In the last 23 months, Akufo Addo and his family members in his government have removed virtually every hurdle to create their own Ghana and ensuring that any conceivable future President or government will follow their instructions. By creating new holidays and removing those they ththe ink demean their royal status Akufo Addo and his henchmen have sent the message out loud and clear to Ghanaians that henceforth they do not serve the constitution of the republic, but their traditional rules and principles.
But What Is the goal that Akufo Addo believes is now in sight? Behind the camouflage of his grandiose delusions and so far unfulfilled promises lies a single unswerving aim. That is to build a Danquah/Akufo Addo empire. There are hints of this in his speeches, but 23 months into Akufo Addo’s reign one does not need these pointers to understand the kind of Ghana that Akufo Addo and his family intend to build. These issues can no longer be ignored. Akufo Addo is leading Ghana into deadly peril. If he continues down this dangerous road, Ghana’s failure as a state is guaranteed.
Let us look at where he has taken Ghana in the past 23 months. Distorting the fact that Nkrumah is the founder of Ghana,has established a regime of absolute terror based on the idea of zero tolerance for political dissent, introduction of political vigilantism.
The Akufo Addo government is beginning to look as beleaguered as Busia’s was between 1969 and 1972. Busia who was highly respected because of his academic backgrounds, his political pronouncements and how he projected himself, ended up the most disrespected Head of Government (Prime Minister) and received serious image bruises in office. The political messiah was later rated among the first ten political demons in the world. Acheampong’s coup received massive public endorsement because of Busia’s human right abuses, bad economic policies and bad foreign policies. The President and his cousin made their pro-Danquah plans clear in their maiden addresses (State of the nation, and the first budget reading)
The next President (Government) after Akufo Addo will inherit huge challenges because of this government’s policies and decisions.
Our historians are quiet, our intellectuals have lost their voices, our churches including the various religious councils have stopped discussing political issues. The few courageous ones who intermittently touch on these issues make sure they do so without offending the President and his party. Some consider party and tribal interest over national interest. Some help change our documented historical facts in their lecture rooms and some men of God use their sacred pulpits for this evil agenda.
The question is, why did Acheamppng introduce his Operation Feed Yourself?, Why did his administration introduced the “y3n Ntoa” policy, why were school children made to crack Palm kernel etc. Why were these decrees passed, abandoned properly decree, Ghana Commercial Bank Amendment decree, Ghana Export Promotion Council Amendment decree, Post and Telecommunications corporation decree, University students Credit Scheme decree, National Liberation Council (Removal of Restrictions and transfer of Assets and Bank Account decree, University Students Credit Scheme decree, Ghana Teaching Service Amendment decree, Capital Gains Tax Decree, Mineral Duty decree , Beer Special Tax Decree, Income Tax Amendment decree.
Apart from these remedial measures and decrees, the Acheampong government had to introduce the following policies to save the dying economy it inherited from Busia, the Investment Policy Decree, Ghana Enterprises Development decree etc. The operation feed yourself concept was quickly introduced to tackle the problem of food shortage.
The Acheampong government in order to create incentives for saving in the inflationary situation, minimum deposit rates were increased and as a corollary, the ceiling on general lending rates was raised from 10 percent to 121/2 percent. The administration had to introduce new taxes up government revenue and to compensate for the loss in revenue from collapsing cocoa as a result of bad policies by the Busia administration, there was an upward revision of import duties, excise duty, personal income tax etc.
Busia enjoyed same public support and intellectuals support Nana enjoyed the first year of his administration. The man who was rated among the finest democrats in Africa bastardised all state institutions, issued threats, sacked workers who opposed his policies, warned judges and attacked the TUC. Busia who in opposition expressed his support for a free and independent Labour movement and promised the TUC high salaries, started harassing the Union’s leadership and repealed the Compulsory TUC membership. He clashed with the judges in the famous Sallah case and warned the judges that “No court can enforce any decision that seeks to compel the government to employ or deploy anyone”
The Busia administration implemented the aliens compliance order. By 1971 the man who vehemently criticised Nkrumah for borrowing for infrastructural development, had inflated our debt by $72 million in accrued interest payments and $296 million in short term interest. The administration imposed austerity measures as part of its IMF recommendations. The middle class, the intellectuals etc etc who supported Busia’s anti Nkrumah agenda were also severely affected by their ally’s bogus policies. The administration’s wage freezes, tax increases, rising import duties, currency devaluation affected the business class and the middle class.
Attempts by Akufo Addo and his henchmen to rewrites Ghana’s history will not wash. The danger is the damages these distortions and introduction of populists and politically induced policies will inflict on the economy and the pythons they will place in the path of the country. The hastily implemented Free Secondary School Education etc if not structured properly will harm the economy as the Ken Ofori Atta rightly said.
