Opinion: From stinking PDS to plundering Agyapa deal – Chiefs must act now

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Our Nation is in big trouble. Our Nation is under siege. Our Nation is bleeding profusely. The resources of over 30 million peaceful and humble Ghanaians are being looted by a dozen robbers and criminals.

This issue is raising serious tension in the country and the time to act to save the situation is now. Otherwise, a looming catastrophe and uncontrollable revolt may occur if certain unscrupulous people decide to take advantage of the situation.

PDS

Before President Akufo-Addo came to power, a process began under the US Millennium Challenge Compact to set up PDS to manage ECG to ensure their efficiency.

When NPP came to power, they continued the process but made several changes that many well meaning Ghanaians and Civil Society warned was a dangerous way to go. The deal was shady.

Government insisted and went ahead to execute the take over of ECG by PDS. PDS run ECG for about 7 months and Ghanaians were told by the same people/Government who established the arrangements, that the deal was fraudulent. How is that?

Till today, no satisfactory explanation has been given Ghanaians.

Meanwhile, all the revenue that accrued to PDS for those months of operations were not accounted for.

ECG we are told makes more than 200 Million Cedis a month and was managed by PDS for more than 7 months. A simple arithmetic tells us about 1.5 billion Cedis cannot be accounted for. Insider sources even estimate about 2 billion Cedis. So Akuffo Addo tells Ghanaians PDS is a fraudulent deal and that’s the end of the case?

Will any rational Ghanaian be angered by this? I leave the answer to you.

ASAASE/ AGYAPA

As though Ghanaians have short memory, the same known key players in the PDS scandal, hatched a new plan. Thinking that the PDS was a daylight robbery in the eyes of Ghanaians and that was why they were caught and the deal became short-lived, they now decided to go offshore so that Ghanaians cannot track their activities this time. And they are doing this with a different product – our minerals resources.

I will not like to bore readers with the Minerals Income Investment Fund ( MIIF) established by Act 978 of 2008. This fund was set up to manage Ghana’s Sovereign equity interest stake in mining companies as well as facilitate receipt of proceeds accruing to Ghana from mineral royalties and other mining related operations.

Using this Act 978, Akuffo Addo and his cronies have gone to set up an offshore company to manage the over US$200 Million that accrue to Ghana annually in mineral royalties.

Their simple and selfish reason is to be able to use such proceeds to influence US$ 1billion loan for 5 years.

My issue and question is that, if PDS could run ECG for only those few months and made over 1.5 billion Cedis plus which they bolted away with but ECG is still running as a credible company without declaring bankruptcy, then it means we really do not need to go borrow any money for our development in the first place. We can raise all the money we need for our development from within.

By the way, the NPP and Akuffo Addo campaigned on the fact that the previous Government (NDC) was over-borrowing and that all the money needed for development could be raised here in Ghana.

What has changed that since Akuffo Addo became President, he has borrowed more than what all previous Ghanaian President have borrowed put together? All former Presidents together borrowed US$120 billion. Akuffo Addo alone has borrowed over US$135 Billion in less than 4 years.

Akuffo Addo is killing the country Ghana slowly by entrapping us with loans because there is no commensurate projects to even show for all the amounts he borrowed. Many Ghanaians are angry and worried by this situation.

SOLUTIONS

How can we save the Nation now? Who can save this Nation?

Social change has made it such that our Chiefs do not have such control they used to exert traditionally. However, chiefs still play very indispensable roles in modern times. It’s crucial for our chiefs now than ever before to enlighten and educate their youth about where the nation is heading to under Akuffo Addo.
Akuffo Addo and his few Akyem cronies are recklessly milking and mortgaging the nation for their selfish personal gains to the detriment of our present youth and those yet unborn. Chiefs must tell their subjects how the livelihood of our present children and our children’s children are being dissipated now without recourse to the future. This is unacceptable. Instead of using proceeds from the Minerals royalties to create jobs for the masses, Akuffo Addo says he is sending our monies offshore into an account whose ownership will not be disclosed. How?

Akuffo Addo told Ghanaians in an interview on Peace Fm on 2nd December, 2016 that the incidence of Arab Spring( Youth Revolt) could happen in Ghana due to how the country was managed then.

At the time, there was not much lawlessness in the country like now. The nation’s resources were not plundered as seen today. Corruption was not ubiquitous as seen today.
Are the conditions Akuffo Addo described as rife for Arab Spring then, still relevant or present today? Our Chiefs must act now.

Our clergy must also be bold and preach the message of political change to their flock and followers. The incidence of Akuffo Addo – like Arab Spring will be more disastrous to the clergy and churches than anyone else. They should help to avert than now.

CONCLUSION

I was thinking earlier that the PDS scandal was the biggest robbery to have befallen our Nation Ghana although it was executed against one public Institution ( ECG ) we all depended upon.

Little did I imagine a worse and more disgraceful one like Asaase/ AGYAPA that plunders our main mineral resources can ever be conceived by rational thinking beings on their subjects. This is pure thievery and highly reprehensible.

Akuffo Addo believes in ‘buga buga’ rule and governance. He underestimates the intelligent quotient of the average Ghanaian. That is why he and his Government can perpetuate such blatantly open thievery on the populace.

Our Chiefs and Clergy MUST also be bold and ready to employ in like manner, ‘buga buga’ approach with their subjects and followers to KICK OUT Akuffo Addo before he finally destroys our otherwise peaceful 4th Republic. Let’s act now.

Our Chiefs and Clergy MUST ensure December 7th ends the tyranny, divisiveness, lowering of standards of our Military and security services, destruction of Ghana’s reputation globally, the looting of our resources by a dozen cronies etc.

Posterity will not forgive our Chiefs and Clergymen.

By Concerned Citizen- Kwaku Boateng | The views expressed by the writer are solely his and do not represent the position of Daily Mail GH