MORE LIKE IT MR.PRESIDENT

Many people have been jolted my the effusive and unannounced outburst of the President. speaking to a group of journalist who called on him at his Castle office, the president in an animated tone give a clear warning that he will not tolerate any unjustified harassment from anyone ,especially the opposition NPP whose posture since losing power has been very questionable. among his audience were a good number of media personnel who have made it their lives mission to destroy the ruling party and their associates including the president.They have attacked, mocked and humiliated the president right from his days in opposition till now.The president has suffered a lot at the hands of this section of the media and he feels he is really really fed up with them. Since the president was sworn in the NPP has been taunting the president and the ruling party and have refused to co-operate with the transition team. And whenever the new government takes any action to demand accountability the out gone government uses the media to accuse them of harassment. The NPP as was shown last Sunday have failed to realize that they are out of power and strut around behaving as if they have a divine right to rule this country. "I respect civility and politeness and I believe that people have taken my respect for peaceful co-existence as weakness, timidity and inability to act "

$100 Million TO BE SPENT ON PRESIDENTIAL JETS AND MILITARY HARDWARE

..... Amids Defeaning Silence

Back in 1999 the then NDC governent purchased a presidential Jet Gulf Stream G111 worth a little ove $16m. it was a sixten seater executive jet. this action provoked a wave of protest and indignation among the public , other political parties and civil society ,the proportion of which can macth any such protests ever undertaken in this country. Urged on the the media and stoked by the then oppossition party, The NPP the public was really angry and show thier anger in the strpongest manner possible... and rightly so. At that time Ghana was in th throes of many crises;gold prices on th inernational market had plumetted to an alltime low,crude prices were slowly rising albeit from the bottom,inflation was high ,unemployment was high , we had missed our GDP growth target etc. Student organisatins led impassioned protests around xthe country and the public space was really charged. The jet was an election issue in 2000, when President John Kufuor defeated the candidate of Mr Rawlings' party. President Kufuor described the $16m jet as "wasteful and frivolous". This led the NPP then in opposition to declare the shoukd come to power it will not use the aircraft.True to his words Kuffour has always refused to travel in the plane. The NPP government went ahead to tarde the aircraft for two chinese planes. This went staelth without any agitaion.

Over the last few days the governmet has droped another jet bombshell and this is in nuclear proportions. It has been revealed that parliament has been given an agreement to ratify to enable the government spend a whopping $100m on presidentail jets and other military hardware. this announcement comfirms a publication that appeared in a french magazine last yaesr taht reported that kuffour has signed an agreement with a frech arms company for the suppley multiple planes and other miliatary hardware to Ghana. the government stridently deneid that it had done any such thing and called the opposition all sorts of unpritable names for raising the issue.

This revelation comes in the wake of an acute water shortage that has hit accrea over the last few weeks. the government has so far failed to give any explainations as to what is happening and much less find solutions to the problem.It is estimated that about $200m is needed just to improve the quality of water for those connected already in Accra alone. In the midst of all this the government has time and resources to engaagein such"wastefull and frivolous"expenditure in Mr. Kuffour's own words.

Whats is most shocking ois the deafening silence that has been met with this information. The media practitioners and civil society groups who agitated in 1999 have kept mute and there not even a murmur in the public sphere. This is all dissapointing given that nothing much has changed since 1999 and we face the same the same problems as we did back then-dare I say even more acute problem. I am at a lost as what is happening to us a nation. we seem to have gone to sleep just as we did in the 1970s and woke up in chaos in the 1980 when faced so many upheavals. This goverment is getting away with a lot of bad decicions while our civil society and media keep mute. So what is the cause of siuch an obvious bout turn that is capable of damaging the image of this image -conscois government? Could it be that the governement geneuinly feels confident about its decision? or are they convinced it is the best decision they have taken? Could it be that they know for a fact taht civil society and media has been blunted enough to take such a roisky decision? Or could the it be that the president and his men were badly advised. Having recently discovered oil and increasing asuming a pivotal role as security spot in the west african sub region, our profile has shot up making us an ideal spot for security bureau in the laest.Despite the laying to rest of the American Base issue. My theory is that the decision to buy the military hardware and the Jets were informed by advice from some of the powerful and influential advisors of the president (i am reliably told that the president does rely heavily on them ) ,some of the influential people in the burgeouning oil industry and some of his foreign friends who weild a lot of leverage over him. i got a sense of this line of thinking when the Minister of defense aserted that "as our economy expands and more foreign investors pour into our country, we need to acquire a military capability to protect private property" during the inauguration of two aircrafts the Governent had recently bought.

Our country is at the crossraods after 50 years of nationhood and the need for a patriotic leader is more acute thna never before. Militarisation without purpose as is happening is only a drain on our scarce resources. The foreign influences dictating our foreign and defense policies are only here for what tey can take out and will leave as soon as our resouces are depleted.

POLITICAL ATMOSPHERE SLOWLY WARMING UP

Now the contest for the presidency has become clearer since the four major parties have elected their flag bearers. The politicking is underway and the heat is slowly creeping into the atmosphere. There is a lot at stake and the all the side have not hidden their preparedness to battle very hard if that is what it will take to achieve success. Prof. Atta Mills has quickly gone on the offensive by calling on Akuffo-Addo to stop abusing incumbency as well as the use of public resources to run his campaign. The NDC presidential candidate has also turned on the heat by issuing a strongly worded statement to the government and the Electoral Commission not to repeat the aberrations of the 2004 elections when the ruling part declared itself the winner of the polls. This statement was in light of the huge problems that have resulted from the badly run Kenyan Elections. Prof. Mills has dawn many parallels about what happened in 2004 and what is happening in Kenya now. The NPP media machinery including the bought, co-opted, and the engaged swung into action and attacked the NDC for “beating war drums”. You would think the NDC had called for a war if you dropped from Mars and didn’t know what the NPP and their media collaborators were made of. Akuffo Addo has also had his share o the heat. When the Upper East situation flared up, it alleged that he was the cause of it having gone and promised to help one of the feuding parting to prevail if he became president. The allegation festered for a while and when he decided to respond, he spoke in a tone that accentuated the perception that he was arrogant. Even the mundane and unexciting Jonh Mahama has had reason to be excitable when it was suggested in the media that Paa Kwesi Ndoum , the Presidential candidate of the CPP had started negotiations with the PNC for a possible alliance of the Nkrumahist forces. The force of the denial from the PNC camp suggested that it will take some doing before Nkrumahist unity could be achieved. After a long silence Rawlings finally spoke and the media reports suggested that his wrath was as much against the NPP as it was against one of his lieutenants. His suggestion that the altercation during the NPP congress was designed to rig the election for Akuffo Addo has fed into the NPP propaganda that the NDC and Rawlings are scared of Akuffo-Addo. These are very early days, however everything points to a hotly contested election this year.

POLITICAL SEASON HERE!!

As a throwback to Eva Lokko it safe to say that we are now firmly and without doubt in the political Season. A season for truckery and traechery, a season for earning and spending,a season for promises and deception, a season for allainces and making enemies. A lot is going to happen ijn the weeks and months ahaed until we elect our next president in 2008. I also expect to see some new campaign strategies never wotnessed in the land before.Its going to be an exciting campaign so brace your self to participate in one way or the other. It is a watershed so do not be left behind ;or the wrong choice will be made for you