Dr. Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe and Brigade. Gen. Joseph Nunoo Mensah have jointly expressed concern about the state of the country and emphatically state that, the current rampant corruptions ongoing in the country under President Akufo Addo Administration is giving them sleepless night.
“Infact, in this old age of ours, we don’t sleep soundly at night.
Ghana has been riddled with perceived corruption of political public office holders, amassing unexplained wealth, tribalism, being nepotistic and parochial in their interest, especially under this regime of President Akufo-Addo. How do Ministers stash cash in foreign and local currencies in their homes, acquire properties in prime areas of Accra and other parts of the country, drive the most luxurious cars and live extravagantly and expect our youth who remain largely without meaningly employment to be satisfied”.
They made this known at a press conference organized to express their worries about happenings in the country today and it’s effects on political stability under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo.
“These are critical warning signs going to destroy the security of the state. We need to pay critical attention to these”.
Presenting a press statement, Dr. Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe emphasized that, the Akufo-Addo he knew and had numerous dialogues and demonstrations with, is not the same Akufo-Addo who is President today.
“What many Ghanaians may not remember is that Brig. Gen. Nunoo Mensah was the Campaign Manager of President Akufo-Addo in 1998 in the NPP’s Presidential Primaries. I was also a member of that team too; and so, we know what we are talking about”.
Below is the full press statement :
SPEECH CURRENT HAPPENINGS IN GHANA AND ITS EFFECTS ON POLITICAL STABILITY
By Dr. Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe and Brig. Gen. Joseph Nunoo Mensah.
Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the media. Myself and my brother, friend and fellow statesman, Brigadier General Nunoo Mensah have assembled you here to apprise the people of Ghana; both home and abroad, about key happenings in our dear country, for which if care is not taken, could plunge us into the abyss or chaos.
Our observations in this paper are candid and we don’t want to mince any words by hypocritically turning a blind eye to current occurrences in this dear country of ours.
POISONED POLITICAL ATMOSPHERE
We accepted to embark on the journey of political freedom with the return to democracy in the Fourth Republic in 1992. Before then, many countrymen of our generation and others now in their middle-age will attest to having experienced so much difficulties and turmoil in the 1960s, 70s and 80s; of course with the exception of the countable periods of democratic governments enjoyed before the Jerry Rawlings coup of December 1981.
Brig. Gen. Nunoo Mensah here has experienced all the coups that happened in Ghana, starting from 1966 and with a rich experience of having been twice, the Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces.
And logically, it is important his wise counsel is listened to.
Ideally, we should be happy and watch with satisfaction the present democracy we are enjoying. However, the experiences of myself and Brig. Gen. Nunoo Mensah here in the Dark Days of this dear country of ours give us cause to worry.
Infact, in this old age of ours, we don’t sleep soundly at night.
Ghana has been riddled with perceived corruption of political public office holders, amassing unexplained wealth, tribalism, being nepotistic and parochial in their interest, especially under this regime of President Akufo-Addo.
How do Ministers hoard stash of cash in foreign and local currencies in their homes, acquire properties in prime areas of Accra and other parts of the country, drive the most luxurious cars and live extravagantly and expect our youth who remain largely without meaningly employment to be satisfied.
These are critical warning signs going to destroy the security of the state. We need to pay critical attention to these.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Akufo-Addo I know and had numerous dialogues and demonstrations with is not the Akufo-Addo who is President.
What many Ghanaians may not remember is that Brig. Gen. Nunoo Mensah was the Campaign Manager of President Akufo-Addo in 1998 in the NPP’s Presidential Primaries. I was also a member of that team too; and so, we know what we are talking about.
LET’S NOT FORGET OUR HISTORY
As a young medical doctor in the Ghana Army, I experienced despicable disobedience within the ranks, tribal considerations by the leadership of the day in decision making and these are manifesting today.
In my book; NEVER SAY DIE, I catalogued my experience within the period, ultimately my imprisonment in Nsawam and how this country that we fought and toiled for to have this democracy restored is being destroyed through personal interests.
CORRUPTION BY POLITICAL CLASS
To tell you plainly, if the corruption among the political class is not tackled, then we will be in trouble. As a leading founding member of the New Patriotic Party, I am worried how leading figures in the ruling party’s presidential primaries are now publicly confessing these acts of corruption with accusations of siphoning of public money and coffers to resettle their families abroad, acquiring properties while the people of Ghana largely suffer.
Ladies and Gentlemen, recent abuse and arrests of demonstrators by the police only goes to attest to the fact that this Government is doing all it can to clampdown on public sentiments because of the bad management of the economy by its appointees.
PROTESTS AND BOG
We have noticed with grave concerns, the clear disrespect shown by the Governor of the Bank of Ghana to protestors led by the Minority. It cannot be true that the Occupy BOG demonstrators were solely on any political agenda when they were joined in the march by other well meaning Ghanaians to show their indignation against actions taken that have led to losses to the taxpayer.
