SO FAR, SO GOOD
… Says Okudzeto Ablakwa
Posted:The Chronicle | Friday, September 11, 2009
By Charles Takyi - Boadu
The Mills administration has assured Ghanaians that it is on course to fixing the broke economy left for them by the previous administration. A Deputy Minister of Information, Okudzeto Ablakwa told a news conference in Accra yesterday, that “the better Ghana we promised is on course to be delivered.”
Ablakwa, who was commenting on the achievements of the government, noted that they were proceeding slowly, but steadily. “We will fulfill our promises to the people of Ghana, despite the present economic difficulties,” he said.
The Deputy Minister indicated that the government had managed to engage a sizeable number of the country’s teeming youth in the Youth in Agriculture Programme (YAP) it promised in its manifesto.
According to him, over 300 of these organised youth, who are working on the Block Farm Concept (BFC) deployed at Damongo in the West Gonja District, have cultivated a total of 1,440 hectares of land.
1,200 hectares of the land is said to have been used to cultivate maize, whilst 200 hectares has been used to cultivate rice, with the remaining 40 hectares used for Soya bean cultivation.
In all this, he said, those involved did not have to put in a pesewa up till this stage, since the government provided them with tractors to plough the land, while seedlings, fertilisers and pesticides were also supplied.
In order to sustain the programme, he indicated that the various groups were required to pay the input costs after harvesting.
This, according to him, had created jobs for the inhabitants, including holiday jobs for school pupils who have been engaged to administer fertilisers, weed the farms, and provide other services.
Mr. Okudzato said a similar programme had also been rolled out in the Komenda, Potsin in Gomoa West, Gomoa East and Agona East areas of the Central Region, stressing that a total of 100 hectares had been ploughed in Komenda and ready for planting, 30 hectares in Gomoa West, 72 hectares in Gomoa East, and 40 hectares in Agona East.
When the programme becomes fully operational across the country, the Minister said a total of 14,000 hectares of land would have been cultivated, thereby creating more than 20,000 job opportunities periodically.
For this reason, the government is said to have made provision for an amount of GH¢10.7 million, looking forward to the programme offering tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs to not only the youth, but the general public.
The Northern, Upper East and West, Brong Ahafo, Ashanti, Central and Volta regions have been slated to benefit from the programme when it finally becomes fully operational. To enable the Mills administration realise its objective of food security and reducing poverty drastically, as promised on page 51 of the NDC’s ‘Better Ghana’ manifesto, Mr. Ablakwa said the government had taken the issue of irrigation development very serious, since agric contributes 35% of the country’s GDP, and employs some 60% the people.
The government thus intends to complete the required feasibility study and detailed designs for the first phase of 5,000 hectares under the Accra Plains Irrigation Project, by the end of this end of this year, to enable it to undertake the project.
Furthermore, the government is said to be rehabilitating 70 breached dams in the three regions of the north.
When completed, these dams are expected to put 360 hectares of land under irrigation. These areas can engage in dry season farming, with its attendant economic and social benefits to the people and the country as a whole.
Meanwhile, the government is currently sourcing for funds for the construction of two fishing harbours and 12 landing sites, at a total cost of $200 million.
In addition to these interventions, which are aimed at addressing the challenges of safety and post harvest losses, the government intends to build six cold stores in selected fishing communities, with a €7million loan facility from the Spanish government.
In order to effectively patrol and protect the country’s marine domain, two out some six patrol boats, which are being acquired for the Ghana Navy, are expected in December 2009, to augment their fleet.
The two boats, which have been paid for already, are expected to help the Ghana Navy enforce the country’s fisheries laws, and also protect its fishermen who have suffered from heavy lights thrown at sea by big trawlers, and the activities of pair trawlers.
The government has also offered farmers a 50% subsidy on fertilisers, as a result of which GH¢10 million has been released to support the subsidy payment, with the hope that this would contribute to the expected expansion in agricultural production.
