Dr Bawumia has begun another lie peddling crusade and our intellectuals have still not found their voices.
The growing chorus of high-decibel protests from the public including nurses, freight forwarders, drivers, farmers against the current economic hardship, rise of intolerance and corruption in government serves to underline the crass hypocrisy, blatant double standard and jaundiced perspective that [ads1]define a certain section of our intellectual community; theirs is false patois that has corrupted intellectualism in Ghana and reduced it to a term of abuse. Their activities can best be described as Machiavellian shenanigan: crafty ploy that always hype lies and distorted facts to assert ideological supremacy.
The warped intellectualism touted by these worthies does not conform to universal ethical standards nor does it incorporate the basic tenets of fair play, equality and justice. What we witnessing is partisan ideological inquisition characterised by selective moral indignation, biased criticism and targeted unsubstantiated allegations against the NDC and the Mahama administration. Bawumia is daring the NDC to mention one intervention policy or programme it implemented the eight years.
What is social intervention? According to Wikipedia, social intervention is an action which involves the intervention of a government or an organization in social affairs. Such policies can include a provision of Health care, provision of education, provision of safety regulations for employment and products, delivery of food aid etc. You cannot implement these policies without good roads. Roads are the arteries through which the economy pulses. By linking producers to market, workers to jobs, students to schools, and the sick to hospitals. Implementing Health Insurance Scheme with no hospitals to access health-care is senseless, implementing free secondary education without adequate schools to absorb the excess students is sense less, implementing health insurance scheme with huge nurses and doctors deficit is senseless.
Our intellectuals know these facts and have a proper understanding of these issues than some us but are either afraid to challenge the distortions going on, or supporting this wickedness being pepetuated on Ghanaians by this man and his cheap talkers and propagandists “silence is a form of abetment”. Nineteen (19) months in office and people who vehemently chastised the Mahama administration over loans it contracted for developmental projects have borrowed over fifty billion cedis (Ghc 50 billion) and our so-called intellectuals are not concerned about the shift in position and the reckless borrowing. The 100 years (century) bond is nothing strange to them but had serious issues with the IMF bailout and other prudent decisions the last administration took.
Look at the situation in our secondary schools, the double track system, lack of teachers etc and Bawumia thinks we must carry them shoulder high for putting our children into this terrible situation. He should come out with the figure of the number of students attending school in the community day secondary schools, the midwifery schools, the Universities the NDC administrations established, new JSS, the Schools under trees now operating fully with modern structures. He should furnish us with the figures of patients who access health-care at hospitals the Mills/Mahama administration built. He should find out from the communities where the last administration provided them potable water, its importance to them.
These intellectuals know that infrastructure is important for faster economic growth and alleviation of poverty. The adequate infrastructure in the form of roads and railways transport system, ports, power, airports is needed for integration of the Ghanaian economy with other economies of the world. The world banks says African countries need more than $90 Billion annually for its infrastructure before the continent will see meaningful development. You don’t need witchcraft or mystical powers to check these facts. Building of rural roads, cocoa roads will benefit agriculture as farmers are able to sell their products in town where they can get remunerative prices. Besides, they can get some inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides and other industrial products at relatively cheaper prices as their transport costs decline due to improved transportation. The Mahama administration solved the decade’s old power crisis by adding more megawatts of power to what it inherited. The construction of power plants has improved our power situation. It needs to be emphasized that good quality infrastructure is important not only for faster economic growth but also ensure inclusive growth (growth are shared by majority of Ghanaians)
Thus the inclusive growth will lead to the alleviation of poverty and reduction in income inequality. The Vice President must be told that, by building infrastructure facilities, you help the small enterprises to compete successfully with large-scale industries and being Labour intensive generate large employment opportunities for the workers. This will help to alleviate the poverty in the country. In the northern enclaves of the country, the Mahama administration started expansion in infrastructure facilities such as irrigation, rural electrification, roads aimed at promoting agricultural growth and setting up agro-processing industries. The NPP promised one village one dam and one district one factory, where are the dams and the factories. These are the critical questions Bawumia must find answers to.
Cheap populism and implementation of consumptive populist policies to win votes is not social intervention. What the poor farmer and the village dweller needs is improved infrastructure to reduce their input cost and increase agriculture production and reduce traders monopoly by improving their access to the market. Nearly two-thirds of our farmers are cut off from the main markets because of poor infrastructure and Market access. Better transport means greater access to public resources including schools, hospitals, CHPS compound etc.
It follows from above that the expansion of infrastructure facilities by the Mahama administration, will ensure sustained growth of employment in agriculture and small-scale rural industries and bring prosperity in our rural areas and in this way ensure inclusive growth. Instead of making ugly noises and distracting himself, the Vice President should advise his administration to continue from where Mahama left to enable us to achieve our goals and objectives as a people.