We should bare in mind, these are members of parliament representing Ghanaians too.
Demonstration, in so far as they are peaceful should be allowed by the Ghana Police Service because it is a democratic right enshrined under the 1992 Constitution. Like already indicated, we embarked on many of them with the current president while we were opposition leaders of the Great NPP.
Governor Ernest Addison should be told in the face that his lack of courtesy towards the demonstrators is a clear exhibition of disrespect in the highest order.
RESPONSIBILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICE HOLDERS
Elsewhere in the developed world, public officers like him, whether elected or appointed, tend to adopt a more conscionable posture of RESIGNATION when deep crisis arise. Let us give you some few examples; in 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned because of stress levels of his office. We all know the story of Kwasi Kwarteng who resigned his role last year as Finance Minister due to his policy objectives which gained disapprovals among the British people. And there are a number of such actions in other developed democracies.
Ladies and Gentlemen, incompetence and inefficiencies should not be condoned in public office as far as the output of such officers impoverish ordinary Ghanaians. If you can’t do the work, resign… it is that simple.
YOUTH, LEADERSHIP AND PATRIOTISM.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we need youth, leadership, and patriotism because young people are the future. They are the ones who will inherit the world and face the challenges of tomorrow. The current generation of politicians and other leaders should refrain from joining the bandwagon of greedy, corrupt and uncultured miscreants causing chaos and disruption in the political space. On this, we wish to condemn an attack or invasion of the UTV Studios last Saturday night by holigans of the New Patrotic Party during the airing of their flagship programme; United Showbiz.
We encourage young people to be tolerant of divergent views no matter how disappointed they are and not resort to violence as a measure to seek redress.
Political Parties should provide young people with opportunities to develop their leadership skills and help them to understand their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
JUDICIARY AND NEGATIVE PUBLIC PERCEPTION
Series of Afrobarometer Surveys have always shown the Ghanaian people having a reducing trust for the judiciary and perceiving it to be riddled with corruption.
Ladies and Gentlemen, whether that is true or not, also depends highly on how the whole judiciary headed by the Chief Justice exhibit these examples in their work; especially in the adjudication of cases; both of public interest and normal ones.
Over the last few years, we have seen party thugs invade a functional court in session, yet nothing was done to them. Clearly a blot on our recent history are the hoodlums who committed brutalities during the Ayawaso West By-election and yet again, nothing happened to them. An elected MP has been asked to attend daily sittings, yet no one finds anything wrong with that; and as usual, life goes on.
Let us be frank with you our brother and sisters, these incidents and many others not mentioned are creating acute trust and fairness problems for Ghana’s fragile democracy.
I personally was at the memorial service of our three judges who were gruesomely murdered in 1993 under clandestine orders. And as a firm believer of justice, truth and fairness, we expect our judiciary to live up to the standards expected of them. Currently, there is the perception that even intake of students into the Ghana School of Law with its accompanying cumbersome selection process is highly tainted with parochialism, negotism, tribalism and all kinds of experiences.
Indeed, some who go through these unfair processes in their quest to be lawyers, come to narrate their experiences to us.
REFORMS
We need to change our state of governance by tackling the WINNER TAKE ALL SYNDROME. Let’s push for the election of MMDCEs as originally planned to make government appointees more accountable to the voters.
A BIASED ELECTORAL COMMISSION
The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) has been responsible for the conduct of all public elections and referenda in the country since its establishment in 1993. However, in recent years, the EC has been criticised for its poor performance, which has led to doubts about the credibility of Ghana’s electoral process.
One of the most significant criticisms of the EC is its lack of transparency. The EC has been accused of being secretive in its decision-making process and of failing to adequately consult with stakeholders. This has led to a loss of trust in the EC and has created suspicions that it is biased in favour of the ruling party.
Not to talk about the appointment of party apparatchiks by the President.
We find it difficult to believe the belligerent posture of the EC towards concerns from stakeholders during the just ended voters registration exercise.
This is very worrying. The poor performance of the EC is a serious challenge to Ghana’s democracy ahead of the 2024 General Election.
Here are some specific recommendations for improving the performance of the EC:
The EC should be made more independent by amending the constitution to require that the EC’s members be appointed by an independent body.
The EC should be more transparent and accountable to the public by regularly publishing information about its activities and finances.
The EC should establish a more effective system for handling complaints and grievances.
The EC should conduct regular audits of its operations to identify and address weaknesses.
CONCLUSION
We need to be on the alert knowing that there are constant military overthrows in Africa. The very reasons why these coup d’etats are happening are also being experienced in this country. So, the Government should address these important matters as we head into 2024 as an election year.
We need all those individuals who constantly spoke truth to power some years ago to emerge from their self-imposed exile to speak to the government. Where are the Otabils, Duncan-Wiliams, Rev. Marteys, the many civil society organisations and critical journalists. We need to speak truth to power to help maintain the peace we have.
Thank you.