The Deputy Minister cautioned those he described as ‘nation-wreckers,’ who had started making plans to smuggle the fertilisers bought at subsidized rates across the borders, that the security agencies are on high alert at all entry and exit posts, and ready to arrest and prosecute anyone caught in the act.
On the issue of narcotics drugs, Mr. Ablakwa said, “I am happy to report to the people of Ghana, that President John Atta Mills is on course to redeeming his campaign pledge that he will not allow this country to be turned into a haven for the narcotics trade.”
In furtherance of the NDC’s pledge, and the President’s personal commitment to the fight against drugs, he emphasised that the NDC government had initiated very effective and practical steps towards dealing with the drug menace.
According to him, the government was not only demonstrating the required political will, but also implementing very key strategies and measures aimed at combating the very disturbing drug problems it inherited as a government.
These measures, he said, include skills training, exposure to modern techniques in fighting narcotic drugs, and steps to transform the Narcotics Control Board into an autonomous commission, are yielding very positive results that Ghanaians are generally very proud of.
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Monday, September 14, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Ghana@50 probe
MPIANI SOLD GOV'T CARS
… but Fairllop fails to pay government despite 20% discount offer
Posted: The Chronicle | Wednesday, September 9, 2009.
By Charles Takyi - Boadu & Kleran Canning
Details have started emerging about the ‘strange’ circumstance under which the Government of Ghana (GoG), through the Ghana@50 Secretariat sold back some of the cars used during the celebration of the country’s 50th independence to companies who made the initial purchase for the government.
Documents in the possession of The Chronicle show a clear case of discrimination against some of the companies involved. Out of the numerous companies contracted by Ghana@50 Secretariat, only Fairllop International limited, which was given the opportunity to supply the state with 40 Jaguar X-type vehicles for the celebration, at a unit cost of US$36,600.00 - totalling US$1,464,000.00 was giving the opportunity to buy back the cars at a 20% discount.
Fairllop is owned by Eric Agyemang, nephew of the former Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs, Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani, who doubled as the Chairman of the Planning Committee of the Ghana@50 celebrations.
The government sold 35 slightly used cars at US $28,000.00 each to Fairllop, which had purchased the same cars for the Secretariat. The company was asked to make a 20% down payment of the amount involved. Payment for the remaining 80% was to be made by September 30, 2008.
One L.B Tusoe, the Chief Director at the office of the then Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs was ordered to take the necessary steps to change the ownership of the cars to Fairllop, at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).
Despite these arrangements, Fairllop did not pay a pesewa for the purchase of the cars. It also did not pay the 20% down payment, yet the ownership of the 35 cars were changed into its (Fairlop) name.
Meanwhile, companies like Svani limited, which supplied 50 units of Mercedes Benz to the event organisers at a price of 66,900.00 Euros per unit, was made to purchase 45 of those cars back, without any discount, as in the case of Fairllop which was given a 20% discount, a clear case of discrimination. Svani limited, however, managed to pay the total of US$3.763.125.00 whilst the debt of Fairllop remains outstanding.
When he appeared before the Commission of Inquiry investigating the Ghana@50 celebrations last week, Chief Executive Officer of Fairllop, Eric Agyemang, explained that when they had the offer to purchase the cars, they wrote to government indicating their intention to use an amount of US$93,684.21 which government owed them to offset the 20% of the down payment.
He claimed the amount was the exchange rate differential for the payment of the cars which remains outstanding. Though he did not receive any response from government as to whether or not it agreed to his proposal to use the said amount owed him to defray the cost, Mr. Agyemang assumed that government had agreed to the proposal.
According to him, the company was expecting the payment of an amount of US$732,000.00 from the Secretariat, as the remainder of the outstanding arrears for the purchase of the 50 cars, but government ended up paying less.
Asked whether he notified the Secretariat about this exchange rate price differential, Mr. Agyemang responded in the negative, since according to him, at that time the Chief Executive, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby was not available, a situation he himself admitted should not have prevented his company from putting it into writing, since in his absence the Secretariat was still running.
