When The Incompetent Calls The Competent ‘Incompetent’

‘Competence’ isn’t necessarily a new word to us, is it? But you’ll agree with me that it has gained currency in our political landscape over the last couple of weeks. It started when Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, the vice presidential candidate of the NPP threw the first salvo after the 2016 budget presentation. And quite expectedly, the President responded when he addressed his teeming supporters at the Trade Fair Centre during the round-up of the NDC’s Greater Accra tour. A colleague claims he saw me smirk anytime the issue was being discussed on radio, and quite frankly, I was amused at the brouhaha. Depending on where your allegiance lies, it is a case of the proverbial pot calling the kettle black, hence the title of this piece. Who is the pot? Who is the kettle? You’ll soon find out as I share my musings in the next few paragraphs.

‘Light aba…light aba’ is the popular refrain one hears children scream when lights are restored after being taken for some 24 or more hours. The impact of this current energy crisis has been disastrous. Companies have folded up, workers have been laid off, salaries of some workers haven’t been reviewed upwards, and other effects of this crisis go unabated. A colleague who celebrated the first anniversary of his marriage over the weekend has had cause to throw away the wedding cake kept in the fridge in commemorating this event. That’s how bad this energy situation has affected even mundane activities. And even the emergency short term measures being put in place like the Ameri gas turbines and the Karpower power barge are fraught with corruption – allegedly. But that is for another discussion.

Speaking of the perception of corruption, haven’t they assumed legendary status under this administration? The seeming lack of political will to nip it in the bud is nauseating. After about two years when the first order was made, the President is still reminding the Attorney-General to retrieve monies illegally paid to Alfred Woyome, Agams Group and Jospong Group under the GYEEDA and SADA scandals, Subah Infosolutions et al. Does this portray to Ghanaians as one that is serious about fighting the canker? And to think it couldn’t get any worse, 116 metro mass transit buses were branded with pictures of our heads of state at a colossal cost of about GHS 31,000.00 each. Yes, GHS 31,000.00 ‘choppable’ Cedis oo! The intent to even justify this absurdity makes me develop a ball in my throat. Don’t we have any right thinking individual in the Ministry of Transport to reason that the country could have generated, rather than spent money by selling those spots to companies for advertisements, and the money used in repairing the many buses sitting forlorn at the MMT yard? At a time when many schools still operate under trees, teachers’ motivation allowance have been scrapped, and PURC has increased the prices of utilities by about 60%+ due to indebtedness, this government still forks out GHS 3.6m to brand buses? Have we lost our minds? What will the faces of these head of states on the buses do for us, at a time the country is reeling from mismanagement of the economy? Have you realized it’s only one coloured picture amongst several ‘black and white’ ones? And you wonder why many graduates are unable to raise capital to fund their start-ups? The already high interest rate which was recently increased by the central bank, to curb the ever increasing inflation rate. Their cluelessness on how to halt our currency’s depreciation sprint needs no belabouring. And supporters of the NDC, including its leader cry foul when Dr. Bawumia describes their administration as incompetent? Which other word best describes this?

You see, I agreed with Dr. Bawumia because he was right. But I also agreed with the President when he also called Dr. Bawumia and the NPP leadership incompetent, because he was also right. The intolerance of the leadership of the NPP led to the death of its Upper East Regional chairman through an acid bath. It also led to the death of a party faithful at Asawase when some constituency executives marched in solidarity with the suspended national chairman, Paul Afoko. And just about a fortnight ago, they continued with their suspension spree with Kwabena Agyapong and Sammy Crabbe falling victims. We await the next victim.Arthur Kennedy? Stories that put the party in a negative light are heard every other day. If it is not party faithfuls gone wild at the party headquarters, or the violent activities of the Invincible Forces, then it is one party stalwart challenging the authority of the leadership of the party. Just last week, a statement purporting to be the report of the adhoc committee tasked to investigate the ‘Ecobank saga’ was released by Nana Akomea, the Communications Director of the party. I had a gut feeling a negative story was going to follow. The statement which sought to exonerate the Acting Chairman and Treasurer from any wrongdoing was shot down by the chairman of the committee, Nana Ohene Ntow. And that’s not all; Kwabena Agyapong has also refuted claims by the party for his suspension. Does this smack of a government in waiting?

The NPP were relatively better managers of the economy when they handled it between 2001 and 2008. They seem to have the men with economic management know-how. It was during their reign that stability of our currency, and improvements in the economic indicators were chalked. Interestingly, they seem not to have the men with tolerance and conflict resolution skills. They are going into the election year with a seemingly divided front. But can a team unable to unite the rank and file of the party, but rather fuel violence be able to govern this nation without tearing it apart?

They are going to an election with a party that seems to know how to win elections, and are poised to do that again. They turned fortunes around in 2012, by vigorously campaigning and winning elections in just three months. It has been attributed to some ‘sympathy’ votes due to the death of Prof. J.E. A. Mills. But be that as it may, they sold that message well and won with it. Just recently, the President launched a book titled ‘Accounting to the People’, cataloguing his government’s achievements in sectors such as education, health, energy et al, since his coming into office. He was bold enough to add locations of this infrastructural developments for doubters to verify. All they need do is use state monies, in printing as many copies that will ensure every house in Ghana gets a copy, in a bid to ensuring transparency in this government. The result will be that people will cast weird looks at whoever insinuates that the Mahama administration has done ‘nothing’ to deserve another term in office. The activities of the opposition will almost come to naught, but it still doesn’t change the fact that they have grossly mismanaged the economy and are perceived to have indulged in massive acts of corruption. Indeed, a statement attributed to the minority leader in Parliament, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu gives credence to this in which he confirms that Mahama has worked but has also ‘cheated’ Ghanaians. You see, what the NPP lack are appealing policy alternatives, like the proposed reinstatement of allowance for teachers and nurses when indeed the purpose for their establishment are now irrelevant. The other day, Dr. Bawumia delivered what was supposed to be an alternative budget, but it turned out to be a quasi-political platform speech. Many people I spoke to couldn’t call it an ‘alternative budget’, save for the die-hard NPP sympathizers.   

The only seemingly competent alternative is the PPP led by Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom. But this competence is only seen to be exhibited on social media where multitudes ‘like’ his every post, but how many of these ‘likers’ will actually vote for him in 2016? Will he be able to garner as many votes as his numerous Facebook likes. Can his inability to galvanise support from the masses be deemed incompetence?    

Regrettably, I will vote an ‘incompetent’ party into power on the 7^th of November, 2016. That which will soothe the pain will be to vote the least incompetent amongst them to continue the sail of the Ghanaian ship, and so should you. But before you do, have a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!