their conscienceless and shameful rip-off of Mother Ghana - plus interest. Both the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Economic and Organised Crime Office should check their books thoroughly to ensure that they are tax-compliant.
Above all, all those who broke the laws governing the public procurement process, in awarding the 116 MMTL bus "rebranding" contract to Smarttys Management and Productions Limited should be prosecuted and jailed.
Only such an outcome will save the Mahama presidency's reputation, such as it is, in this shabby story of unfathomable greed and mean-spiritedness.
President Mahama will lose the votes of many independent-minded and patriotic citizens in the November 2016 presidental election if he allows those who perpetrated this monstrous fraud against Mother Ghana to get away with their egregious crime. Enough is enough.
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