Cedi Redenomination: Ghanaians Need To Know That Dr. Bawumia Is Not A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

 
As usual the Ghanaian media is doing a great disservice to Mother Ghana - by yet again ignoring (when it matters most) an important matter involving some members of our nation's political class: that needs investigating.

Surely, they must help clear the air over the cedi redenomination exercise - and establish that indeed Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia did nothing wrong in the redenomination of the cedi during the Kufuor era: before the December polls?

In any case, should journalists in Ghana not be interested in establishing the veracity or otherwise of allegations of impropriety by top officials and politicians, during the cedi redenomination exercise?

How much, for example, were the security printers  paid to print the redenominated cedi notes: and who were their local reps, here, if any?

Incidentally, was it De La Rue that printed them, or not? And more to the point, was it a fair deal - or was the Bank of Ghana (BoG) ripped off: because of the greed of officials and politicians?

It should definitely not be left to the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) Anthony Akoto Oseis to pontificate on the matter and tell us that in effect it is much ado about nothing. No. Certainly not.

If it wants to govern our nation, again, is it not in the overall interest of the NPP that the media  in Ghana thoroughly investigate the redenomination of the cedi - which occured during the golden age of business for the perfidious Kufuor & Co: particularly when suspicions are being raised in certain quarters about aspects of Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia's role in that exercise?

Is he not a potential vice president of Ghana - with presidential and parliamentary elections due on 7th December: less that two months hence?

For all we know, it might actually be the case that in  reality Bawumia has absolutely nothing to hide over his role in the redenomination exercise - because he did nothing wrong at that material time.

However, that must be established independently by the media - not by the NPP's Anthony Akoto Osei. Was he not a deputy finance minister at the time, I ask?

What if some partisan-cynic suddenly alleged that somehow some government members benefited from that exercise during what was after all a golden age of business for Kufuor & Co - and that the Akoto Oseis, pretty well-connected A-lister-insiders,  were aware of that?

On their part, we must ask whether or not the media have forgotten the fuss that people like Mr. Aggudey made, on the airwaves of Radio Gold FM, for example - when a South African entity was apparently given the contract to handle the transportation and distribution of the new cedi notes that were replacing the old cedis being withdrawn from circulation.

The question there is: Who actually gave that contract to the South African company - and what was it worth exactly? Were they aware that Aggudey's Gocrest, and other private Ghanaian security companies, could provide the same tracked logistics service the South Africans were offering the BoG?

And was Aggudey targeted by the system for complaining publicly about the contract being given out to a South African entity - because it was thought by the powers-that-be at the time that his complaints would raise suspicions in the minds of ordinary people: that the regime's powerful kleptocrats had profited from the cedi's redenomination?

And who were that particular South African company's Ghanaian contacts/partners that secured them the lucrative contract, if any? Are they people who are close to Dr. Bawumia and the NPP, one wonders?

Above all, was the transportation and distribution of the new cedi notes across the country put out to tender - or was it sole-sourced? And if it was sole-sourced why was that the case?

Luckily for Mother Ghana, not all ordinary people in this beautiful and peaceful country, wear blinkers on a permanent basis and belong to the naive-school-of-thought - many members of which seem to believe that somehow Ghanaians  will  experience rule by saints, when the NPP comes into power, after the December elections. Heaven help us.

Surely, it is important for Ghanaians to know whether or not some of the politicians then in power at the period in question, profited personally from the cedi's redenomination - and whether or not that resulted from insider information? Who was their go-to BoG pointman? Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o.

Let no one in this country forget that despite the endless allegations of corruption they constantly  level at the Mahama administration, the NPP and its leading lights, are dead-set against either publicly publishing the sources of the party's election campaign funds, or committing to publicly publishing the assets of all their candidates and their spouses, before this year's presidential and parliamentary elections.

Furthermore, since many in the Ghanaian media are also alleged by some politicians to be corrupt, should we also not therefore ponder why journalists in Ghana have not bothered to find out the net worth of employees of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) including even lowly-placed ones such as cooks - prior to the redenomination exercise: and in its immediate aftermath?

Did the media never hear any bush telegraph stories at the time, about the sudden riches some BoG employees were said by neighbours to have started displaying, after the cedi's redenomination?

Or have Ghanian journalists all simply forgotten that there were rumours circulating at the time that withdrawn notes - destined for incineration at the BoG's facility off the Spintext Road - were finding their way back into the system and enriching  some Ghanaians: including fattening the election campaign war-chests of some politicians?

This is a far more serious matter than many think it actually is. That is why the Bawumias must not make light of it.

For their own good, Bawumia & Co need to end the speculation about the exact roles they played, in the redenomination of the cedi - by directly addressing the issues raised by their critics and political opponents: and establish the fact that indeed there was no impropriety on their part whatsoever in that exercise.

Ghanaians need to know that a potential vice president of the Republic of Ghana - who is forever alleging corruption by his political opponents is not actually a wolf in sheep's clothing himself.

After all, it is possible that he could be sworn in as vice president of the Republic of Ghana, on 7th January, 2017, by the Chief Justice. Let no one forget that.

Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o: asem kesie ebeba debi ankasa.