According to the CEO of Fairllop his company proposed to the Transitional team that they are ready and willing to return the cars to government upon reconciling their accounts, subject to government approval.
He however, noted that his company has not received any response from government to that effect, and therefore asked government, if possible, to come for the cars since they were not able to sell them, in order to settle their indebtedness of a whopping US $1,00800.00 to the state.
If deductions are made from the exchange rate differentials, Mr Agyemang said Fairllop owes government US$108,000.00. Taking into consideration the fact that one takes risks in any business venture, Chairman of the Commission, Justice Duoso asked the company to hold onto its risks, and further asked them to take steps to negotiate their liability.
Meanwhile, Kieran Canning reports that the administrator of the district assembly common funds was given a stern examination yesterday into his role in the Ghana@50 souvenir scandal.
Administrator of common fund
On a day when the Ghana@50 Secretariat’s lavish expenditure on luxury cars was again highlighted, it was Mr. Joshua Magnus Nicol, the common funds administrator, who received the harshest criticism from the commission panel.
Mr. Nicol announced that the staggering sum of GH¢5,160,000 had been spent o the production and transportation of plastic cups. He defended this inordinate figure by saying that a cup had been made for every school child registered in Ghana, with the intention that the cups would be kept as a commemorative souvenir of this critical date in Ghana’s history.
Mr. Nicol said that deductions had been made for the cost of the cups from the common fund given to every district assembly in the country. However, he admitted that he had neither gained consent from District Coordinators nor checked that all the assemblies had received the cups before deducting the cost from their fund.
Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong led the condemnation of Mr. Nicol’s role in the debacle. She pointed out that many assemblies that have been called before the commission did not receive the correct number of cups or in extreme cases had received no cups at all.
Moreover, she said the unit price of 0.97GHp had not been communicated to the assemblies and that in many cases the cups had not even been distributed through the Ghana Education Service to the school children, but had been used at public functions instead.
Mrs. Appiah-Opong then questioned Mr. Nicol as to how he thought such a huge expense on plastic cups could be in the interest of the social & economic development of Ghana. A defiant Mr. Nicol claimed that the cups were useful in the social development of the school children as they were a symbol of a landmark time in Ghana’s history that they had lived through.
A clearly irked Mrs. Appiah-Oppong denounced Mr. Nicol’s reasoning as she responded:
“I do not agree with you that spending GH¢5,160,000 on cups, which districts tell us did not even reach the children, institutes development.”
Justice Isaac Duose also criticized Mr. Nicol for his complacency in refusing to ensure that all cups had been delivered to the assemblies. Mr. Osei Tutu Prempeh laid one final blow by slamming Mr. Nicol for allowing some GH¢1,600,000 to be spent on the transportation of the cups without looking for more affordable alternatives.
Mechanical Lloyd
The spotlight was also put on the Ghana@50 Secretariat for the expenses they incurred in buying luxury cars for the celebrations in 2007.
In a well composed presentation before the commission, Mr. Terence Ronald Darko, Managing Director of Mechanical Lloyd, said that the Secretariat entered into an agreement with his company to buy fifty BMW saloon cars for ?53,293(GH¢114,353) each, a total cost of ?2,664,650 (GH¢5,720,173).
Mr. Darko stated that 50% of the payment due was received by Mechanical Lloyd in February 2007. However, with the remaining 50% due to the company February 2008, the secretariat agreed a deal with Mechanical Lloyd to sell back twenty-five of the cars. In a complex deal the company surprisingly agreed to buy back the cars at the same price they had sold them for a year earlier.
Mr. Darko explained that this decision was taken only because the Secretariat, with the backing of the government, agreed that Mechanical Lloyd would pay no import duty or VAT on the vehicles.
Of the remaining twenty-five cars, ten have remained in the possession of the presidential office whilst Mechanical Lloyd was commissioned to sell the other fifteen. Mr. Darko confirmed that eleven of the fifteen cars have been sold at the unit price of ?45,000.
