4 Names Drop In Race For Veep

Published in Daily Guide on July 26, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Just a day after President John Dramani Mahama took over the reins of power, interesting names have started popping up as likely contenders for the position of vice president, following the vacuum created by his elevation occasioned by the death of President Atta Mills.
President Mahama presided over an emergency cabinet meeting where he prayed for the repose of the soul of his former boss.
However, jostling for the coveted slot of vice president has intensified, as names being bandied about on the corridors of power include Paul Victor Obeng, a former presidential advisor and current chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).
Others are Trade Minister Hannah Tetteh; Lands and Natural Resources Minister Mike Allen Hammah and Goosie Tanoh of the defunct National Reform Party (NRP) fame.
Apart from P.V. Obeng who comes from the Ashanti Region, the three others are from the Central Region and there are indications that the home region of the departed president may have the slot.
Mr Hammah who comes from Winneba appears to stand tall among all the names mentioned.
Strangely, former Communications Director for the late president’s campaign team, Seth Ohene Ofori said four days to the demise of President Mills, people had started jockeying for the position of vice president.

Goosie Tanoh and Mike Hammah

That notwithstanding, “I think he would look at it carefully. He will pick someone who is very competent, someone who can partner him to ensure that Ghana moves forward without any disruption,” he told Joy FM yesterday.
“I know President John Mahama very very well. I think he will pick someone that Ghanaians will be happy (with); someone who will meet the aspirations of Ghanaians; someone who can deliver and make the ‘Better Ghana Agenda’ a reality,” he said.
Asked whether or not it was true that President Mills was at a point in time considering stepping down- a reason for which people could be jostling for a possible vice presidential slot- Mr Ofori said, “It’s difficult to give you a yes or no answer, very difficult.
“Politics, you know, is quite an interesting thing. Any development comes with its reaction and definitely people try to look at the future and see where they can position themselves,” he noted.
But sources in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) have hinted that those being pushed by the ‘hawks’ in the party include P.V. Obeng and Agric Minister Kwesi Ahwoi (the youngest of the Ahwoi brothers). But moderates in the NDC are pushing the likes of Hannah Tetteh and Member of Parliament for Ellembele, Emmanuel Armah Buah.
Ekwow Spio-Garbrah’s name also popped up, but allegedly from a pastor and the Rawlings camp.
Another view gaining grounds in the party is not just the intention but the need to use the situation as an opportunity to extend an olive branch to the NDC founder and former President Rawlings by making his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings as the vice president to enable them to join the NDC 2012 campaign, which they have declined to be part of.
This is expected to meet a stiff opposition from the hawks in the party who feel the Rawlingses have already jumped ship with the formation of the National Democratic Party (NDP).
The president is set to meet the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NDC today to fashion out ideas on who to settle on as a possible vice president.
Cabinet Meeting
An emergency cabinet meeting at the Osu Castle was graced by senior party officials including NDC General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia.
President John Mahama, ministers and senior party officials were all clad in red and black and in a somber mood.
The president prayed that the adversity that had hit the country shall be turned into an opportunity for the masses of Ghanaians.
President Mahama cancelled his day’s activities, including a trip to Tamale.

What Killed Mills – JJ Speaks

Published in Daily Guide on July 26, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu 

