HOW PRESIDENT JOHN MAHAMA FAILED NORTHERNERS – A CLASSIC CASE OF YOUR OWN KILLING YOU SLOWLY (PART TWO)

 

HOW PRESIDENT JOHN MAHAMA FAILED NORTHERNERS – A CLASSIC CASE OF YOUR OWN KILLING YOU SLOWLY (PART TWO)

IDDI MUHAYU-DEEN’S FOLDER

The first part of this write-up, which essentially tells the sad story of northerners under the Presidency of their own [President John Mahama], focused on issues regarding the collapse of the age long NORTHERN SCHOLARSHIP regime, bizarre treatments being meted out to teachers including the withdrawal of trainee allowance, issues with basic education and other discriminatory practices against northerners. This part continues from there and talks about other related matters with the view to establishing how DISAPPOINTING and INSENSITIVE John Mahama has been to his own people. 

ON SOCIAL INTERVENTION PROGRAMMES

Regrettably, President John Mahama, the leader of a so called social democratic party, NDC has woefully failed to honour his promise of introducing pro-poor policies to make life comfortable for Ghanaians and in particular, northerners. Not only has the John Mahama government failed in this regard, but has also succeeded in collapsing the existing social intervention programmes they inherited from the erstwhile NPP regime, including the famous NHIS, Masloc, MMT system, the Free Maternity Care System, the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), distribution of free fertilizer, cocoa mass spraying, the Capitation grant and the school feeding programme as well as the LEAP system among several others. 

It is instructive to note that northerners were the largest beneficiaries of these programmes because of their relative “economic and social vulnerability”. Yet, President Mahama, who hails from the north is unable to maintain any of these programmes which he inherited from John Kufour, a southerner. How ironic! As if that is not enough for the ordinary northerner, this Mahama government has also introduced a draconian tax regime which is suffocating the already overburdened Ghanaian northerner.

Now, more than ever, the poor Ghanaian is having to contend with astronomical hikes in water and electricity tariffs due to government’s full deregulation policy, killer taxes on petroleum products, withdrawal of all forms of subsidies on utilities and several others. We have also seen the introduction of some new taxes including property rate, taxes on cutlasses, taxes on condoms, taxes on plastic product tax and a wanton increase in taxes on imported rice and poultry without supporting the local industry to produce more. The only thing that they’ve not taxed is the air we breathe. A social democratic government indeed!  

ON SADA

The Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) is undoubtedly, the ONE AND ONLY intervention instituted by the John Mahama NDC government to transform the northern part of the country. This intervention was therefore meant to better the living conditions of northerners and ultimately, accelerate the development of northern Ghana with the view to narrowing the development gap between the north and the south. 

SADA was first proposed by the then Vice Presidential candidate of NDC, who is now the President (H.E John Mahama) in the run-up to election 2008 as an alternative to Nana Addo’s proposed Northern Development Fund (NDF). This was after he [John Mahama] had pooh-poohed the NPP’s proposal [NDF] on the grounds that same was a deception and a misplaced priority. Candidate John Mahama proceeded to opine that, the then NPP government ought to rather focus its attention on settling the colossal VRA debt and forget the talk about establishing a Northern Development Fund with our limited resources. 

His party however made a quick U-turn upon realizing that the proposal [NDF] was becoming very popular among the northern electorates. The NDC then hurriedly mimicked it with a proposal to establish what they call, Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) and promised a seed capital of $200 million and subsequent injection of $100 million into the SADA account every year. This promise, which is undoubtedly, the brainchild of President John Mahama is still yet to be realised after being in government for 8 years. 

There hasn’t been any significant commitment to implementing SADA. Unfortunately, the little money that has been pumped into this project cannot be accounted for. Also, the so called already-executed SADA projects cannot be seen either. Here, mention can be made of the guinea fowl and well as the afforestation project among several other ‘phantom enterprises’ we are being told of SADA. 

Meanwhile, northerners, who are supposed to be the target beneficiaries of this SADA initiative continue to live in abject poverty whilst SADA, which still remains the one and only policy initiative of the Mahama led government to bridge the yawning gap between the north and the south is fast becoming an apology of itself. Today, SADA has metamorphosed into an epitome of UNBRIDLED CORRUPTION ever seen in the history of this country.

It has become a conduit for the deliberate and clandestine creation, looting and sharing of taxpayers’ money among government officials. What is more annoying and disconcerting is the impunity with which these government officials steal our money. They do it with a lot of swag because they have no shame and hold absolutely no modicum of respect for the poor northerner. When we complain, they tend to steal even more. How pathetic!

It is not surprising that SADA is today seen as arguably, the most corrupt institution in the country. Interestingly, SADA does not fall under any Ministry but falls DIRECTLY under THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, who himself is a northerner. Not only is the President a northerner, but also, he is someone who rigorously used “the northern card” as a trump card to campaign to northerners for votes in 2008 and 2012. Of course, he has still not repented from that dangerous and inflammatory tribal politics. With this [the sad SADA story) in mind, it becomes very clear that President Mahama is highly insensitive to the plight of his own. 