Mr. Darko then confirmed to the relief of the commission that no debts remain outstanding from either party, joking that the only thing his company owes the government is tax.
In two more shoddy submissions before the commission, representatives of Interplast Ltd and Bx4 Company Ltd. appeared confused at to how much money is still owed to them by the Ghana@50 Secretariat.
Mr. Sivnesh Kumar, District Manager of Interplast Ltd, claimed in his submission that the Secretariat still owed his company the sum of $49,687USD for windows supplied for a housing project in 2007.
However, upon inspection of the company’s records by the panel Mr. Kumar made an embarrassing u-turn, accepting that the debt owed flowed from a separate contract with the AUDCL project, who admitted last week before the commission that they still have debts outstanding to pay.
Mr. Steve Adika, Projects Director for Bx4 Co. Ltd, also made a major gaffe when he accepted that the Secretariat had never signed the contract he had been working from for the past three years.
In his submission before the panel, Mr. Adika claimed that his company was owed the sum of GH¢104,376. This sum comprised of an outstanding payment for work done of GH¢72,700 plus interest incurred on a bank loan and an interest rate outlined in terms of the unsigned contract.
The panel made it clear to Mr. Adika that the terms of the contract which he had referred to could not be relied upon as he had no evidence that the Secretariat had ever signed the contract.
Mr. Adika accepted his grave error but outlined his intention to recover the GH¢72,700 debt due him for work done.
… but Fairllop fails to pay government despite 20% discount offer
Posted: The Chronicle | Wednesday, September 9, 2009.
By Charles Takyi - Boadu & Kleran Canning
Details have started emerging about the ‘strange’ circumstance under which the Government of Ghana (GoG), through the Ghana@50 Secretariat sold back some of the cars used during the celebration of the country’s 50th independence to companies who made the initial purchase for the government.
Documents in the possession of The Chronicle show a clear case of discrimination against some of the companies involved. Out of the numerous companies contracted by Ghana@50 Secretariat, only Fairllop International limited, which was given the opportunity to supply the state with 40 Jaguar X-type vehicles for the celebration, at a unit cost of US$36,600.00 - totalling US$1,464,000.00 was giving the opportunity to buy back the cars at a 20% discount.
Fairllop is owned by Eric Agyemang, nephew of the former Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs, Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani, who doubled as the Chairman of the Planning Committee of the Ghana@50 celebrations.
The government sold 35 slightly used cars at US $28,000.00 each to Fairllop, which had purchased the same cars for the Secretariat. The company was asked to make a 20% down payment of the amount involved. Payment for the remaining 80% was to be made by September 30, 2008.
One L.B Tusoe, the Chief Director at the office of the then Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs was ordered to take the necessary steps to change the ownership of the cars to Fairllop, at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).
Despite these arrangements, Fairllop did not pay a pesewa for the purchase of the cars. It also did not pay the 20% down payment, yet the ownership of the 35 cars were changed into its (Fairlop) name.
Meanwhile, companies like Svani limited, which supplied 50 units of Mercedes Benz to the event organisers at a price of 66,900.00 Euros per unit, was made to purchase 45 of those cars back, without any discount, as in the case of Fairllop which was given a 20% discount, a clear case of discrimination. Svani limited, however, managed to pay the total of US$3.763.125.00 whilst the debt of Fairllop remains outstanding.
When he appeared before the Commission of Inquiry investigating the Ghana@50 celebrations last week, Chief Executive Officer of Fairllop, Eric Agyemang, explained that when they had the offer to purchase the cars, they wrote to government indicating their intention to use an amount of US$93,684.21 which government owed them to offset the 20% of the down payment.
He claimed the amount was the exchange rate differential for the payment of the cars which remains outstanding. Though he did not receive any response from government as to whether or not it agreed to his proposal to use the said amount owed him to defray the cost, Mr. Agyemang assumed that government had agreed to the proposal.