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has blamed handlers of the late President John Evans Atta Mills for not giving him proper counseling, which situation led to his sudden death on Tuesday.
Rawlings said President Mills’s death could have been avoided if officials of the administration were more open about his health condition.
“It was quite a shock to both my wife and I but it was not unexpected because he’s been battling the cancer for quite a while,” Mr Rawlings said in a widely broadcast interview on BBC yesterday.
Speaking from Congo Brazzaville where he and his wife Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings were participating in activities marking the launch of Forbes Africa, Mr. Rawlings, founder of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), of which President Mills was leader until his untimely death, said, “Quite frankly, I think had he (referring to the late president) been advised and done something wiser earlier on, he could probably have survived for…I don’t know, another six-seven months I guess. This is certainly the wrong time for him to go considering that election is around the corner in December.”
 Mr Rawlings and his wife were in that country at the invitation of President Denis Sassou N’Guesso.
Information picked up by DAILY GUIDE from the presidency indicated that the late President Mills started shivering last Friday and the situation got worse on his birthday, Saturday July 21, when he turned 68.
He was however said to have been rushed to the 37 Military Hospital on Tuesday when he started coughing and vomiting blood.
Even as he was being rushed to the hospital, our information is that he was made to sign a letter to the Speaker of Parliament that he was going to Nigeria.
Consequently, Rawlings noted: “It got too tight; it got extremely tight and the poor professor has passed away.”
Asked whether he was concerned about the upcoming elections, he said, “yeah, both of them are, actually”, leaving the interviewer without a clue as to who the other person he talked about was- whether it was his wife who is said to be eyeing the presidency or leader of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo.
On the legacy Mills had left for Ghana, the former president had this to say: “He’s played his part. I think as my vice president, he was indeed one of the finest but there again, considering that the cancer affected both his eye and his ear.”
Mr Rawlings said, “He couldn’t sustain three hours per day; so it was naturally going to affect his performance and that’s why I think he would have done just as well or even better.
“The only unfortunately thing is that…some of the cold-blooded killings that took place before we came into office could not be re-investigated. I would have wished that he had really done that but let’s see what can be done with the time that’s left.”
On the question of whether he considered his one-time Communications Minister and newly sworn-in president, John Dramani Mahama as a man of vision who could make the country move forward, Mr. Rawlings was emphatic: “I don’t know but I hope so.”

NDC Plot Backfires

Published in Daily Guide on July 17, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
A press conference organised by government to supposedly expose the flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in the ongoing judgment debt saga, turned out to clear him of any wrongdoing.
Deputy Information Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa had served notice of government’s preparedness to expose Nana Addo’s involvement in a massive judgment debt scandal which eventually turned out to be his advice as then Attorney-General and Minister of Justice for government to pay an amount of $1.1million to the Great Cape Company of Switzerland.
What baffled most was that the substantive Minister of Information, Fritz Baffour, had to introduce his deputy minister, Ablakwa, to address the press conference whilst he acted as MC for the occasion.
Before his appointment as a minister, Fritz Baffour had told a gathering at La Palm Beach Hotel in 2010 that his constituents called him MC MP, indicating that he is known best at emceeing at public functions.
When Mr Ablakwa took the microphone to engage in political equalisation, he virtually ended up exonerating Nana Addo.  “We haven’t said that Nana Addo has engaged in any wrongdoing,” he said, indicating that it was an attempt to draw Nana Addo into the judgment debt saga.
Okudzeto, who is leading the NDC propaganda in the judgment debt conundrum, was answering a question on whether or not the NPP presidential candidate committed any wrongdoing in recommending the payment to the Swiss company.
Present were Deputy Interior Minister Kobby Acheampong and Kojo Twum-Boafo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Free Zones Board (GFZB) and other members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) communications team and some party footsoldiers.

Fritz Baffour listening to Okudzeto Ablakwa yesterday

Ablakwa and his other colleague Deputy Information Minister, James Agyenim Boateng, quoted two letters dated April 18, 2001 and October 3, 2011 written and signed by Nana Akufo-Addo in which he sought to confirm the country’s indebtedness to the said company.
The Controversial Letter
In the recent of the two letters which they claimed was an indictment on the flagbearer in supporting the payment of judgment debt, addressed to Dr Nat Tanoh, which he copied then Attorney-General Martin Amidu and Finance Minister Kwabena Duffuor and captioned ‘Re: Letter and signature’; Nana Addo stated, “This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 20^th September 2011, requesting my assistance in the settlement of government’s long-standing indebtedness to Great Cape of Switzerland.
“I am somewhat disturbed by its contents, which have led to the unusual request contained in the letter. It is disconcerting that public record keeping has fallen into such straits that the files on this matter cannot be found either in the Ministry of Justice or in the Ministry of Finance. Be that as it may, it would be unconscionable on the part of government if its own poor record keeping is used to defeat legitimate claims of its creditors.”

Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa

He continued, “I have a vague recollection of the transaction, and can readily confirm that the signature on the letter ILD/SCR/002 dated 18^th April 2001, addressed to the Minister of Finance, attached to your letter, is indeed mine.
“I am also sending a copy to the Minister of Finance. I hope this is satisfactory for your purpose.”
This, according to Mr. Ablakwa, was an indication that “he (Nana Addo) had been busily advocating behind the scenes that the Great Cape Company of Switzerland be paid an additional $1,117,818.45 in what he calls Great Cape’s legitimate claims.”
When confronted with the issue of whether or not the NPP flagbearer indeed committed any wrongdoing, Mr Ablakwa said, “Indeed, we have said in the statement that we are not here to pass judgment. We are only applying the NPP’s logic on them that in the face of this new revelation, will all their standards apply… that if you agree with a company’s claim, if you say that the company has a legitimate claim on government then it means you are in for kickbacks, then it means that they are your cronies, you have share in it, you are a stealer and all of that.”
“We are only asking questions… that this is only a judgment or a liability press conference because as we speak, Isofoton was demanding $1.3million. These people are also demanding $1.1million and as the NPP flagbearer has said, it is unconscionable not to pay them. We have to pay them. It is another judgment debt,” he said.

Fiifi Kwetey’s Face-Off
Another Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Fifi Kwetey, who was also at the function, had a brush with Richard Sky of Citi FM when the latter questioned government’s condemnation of what it claimed to be “illegal abrogation of contractual obligations” when indeed the same NDC government had abrogated a petroleum agreement with a Norwegian company AKER ASA and Chemu Power Company Limited, in respect of the South Deep Water Tano Contract Area which was unanimously ratified by Parliament.
He sought to expose government’s double standards in accusing NPP of abrogating legitimate contracts.
Fifi Kwetey sought to rubbish his claim, treating it with pettiness whilst raising doubts about the journalist’s integrity, claiming that he was seeking to justify a wrongdoing.
The journalist described the deputy minister’s reaction as pedestrian, a comment which attracted condemnation from Mr. Ablakwa.
Interestingly, somewhere last year, Mr Ablakwa claimed on Radio Gold’s ‘Alhaji and Alhaji’ programme that government’s decision to abrogate the petroleum agreement with AKER SA had earned the country “over $1billion” as contained in the following internet link http://business.peacefmonline.com/industry/201108/60099.php
The unfounded accusation against Nana Addo, political analysts believed, was aimed at equalising the Woyome judgment debt scandal of GH¢51.2 million in which Woyome personally denied having any contract with government.

Kufuor Minister’s For Woyome Trail

Published in Daily Guide on July 12, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

After subjecting them to all sorts of harassment and portraying them as common criminals, the Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government is making frantic efforts to get some officials of the erstwhile Kufuor administration to testify as witnesses in the ongoing Woyome trial.
This was after several attempts by the State to get prosecution witnesses to testify in the case failed, a source at the High Court told DAILY GUIDE.
The former government officials being pursued by government to help prosecute the case against the NDC financier who has been accused of fraudulently pocketing GH¢51.2million, are former Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, Osei Bonsu Amoah, his colleague at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu and former Finance and later Education and Sports Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo.
DAILY GUIDE learnt that Mr Amoah would appear today at the Fast Track High Court trying the case.
The trial court issued a subpoena for the aforementioned individuals to appear before the court today, Thursday, July 12, 2012 at exactly 9:00am and serve as prosecution witnesses.
A copy of the subpoena seen by DAILY GUIDE, dated Tuesday, July 9, 2012 and signed by Chief State Attorney Cynthia Lamptey, for Attorney-General Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, was given to the witnesses.
According to the source, the Attorney-General was compelled to resort to the issuance of a court order after initial attempts to get the former government officials to testify on behalf of the State failed due to the manner in which some of them were treated.
Mr. Amoah, for instance, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aburi-Nsawam, was arrested and detained.
The last time the case went to court, the presiding judge, Justice John Ajet-Nasam, had cause to express worry and disappointment about the manner in which State prosecutors were handling the case.
“Is the State serious in prosecuting the matter?” the judge asked after Mathew Amponsah, a Chief State Attorney, prayed for an adjournment because the State had not been able to fully confer with the witnesses who were also to tender relevant documents on the case.
The trial judge wondered why the State, which at the last hearing claimed it had witnesses to testify in the case, made a sudden u-turn with the excuse that the witnesses it wanted to use were out of the jurisdiction and therefore needed time.
However, Justice Ajet-Nasam said, “I am not doing your case for you anyway but I believe we can do this quickly and finish this case in the interest of Mother Ghana.”
It is not clear if the officials of the former administration will be forthcoming with information or act as hostile witnesses.
Woyome claimed that he had no contract with the state but succeeded in walking away with GH¢51.2million.
The money was said to have been fraudulently paid to him.

