NSS Hike Signer Must Appear Before Parliament

All in all, President John Dramani Mahama was at the presidency for some 8 years, a little over 3 years as the arch-lieutenant of President John Evans Atta-Mills, who died at age 68 on July 24, 2012. At absolutely no time during this period did the National Democratic Congress’ government increase the amount of monthly allowances given our National Service Personnel by a whopping 60-percent. And so what really motivated the then-outgoing Mahama regime to authorize an allowance increment of 60-percent, from the payment of GH₵ 350.00 to GH₵ 559.04? (See “[NPP] Gov’t Refuses to Pay Mahama’s 60% NSS Allowance” Ultimatefmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 1/30/17).

My studied contention here is that this was a pure act of depravity which, once again, harks back to Ms. Otiko Afisa Djaba’s description of her maternal cousin, former President Mahama, as an incurably wicked politician with the veritable heart of the devil’s. In other words, the former Rawlings Communications Minister is the devil’s incarnate or Satan’s avatar. For starters, in the wake of his massive defeat in the 2016 presidential poll, Mr. Mahama was clearly aware of the fact that he would not remain in the Flagstaff House after January 7, 2017 to craft and supervise the next budget. And so upon just what measurable basis was the decision to increase the allowance payments of our National Service Personnel by a humongous 60-percent?

Our unmistakable contention here is that the former president engineered this scorched-earth strategy to create disaffection for the incoming Akufo-Addo Administration. What is more, the outgoing Mahama regime would recruit an excessive number of National Service Personnel to further compound the dilemma of President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his cabinet appointees and associates. If the preceding observation contains any iota of validity, then it clearly appears that the key operatives of the Mahama regime, including the democratically deposed leader, of course, had deftly and suavely rigged up what could be aptly and legitimately characterized as a dastardly attempt to overthrow the newly mandated government and thus make the lives of hardworking and innocent Ghanaians literally ungovernable.

Fortunately, as of this writing, the Akufo-Addo government was reported to have summarily revoked the seditious hiring of the clearly punitive number of National Service Personnel on the eve of the exit of President Mahama. A similar occurrence was reported in the Ghana Police Service, which may partly have contributed to the dishonorable discharge of the Head of the Human Resources Division of the Service. We firmly believe that a parliamentary enquiry is perfectly in order, as a means of ensuring that this political act of the highest level of depravity does not get repeated in the near future. The benighted days of the cancerous politics of “equalization” ought to be promptly made a thing of the past.

Indeed, as I read the news report on which this column was based, I could not help but guffaw at Mr. Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa’s rather bizarre and downright preposterous argument that it was President Mahama who created the fertile ground and climate for the tuition-free and boarding-free Senior High School policy recently announced by President Akufo-Addo possible. It ought to be clear to all by now that a government that systematically and relentlessly engages in the regressive politics of scorched-earth, is also the least likely to prepare the ground or room for the success of its sworn ideological enemy.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
English Department, SUNY-Nassau
Garden City, New York
February 18, 2017
E-mail: [email protected]