According to him, the company was expecting the payment of an amount of US$732,000.00 from the Secretariat, as the remainder of the outstanding arrears for the purchase of the 50 cars, but government ended up paying less.
Asked whether he notified the Secretariat about this exchange rate price differential, Mr. Agyemang responded in the negative, since according to him, at that time the Chief Executive, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby was not available, a situation he himself admitted should not have prevented his company from putting it into writing, since in his absence the Secretariat was still running.
According to the CEO of Fairllop his company proposed to the Transitional team that they are ready and willing to return the cars to government upon reconciling their accounts, subject to government approval.
He however, noted that his company has not received any response from government to that effect, and therefore asked government, if possible, to come for the cars since they were not able to sell them, in order to settle their indebtedness of a whopping US $1,00800.00 to the state.
If deductions are made from the exchange rate differentials, Mr Agyemang said Fairllop owes government US$108,000.00. Taking into consideration the fact that one takes risks in any business venture, Chairman of the Commission, Justice Duoso asked the company to hold onto its risks, and further asked them to take steps to negotiate their liability.
Meanwhile, Kieran Canning reports that the administrator of the district assembly common funds was given a stern examination yesterday into his role in the Ghana@50 souvenir scandal.
Administrator of common fund
On a day when the Ghana@50 Secretariat’s lavish expenditure on luxury cars was again highlighted, it was Mr. Joshua Magnus Nicol, the common funds administrator, who received the harshest criticism from the commission panel.
Mr. Nicol announced that the staggering sum of GH¢5,160,000 had been spent o the production and transportation of plastic cups. He defended this inordinate figure by saying that a cup had been made for every school child registered in Ghana, with the intention that the cups would be kept as a commemorative souvenir of this critical date in Ghana’s history.
Mr. Nicol said that deductions had been made for the cost of the cups from the common fund given to every district assembly in the country. However, he admitted that he had neither gained consent from District Coordinators nor checked that all the assemblies had received the cups before deducting the cost from their fund.
Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong led the condemnation of Mr. Nicol’s role in the debacle. She pointed out that many assemblies that have been called before the commission did not receive the correct number of cups or in extreme cases had received no cups at all.
Moreover, she said the unit price of 0.97GHp had not been communicated to the assemblies and that in many cases the cups had not even been distributed through the Ghana Education Service to the school children, but had been used at public functions instead.
Mrs. Appiah-Opong then questioned Mr. Nicol as to how he thought such a huge expense on plastic cups could be in the interest of the social & economic development of Ghana. A defiant Mr. Nicol claimed that the cups were useful in the social development of the school children as they were a symbol of a landmark time in Ghana’s history that they had lived through.
A clearly irked Mrs. Appiah-Oppong denounced Mr. Nicol’s reasoning as she responded:
“I do not agree with you that spending GH¢5,160,000 on cups, which districts tell us did not even reach the children, institutes development.”
Justice Isaac Duose also criticized Mr. Nicol for his complacency in refusing to ensure that all cups had been delivered to the assemblies. Mr. Osei Tutu Prempeh laid one final blow by slamming Mr. Nicol for allowing some GH¢1,600,000 to be spent on the transportation of the cups without looking for more affordable alternatives.
Mechanical Lloyd
The spotlight was also put on the Ghana@50 Secretariat for the expenses they incurred in buying luxury cars for the celebrations in 2007.
In a well composed presentation before the commission, Mr. Terence Ronald Darko, Managing Director of Mechanical Lloyd, said that the Secretariat entered into an agreement with his company to buy fifty BMW saloon cars for ?53,293(GH¢114,353) each, a total cost of ?2,664,650 (GH¢5,720,173).
Mr. Darko stated that 50% of the payment due was received by Mechanical Lloyd in February 2007. However, with the remaining 50% due to the company February 2008, the secretariat agreed a deal with Mechanical Lloyd to sell back twenty-five of the cars. In a complex deal the company surprisingly agreed to buy back the cars at the same price they had sold them for a year earlier.