JJ Meets NDP Chiefs

Published in Daily Guide on July 9, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Credible information picked up by DAILY GUIDE indicates that former President Jerry Rawlings has been holding a series of meetings with interim executive officers of the newly-formed National Democratic Party (NDP), which broke away from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Sources said he first met them in his office on Thursday, on arrival into the country from his trip abroad; and subsequently met other interim officers from selected regions including Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Central, Upper West and Northern regions on Friday together with his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, at the North Ridge office of the 31^st December Women’s Movement (DWM).
Further meetings were held on Saturday to conclude the party’s registration process.
At the time DAILY GUIDE got to the office of the 31^st December Women’s Movement on Friday, they were said to be locked-up in a marathon meeting.
This was followed by another meeting on Saturday with another set of NDP officials.
Spokesman for the Rawlingses, Kofi Adams and other influential members of the group who had either resigned or left the NDC, were said to be present at various times, with the meeting lasting several hours.
The meeting, according to a source, was to among other things strategise on how to roll out a comprehensive and vigorous campaign across the length and breadth of the country ahead of the 2012 elections, and embark on an intensive membership drive to strengthen their support base.
Joseph Bediako, a member of Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings (FONKAR), told Rok FM in Takoradi that the former first family was part of the new party.
This ran counter to the position of the NDC that the association of Mr Rawlings, who is the NDC founder, to the NDP, was mere speculation.
“Over the past few days, the Secretariat of the NDC Headquarters has been approached by numerous media houses to comment on the reported formation of a new political party which is being associated with former President JJ Rawlings who is the Founder of the NDC.
“The NDC regards the reported association of our former President to the new party as mere speculation and will not make any statement on the matter until the former President himself comes out. All who speak in the name of the NDC in this matter must therefore do so with circumspection and to remain focused on what the Mills Administration has achieved in the face of daunting challenges,” a statement signed by Richard Quashigah, Propaganda Secretary said.
The continuous silence of the Rawlingses on speculations that they were behind the formation of the NDP had given many reason to believe they were indeed the brains behind the party.
Though no physical structure (in terms of building) had yet been sighted of the NDP, indications were that the party had interim officers in all 10 regions of the country and were seriously working to win more souls, especially disgruntled members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) into their fold.
This was in view of the fact that most or virtually all the founding members of the NDP were former members of the ruling NDC who were either on suspension for one reason or the other, or had left the ruling party out of frustration.
Former General Secretary of the NDC and now interim Chairman of the NDP, Dr Nii Armah Josiah Aryeh, had indicated that the ideology of the newly formed party was to protect Ghanaians with emphasis on the under-privileged in society.
Contrary to suggestions that the NDP was formed to scuttle the front of the ruling party, Josiah Aryeh maintained that the primary objective of the party was to become the people’s choice of a governing party.
The NDP has a logo that depicts a white rising dove with the famous ‘Gye Nyame’ symbol in its beak and colours similar to that of the NDC; red, green, white and black.

NDP Is Light Weight
Though the Electoral Commission is yet to issue the NDP with a certificate to operate as a full-fledged political party, some members of the Mills-led NDC administration including Deputy Information Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa have sought to ridicule the formation of the party.
“I do not think the NDP has the capacity to organize and win elections in 2012 – it is still-born really,” he said on Joy FM/MultiTV current affairs programme, Newsfile on Saturday.
He said the NDC was still not sure whether the Rawlingses were indeed behind the party, adding that the NDC had issued a statement to say the founder, Mr. Jerry John Rawlings, had not indicated to the party he was leaving.
Okudzeto Ablakwa noted that even if the Rawlingses did not campaign for the NDC this year, that was not a guarantee the NDC would lose, saying that in 2000 and year 2004, the Rawlingses were on the NDC campaign trail and yet the party lost on both occasions, suggesting the former first family had little impact on the NDC’s fortunes.
The deputy minister said the National Reform party (NRP) dealt a serious blow to the NDC in 2000 because its members then were cadres who could organize at the grassroots level, but the people linked to the NDP so far were top brass NDC members who did not have the capacity and personnel to organize.
“So far we have not been able to count even five disgruntled leading members of the NDC linked to the NDP and there is nobody that can convince me that they can organize and make any impact.”

