HANDLING THE PRESIDENT’S PHONE 30

We’re just returning from Sunyani our manifesto launch, and I must say the love is deep. Looking at the unity among our elected officials, the cohesion, the enthusiasm and the determination to retain power, coupled with the unity of the rank and file of our party, one is not lost at admiring the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

What a party we have! Executives who were elected at Kumasi are still at post. They are working as a unit and are upbeat towards delivering a resounding second term mandate to the president John Dramani Mahama.

You see, you can only be sure of victory approaching a battle with a united front. The battle can be the Lord’s. But men are expected to do their part of the promise of the Lord. When a man knows even God has denied him victory in a fight, he runs away. He engages in shadow boxing to displace the energy left. We are seeing that everyday.

With a united front that we have as a party, we cannot afford to look back as we journey into this election. The euphoria, the joy and hope on the faces of our people is remarkable. Indeed, the hope candidate John Dramani Mahama brought on the faces of the people in 2012 is still reflecting in the people as they have seen his commitment towards his words.

I have a privilege of spying the Vice President Amissah Arthur from afar. Since the last time I had the privilege of meeting him at the Flagstaff House, I have been observing him from afar. His exploits are simply amazing.

A man with so much power, yet he remains humble. Frankly, when myself and two other colleagues were ushered into his office on two occasions, they were moments of reality, of humility, and of acceptability. The atmosphere was simply accommodating and lovely. He commands smiles and presents wisdom at all times.

So I am never taken by surprise when he is reported through any media outlet of one engagement or the other with the citizens of Ghana. He is criss-crossing the country with his campaign team and reports from the grounds are really positive. The Chief Economist is working to secure a second term bid for his boss JM!

However, Vice President PK, popularly known, has been throwing some slow and hefty punches of late ooo. Massa, you cannot pretend not to notice them. I thought I was the only person who noticed them, but my very good friend and a writer under the pen name Phreddy Plies made the same observation just last week.

A certain 2nd deputy governor of our Bank of Ghana, “the junior brother of opana” Veep calls him, is running around town with figures and projecting himself as the most intelligent economist in this country. I was confused how Ghanaians would assume his intelligence surpasses that of a governor of the same bank ooooo. A governor whose administration saw single digit inflation for over 36 months.

Meanwhile, not too long ago, the same 2nd deputy governor gave an advice to the then administration (so we were told), to redenominate our Cedi as a panacea to the depreciation of the Cedi against the United States Dollar and other international currencies. Up to today, you and I do not know how much that redenomination exercise costed us. Where the old currency was destroyed under that “competent” 2nd deputy governor remains a mirage. I think Ghanaians, for the purpose of accountability, require to know what it costed the taxpayer in that exercise.

Looking at it from this angle, PK had thrown latest punches at yaaaaanom. He says we will teach them basic economics if they do not know. Sir, did you realise they were actually playing around and want to learn, so they were organizing lectures for you? I know you saw the notices of a supposed lecture to be held by PK on Thursday 15th September, 2016. Don’t be mistaken, they are only ready and willing, and in a haste to learn basic economics from PK the Vice President.

Our PK didn’t end there. He told them in the face that the NDC would not concede the word CHANGE to them because the change they seek is already happening. It is indeed true that change is happening.

Yesterday, while returning from the manifesto launch at Sunyani, we made a stop at a joint near Ejisu in the Ashanti Region to eat. While there, some of our members were in NDC branded T-shirts. The area being the strong hold of the opposition to the National Democratic Congress, some young men were at their usual best – chastising the president.

Then another person came up. He admitted he is not a member of the NDC but that, he could not refuse what is obvious. He says he is seeing development in the country upon his return from the United Kingdom. He asked which government would bring monies in the pockets of the people without working for it? Then he ask what we see when we travel to such countries. Eventually, he concluded that the development we see in those countries were made by their governments and that Ghanaians must appreciate the government for the level of development being spread across the country.

Then a colleague raised an issue after one of the people we met there was done eating. His early afternoon Fufu and grasscutter meat costed him Ghc20.00. Not only that, he arrived with a taxi to eat that amount at one instance. “How much would he wish to eat before he agrees government has done something for him”? My colleague said so not because the gentleman complained of money, but because he never seem to see anything good with all the government has done.

Then one also opined, “you people cannot come and confuse us”. In response, I told him “we are not confusing you. What you are seeing with your eyes is real. You don’t need anyone to tell you what your eyes can see. Don’t be confused sir”.

So after all, change is happening. To our opponents and especially those who have dogs back at home, they must learn one thing from them. When a dog cannot see well, it shakes its head many times allowing its ears to slap its face for several times and then it opens its eyes again to see clearly. Please, do same. You can see clearly when you meet the massive development and transformation happening in front of you after that exercise.

Yes! Finally finally! The “plagiarised” manifesto was launched. I laugh saaaaaa! Indeed, while granting an interview to Light FM, an Aflao based radio station on Saturday ahead of the manifesto launch, I was asked a question about how the NDC managed to steal the manifesto of the NPP. In my concluding submissions on that, I told the host that it was the greatest joke and must be thrown into the dustbin. But, I didn’t end there. I told him to demand from them a copy of their manifesto so that it makes it easy for us to compare and see which part were stolen. Don’t get it wrong. As someone had said, they now have the manifesto of the NDC and are ready to do what students call ‘dubbing’. They were just being smart. But, do not worry! These people would copy even the slogan “JM TOASO”.

When a political party has been reduced into a drama group, you cannot expect anything other than entertainment. It was refreshing that the long awaited manifesto was launched. It is clearly time for the party members at all levels to make efforts to appreciate the content of the manifesto so we can get it explained to those who need to know to enable them make informed decisions.

A socialist party that the NDC is, the party and government will continue to deploy development that reflects on the lives of the people of this country. The four thematic areas identified under the manifesto are significant in our drive; Investing in People, Expanding Infrastructure, Building a resilient economy and delivering Transparent and Accountable Governance. These touches on every facet of governance and president John Dramani Mahama and Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur his Vice, have solid grip of these thematic areas.

Allow them to keep a focus on press conferences and be demanding their victory from the Electoral Commission. Let us get to work. We are with the belief that the Electoral Commission would and can only declare the winner of the 2016 elections. Let us work to be declared winners on that day! We owe it a duty to Ghana, we owe it a duty to the party NDC, we owe it a duty to generations unborn and we owe it a duty to ourselves.

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