Mr. Darko explained that this decision was taken only because the Secretariat, with the backing of the government, agreed that Mechanical Lloyd would pay no import duty or VAT on the vehicles.
Of the remaining twenty-five cars, ten have remained in the possession of the presidential office whilst Mechanical Lloyd was commissioned to sell the other fifteen. Mr. Darko confirmed that eleven of the fifteen cars have been sold at the unit price of ?45,000.
Mr. Darko then confirmed to the relief of the commission that no debts remain outstanding from either party, joking that the only thing his company owes the government is tax.
In two more shoddy submissions before the commission, representatives of Interplast Ltd and Bx4 Company Ltd. appeared confused at to how much money is still owed to them by the Ghana@50 Secretariat.
Mr. Sivnesh Kumar, District Manager of Interplast Ltd, claimed in his submission that the Secretariat still owed his company the sum of $49,687USD for windows supplied for a housing project in 2007.
However, upon inspection of the company’s records by the panel Mr. Kumar made an embarrassing u-turn, accepting that the debt owed flowed from a separate contract with the AUDCL project, who admitted last week before the commission that they still have debts outstanding to pay.
Mr. Steve Adika, Projects Director for Bx4 Co. Ltd, also made a major gaffe when he accepted that the Secretariat had never signed the contract he had been working from for the past three years.
In his submission before the panel, Mr. Adika claimed that his company was owed the sum of GH¢104,376. This sum comprised of an outstanding payment for work done of GH¢72,700 plus interest incurred on a bank loan and an interest rate outlined in terms of the unsigned contract.
The panel made it clear to Mr. Adika that the terms of the contract which he had referred to could not be relied upon as he had no evidence that the Secretariat had ever signed the contract.
Mr. Adika accepted his grave error but outlined his intention to recover the GH¢72,700 debt due him for work done.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Ghanaians must appreciate Mills' effort to stabilize economy
-Kakra Essamuah
Posted: The Chronicle | Thu, 03 Sep 2009
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Former Youth Activist of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and now a sympathiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Kakra Essamuah says Ghanaians must appreciate the prudent economic measures that President Mills and his government are putting in place to bring the economy back on track.
He has therefore asked all Ghanaians to give him ample time to fulfil the promises he made to Ghanaians, since according to him, it was too early for anyone to make a fair assessment of the regime.
Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle, Mr. Essamuah said the Mills administration must be given time to put the economy back on track, saying “it is too early to expect too many things from the government now.”
For him, some of these criticisms are unnecessary because they are not premised on empirical evidence, but mere speculations and hallucinations.
According to him, the impression was created that the economy was in good shape at the time the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was leaving power, when they rather left the economy in a bad shape.
For this reason, Mr. Essamuah noted that fixing the economy would take time and, therefore, urged all Ghanaians to rally behind the President and his government, since according to him, “patriotism dictates that we give Professor Mills a little more time to prove himself.”
Mr. Essamuah, who was expelled from the NPP for declaring an open support for then Candidate Mills, prior to the 2000 general elections, was however optimistic that President Mills and his government would be able to deliver, since they cannot afford to disappoint the hopes and aspirations of Ghanaians.
“I know he will”, he said, asking The former NPP kin pin assured all Ghanaians and Mills' critics to give him and his government between 18months to 2years to deliver.
When he appeared on Radio Gold's '60 minutes' programme somewhere last week, Mr. Essamuah noted that Professor Mills has been the most suitable man for the position of President of Ghana. He argued that the man is a thorough-bred politician who was a Vice President before becoming President, thereby preparing him well for the job.
Asked what made him declare an open support for Professor Mills' candidature prior to the 2000 general elections, Mr. Essamuah said “the very things that Ghanaians saw in him and voted for him in 2008, I saw those things as far back as 2000.”
He denied being influenced by tribal considerations to support the then Candidate Mills, stressing that it was not part of his intention.