Panic Over Konadu Party

Published in Daily Guide on July 6, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu 

The seat of government, the Osu Castle, was said to have been thrown into a state of shock yesterday when news of the formation of a new political party, the National Democratic Party (NDP), by some of its disgruntled members was made public.
Sources at the Castle said influential members of government made several calls to Dr Nii Armah Josiah-Aryeh who has been named Interim Chairman of the NDP (shares name with Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak’s party) yesterday in a bid to get him and his colleague founding members to rescind their decision.
Dr Josiah-Aryeh is said to have described the NDC as a cancerous disease. “They say they intend to find cure for the disease, but they don’t know they are the disease themselves,” he was reported to have said.
A meeting was said to have been hurriedly organized at the plush presidential resort, the Peduase Lodge at Kitase near Aburi in the Eastern Region for NDC strategists to fashion out ways to neutralize the effect of the new party.

Dr Nii Armah Josiah-Aryeh

But Dr Josiah-Aryeh was said to have turned down the invitations and propositions from the Presidency.
The yet-to-be launched NDP, linked to the Rawlingses, is gradually taking shape with the emergence of the names of some interim officers to steer its affairs.
Dr Josiah-Aryeh and Dr Rockson Mamboa have been named its interim Chairman and General Secretary respectively.
Member of Parliament for Lower Manya, on the ticket of the NDC, Micheal Teye Nyaunu, who spoke on Citi FM, said, “I’m in the tracks, running fast towards that place” in response to the question of whether he intended to join the breakaway party.
He would resign from the ruling party when he finally takes a decision to join the NDP after consultation with his constituents.
The Electoral Commission has confirmed receiving the application from the promoters of the NDP.

Jerry John Rawlings

Sources said latest news of the move undertaken by the former NDC members to register the NDP came as a surprise to government since many thought of it as a mere threat to scare the NDC.
The NDP has as its logo a dove holding the ‘Gye Nyame’ (Except God) symbol with its beak in the same black, green, red and white colours as the NDC’s.
Officials of the NDC are jittery about the formation of this new party and are tight-lipped over the issue.
Fear factor
NDC National Chairman and Propaganda Secretary, Dr Kwabena Adjei, and Richard Quashigah declined to comment when DAILY GUIDE reached them for their thoughts in view of the fact that most of the founding members of the NDP were from the NDC.
“I have to know what is coming out first…I say I want to know what is happening first; I won’t respond now. I wish them good luck,” said Dr Adjei.
Mr Quashigah, a former reporter with Radio Ghana, noted, “Well, it is of no consequence to me so I have no comment…I don’t think the NDC has anything to do with some individuals who are believed to be forming a political party. After all, everybody has freedom of association.”
Sources said the decision to form the NDP by the disgruntled NDC members was borne out of frustration and the neglect of the core values of the ruling party by the Mills administration as often said by the NDC founder, Jerry John Rawlings and his wife, Nana Konadu, who had virtually become strangers in their own party.
They said the party had been hijacked by “greedy bastards”.
Founding members of the NDP are tight-lipped over details about its leaders.
Dr Josiah-Aryeh, a law lecturer, is a former General Secretary of the NDC.
Shortly after the 2004 elections, he was suspended from his position following allegations of intended defection for pecuniary gains.
He had since not been too active in politics though he was occasionally seen at functions organized by the Rawlingses.
Little is known about the political background of Dr Rockson Mamboi except for the fact that he is considered one of the political strategists for Mrs. Rawlings.
Former NDC Parliamentary candidate for Ayawaso Central, Dr. Kwasi Ofei-Agyeman, who is part of the founding members of the NDP, indicated that they were waiting for the issuance of a certificate from the EC to roll out their next plan of action and begin an effective campaign towards the 2012 elections.

Konadu Party Out

Published in Daily Guide on July 5, 2012

 By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Today is likely to see an end to months of speculations about the formation of a new political party, the National Democratic Party (NDP), by elements in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Information gathered by DAILY GUIDE and confirmed by the Electoral Commission (EC) indicates that some founding members of the yet-to-be launched party stormed the EC office yesterday to present details of the NDP.
They will pick up their forms from the EC today.
Reports reaching DAILY GUIDE indicate that the development has come as a shock to the presidency.
It is believed that most of the founding members of this new party are disgruntled members of the NDC who have left the ruling party out of frustration and the neglect of the core values and principles of the NDC.
The delegation was said to include Dr Kwasi Ofei-Agyemang, former NDC parliamentary candidate for Ayawaso Central, Dr Rockson Mamboi and one Mr Tetteh, all associates of former First Lady and President of the 31^st December Women’s Movement (DWM), Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings.
Nana Konadu was also a vice chairman and vied for the flagbearership slot of the NDC against President Atta Mills.
According to the source, they were waiting for the EC to issue them with a provisional certificate to operate as a political party.
It is expected to be followed with an official announcement at a press conference at a location in Accra when granted.
The party has as its logo; a flying bird similar to the one on top of the famous umbrella of the NDC, using the same black, green, red and white colours as the ruling party.
The only difference is that the bird, a dove in the NDP logo, is holding on to the ‘Gye Nyame’ symbol with the motto ‘Justice, Unity, Peace and Progress.’
It is believed that Mrs. Rawlings is behind the formation of the new party.
What is not certain is whether former President Rawlings, who has virtually become a ‘stranger’ in the party he founded, will be part of this new party.
Information indicates that a popular musician has been contracted to make a jingle for the NDP and will be aired in the coming days to set the stage for a vigorous campaign ahead of the 2012 elections in December.
A week or two ago, spokesperson for the Rawlingses, Kofi Adams, dropped hints of the likelihood of the formation of a new political party.
Though he did not say whether it would involve the Rawlingses, he told Adom FM’s ‘Dwaso Nsem’, “Don’t be surprised if a new party is formed with the intention of salvaging an existing party.”
He however indicated that others who believed in the principles underlying the June 4 and 31st December revolutions could also be planning to form parties.
“When we get there, we will see what happens. People have the right to form parties. If they are going through the proper processes to form a party, I will endorse it,” he said.

400 Cars For NDC Footsoldiers

Published in Daily Guide on July 4, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

The forecourt of Ghana’s Parliament has virtually been turned into auto base shop where about 400 brand new Hyundai Verna saloon cars are being sprayed and converted into taxis.
For over a year that the vehicles had been there, questions were posed regarding their destination but now one theory appears to hold sway.
Latest information gathered by DAILY GUIDE indicated that the over 400 saloon cars were intended for distribution to some selected supporters (foot-soldiers) of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), a distribution which would come with a lot of challenges since more were unlikely to benefit from it.
The party had previously distributed Hyundai I10, popularly called ‘Atta Cambu,’ to the foot-soldiers and serial callers including media friends in some media houses.
It comes ahead of the 2012 polls, raising suspicions that it is intended to influence people including taxi drivers into voting for the NDC.
This is in view of the fact that similar distributions of items had gone on in other sectors like fisheries where outboard motors and fishing nets were distributed to influence fishermen into voting for the NDC.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a deputy Minister of Information, announced on Saturday on Joy FM’s ‘News File’ that 35,000 chicks would be distributed to poultry farmers as part of the Better Ghana agenda.
A certain retired officer of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), whose name was given as Pius, was said to be in charge of the vehicles which, according to sources, would be distributed as loans by the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC).
MASLOC was initiated by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration in 2006 as a body responsible for implementing government’s microfinance programmes to reduce poverty, create jobs and wealth.
But issues have been raised about the extent of abuse of the scheme as most of its beneficiaries have often been party faithful who usually do not repay the loans.
When DAILY GUIDE visited where the cars were parked, yesterday, some young men were busily spraying them into white and yellow taxis, embossing them with 2012 commercial number plates and installing taxi lamps on them.
A list of likely beneficiaries was said to be ready for the distribution in the coming days.
Attempts to speak with Information Minister Fritz Baffour and his two deputies, Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa and James Agyenim-Boateng, for clarification proved futile.
A bodyguard of the minister said he was in a meeting whilst his deputies did not answer calls put to their mobile phones even though they went through.