Mr. Kakra Essamuah further noted that he is motivated by the love for his neighbours to make some of the decisions he makes in life, stressing that he concerned about those who think about others and not themselves.
Asked what he makes of Mr. Kufuor and the previous NPP administration, Mr. Esaamuah described Mr. Kufuor as an interesting person, and with a very nice and amiable character.
According to him, whilst former President Rawlings' grip on the NDC weakened considerably after he had left power, Kufuor's grip of the NPP started weakening when he was in power.
This, he said was evident in the fact that all the people Mr. Kufuor supported for various positions in the party lost, with the latest being his opposition to the expansion of the NPPs electoral college which suffered a major setback. “Within his own party, I don't know how they view him”, he said.
That notwithstanding, he said Mr. Kufuor has been a successful politician since he achieved the ultimate goal of becoming President. He also denied being a member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) or any other political party, but was certain that he would soon join the NDC.
According to him, he stopped being a member of the NPP since October 2000, a decision that he said was made for him by the party.
Posted: The Chronicle | Thu, 03 Sep 2009
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Former Youth Activist of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and now a sympathiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Kakra Essamuah says Ghanaians must appreciate the prudent economic measures that President Mills and his government are putting in place to bring the economy back on track.
He has therefore asked all Ghanaians to give him ample time to fulfil the promises he made to Ghanaians, since according to him, it was too early for anyone to make a fair assessment of the regime.
Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle, Mr. Essamuah said the Mills administration must be given time to put the economy back on track, saying “it is too early to expect too many things from the government now.”
For him, some of these criticisms are unnecessary because they are not premised on empirical evidence, but mere speculations and hallucinations.
According to him, the impression was created that the economy was in good shape at the time the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was leaving power, when they rather left the economy in a bad shape.
For this reason, Mr. Essamuah noted that fixing the economy would take time and, therefore, urged all Ghanaians to rally behind the President and his government, since according to him, “patriotism dictates that we give Professor Mills a little more time to prove himself.”
Mr. Essamuah, who was expelled from the NPP for declaring an open support for then Candidate Mills, prior to the 2000 general elections, was however optimistic that President Mills and his government would be able to deliver, since they cannot afford to disappoint the hopes and aspirations of Ghanaians.
“I know he will”, he said, asking The former NPP kin pin assured all Ghanaians and Mills' critics to give him and his government between 18months to 2years to deliver.
When he appeared on Radio Gold's '60 minutes' programme somewhere last week, Mr. Essamuah noted that Professor Mills has been the most suitable man for the position of President of Ghana. He argued that the man is a thorough-bred politician who was a Vice President before becoming President, thereby preparing him well for the job.
Asked what made him declare an open support for Professor Mills' candidature prior to the 2000 general elections, Mr. Essamuah said “the very things that Ghanaians saw in him and voted for him in 2008, I saw those things as far back as 2000.”
He denied being influenced by tribal considerations to support the then Candidate Mills, stressing that it was not part of his intention.
Mr. Kakra Essamuah further noted that he is motivated by the love for his neighbours to make some of the decisions he makes in life, stressing that he concerned about those who think about others and not themselves.
Asked what he makes of Mr. Kufuor and the previous NPP administration, Mr. Esaamuah described Mr. Kufuor as an interesting person, and with a very nice and amiable character.
According to him, whilst former President Rawlings' grip on the NDC weakened considerably after he had left power, Kufuor's grip of the NPP started weakening when he was in power.
This, he said was evident in the fact that all the people Mr. Kufuor supported for various positions in the party lost, with the latest being his opposition to the expansion of the NPPs electoral college which suffered a major setback. “Within his own party, I don't know how they view him”, he said.
That notwithstanding, he said Mr. Kufuor has been a successful politician since he achieved the ultimate goal of becoming President. He also denied being a member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) or any other political party, but was certain that he would soon join the NDC.
According to him, he stopped being a member of the NPP since October 2000, a decision that he said was made for him by the party.
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