Nana Storms Taifa

Published in Daily Guide on July 3, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The entire community of Taifa, a suburb of Accra, and its surrounding areas came to a standstill yesterday when the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, with his able lieutenants, attended a mammoth rally by the local party people.
Nana Akufo-Addo joined members of the Dome-Kwabenya constituency to launch the campaign of the party’s Parliamentary Candidate for the area, Sarah Adwoa Safo.
The mammoth crowd went berserk when Nana Addo arrived at the venue amidst spontaneous cheers and chants of ‘Paapa o dende, Paapa o dende!”
Not even the intermittent downpour in the Taifa area where the rally took place could dissuade the party faithful from turning out in their numbers to grace the occasion, with some having to climb trees and roof tops to view proceedings.
Amazed at the turn-out of party faithful, he said, “I thought I was coming for a constituency rally but what I have seen has amazed me.”
When Nana Akufo-Addo took the microphone to speak, the adrenaline in him was almost visible as he took direct hits at the Mills administration’s mismanagement, rubbishing in particular, its unfulfilled promises to Ghanaians.
Better Ghana Agenda Under Attack
In his delivery, he described the Mills administration’s ‘Better Ghana’ mantra as a failure, noting, “The ‘Better Ghana Agenda’ is a failure; the Better Ghana Agenda has failed”, whilst stating that “the ‘I care for you’ slogan is now a cynical and cruel joke.”
This, he said, was because under President Mills and his ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), the living conditions of Ghanaians kept degenerating from bad to worse, following astronomical increases in the cost of utilities and petroleum products.
He called on Ghanaians to vote for him and the NPP, so that together they could move the country forward.
Nana Addo re-stated his commitment to making jobs available for the youth when elected president, saying, “That would be my number one priority.”
Education, he noted, would receive a prominent position in his agenda under which he pointed at his free Senior High School module.
“This would prepare our country for the new economy and new era,” he said.
Teachers, he said, would have a new deal through enhanced conditions of service as a way of motivating them to give off their best.
He paid glowing tribute to former President Kufuor for the achievements he chalked during his term of office, saying, “Kufuor brought one of the greatest institutions to our country, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), to help the sick. Mills is spoiling it”.
He promised that an Akufo-Addo led government would rejuvenate the scheme to enable it to play its role in medical care delivery in the country.
Speaking about himself, he said, “I am not Mills” who makes unfeasible promises.
The Comparison  
Unlike President Mills who promised to reduce prices of petroleum product, yet the prices kept skyrocketing, Nana Addo said he would keep to his promises.
Given the continuous increases in the price of cement, he said the youth would find it very difficult to put up buildings now that cement was selling at GH¢25 whilst recalling President Mills’ campaign promise to put money in people’s pockets.
“Have you had such monies put in your pockets? We have just returned from Kyebi and over there, there is nothing like that. What the people there have are holes in their pockets.”
In the face of challenges, he however stressed, “There is a bright future. What we need is a leadership that can turn things around.”
He told his audience that he was not seeking the presidency to amass wealth but to use his talents in the service of the nation.
He said doling out money in the name of judgment debts would not be part of his agenda.
He later introduced Adwoa Safo as the next MP for the Dome-Kwabenya constituency, to a rousing ovation.
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor did not also mince words when he took over the stage, reprimanding the Mills administration for authorizing payment of a whopping GH¢51.2million judgment debt to Alfred Agbesi Woyome, while in another breadth, claiming that the economy they inherited was in shambles.

Convictions
Given the conditions on the grounds in the country, the former president, whose address attracted loud cheers from the audience, said victory was staring NPP in the face.
He was of the firm conviction that when such victory was bestowed upon the NPP, the country would witness a steady progress in its affairs.
He rubbished the argument by members of the Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) that since he (Kufuor) and Rawlings were given two-terms each to serve as President, President John Evans Atta Mills should equally be given the same opportunity, noting with emphasis, “That is a lie. A good play starts early in the morning. Our first three years showed signs of promise.”
Had the Constitution demanded presidents to enjoy two straight terms, Mr Kufuor said that would have been specified clearly in the document.
“You get one term and when the people are satisfied with your work they give you another. That is the position of the Constitution,” he said.
On the occasional comparison between his first three years in office and that of his successor President Mills, he said the two were incomparable. “During our first three months in office we took the difficult decision to taking the country to HIPC and with this we had our debts cancelled,” he noted.
He recalled how lucky he was to have dedicated ministers such as Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who is leading the NPP into the 2012 elections and others with whom he steered the affairs of the country forward.
He was of the belief that when given the mandate to steer the affairs of the nation, Nana Akufo-Addo would not countenance the payment of bad judgment debts such as those doled out to Woyome, Messrs Construction Pioneers (CP) and others.
Instead, he indicated that the loans which during his tenure were given to women would be resuscitated when Nana Akufo becomes president.