Certainly, this explains why the President doesn’t make mention of SADA anytime he campaigns in the north. He doesn’t also talk about infrastructure development as he often does when campaigning in the southern part of the country. All we hear is his tribal bigotry in the north. No more politics of ISSUES because none exists as far as his mediocre performance in the north is concerned.  

Again, for the past two years, the name, SADA never appeared in our national budgets; let alone, to make budgetary allocation to the Authority. Meanwhile, SADA still remains the ONLY POLICY of this Mahama government to transform the lives of northerners. Obviously, President Mahama has taken his own people for granted because of their seeming aloofness in DEMANDING for accountability. 

This worrying trend of lethargy and nonchalance is what you and I, as concerned northerners must REVERSE by rising-up to fight against the odds. Our people are really suffering and if President Mahama still doesn’t care about their precarious plight, we must give them the needed VOICE. We must fight for them because they may not have the means or platform to tell their story in order to galvanize public support. The government of John Mahama has given northerners a RAW DEAL and I don’t expect us to remain loudly quiet over these economic and social injustices. 

Yes, the trend must be reversed with immediate effect for the love of God and country. And by that, I expect that we, Northerners must all rise up to the occasion and demand that President John Mahama accounts for the over Gh¢300 million his government has pumped into SADA, which constitute only 30% of what was promised anyway. The sad reality is that this money has been embezzled by the president and his cronies because we cannot see any SADA projects. This is evidenced in the scandalous revelations on SADA during parliament Public Accounts Committee hearings which have always been mindboggling. 

In other words, there exists several unchallenged Audit Reports conducted by the Auditor-General, which reveal INCRIMINATING FINDINGS about the rot in SADA; yet, no one is held accountable. This is in spite of the fact that some identifiable government officials including Minsters of State have consistently been indicted in these Reports. For instance, the 2013 Audit Report indicts the management of SADA and the Sports Minister at the time (Dr. Mustapha Ahmed) for blowing over GH¢186,371 on a USELESS TRIP to Turkey.  

Another story is told of SADA involving some GH¢42 million which was taken forcefully from SADA by the Labour Ministry under the supervision of Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, another brother from the North and MP for Tamale South. As we speak, all attempts made by SADA to get back this GH¢42 million from the government has proven UNSUCCESSFUL. I can go on and on and on but still, the sad SADA story CANNOT be told in full. In the final analysis, what is abundantly clear is that this whole SADA business will surely go in history as President Mahama’s LEGACY OF SHAME to his own people. 

ON HEALTH

One other area where northerners have received great deal of disservice from the Mahama government is the area of health care delivery.  Indeed, it is actually under his watch that the nation is experiencing the come-back of the killer cash-and-carry system that hitherto, characterized health care administration in this country. This draconian health care regime continued until the year, 2005 when the Kufour government introduced the NHIS which brought great relief to the poor Ghanaian relative to affordable health care. Aside the NHIS, the NPP government also implemented other laudable health care programmes like the free maternity health care and rigorous rehabilitation of all the ten regional hospitals in the country.

It is instructive to make the point that the major target beneficiaries of these programmes were northerners; many of whom live in abject poverty and cannot afford exorbitant cost of seeking medical care associated the cash and carry system. Unfortunately, northerners have no option now but to prepare themselves to endure the killer cash-and-carry system again. In other words, access to health care, which is a primary necessity has become extremely expensive and almost inaccessible for the poor northerner under the presidency of his/her northern bother; who is in fact, not oblivious of the precarious financial woes of his own people.  

As is that is not enough, northerners, who find themselves at the various Nursing Training Colleges and Midwifery Schools are now dropping out of school because they cannot afford the astronomical hikes in their cost of training, which averages between Gh¢3,700 to Gh¢4,800 annually. Even the meagre allowance that was hitherto, given to trainee nurses, have also been SCRAPPED by the John Mahama government. Meanwhile, the president knows very well that because of poverty, which is very prevalent up-north, overwhelming majority of his people are not in a position to directly afford university or polytechnic education but could only manage nursing and teacher training colleges. 

Here is the case, President Mahama has made training college education as equally expensive as university education and also took away the trainee allowance which gave them some relief. The million dollar question to ask now is; which institution does president Mahama expect his people to enrol in order to conveniently access tertiary education due to the peculiarity of their condition?   

CONCLUSION

From the above narrative, it is abundantly clear that President Mahama, has not only been DISAPPOINTING but also HIGHLY INSENSITIVE to the PLIGHT OF HIS OWN PEOPLE in all departments. His ascension to the presidency of this country, has proven to be a CURSE to his own people rather than a blessing, as many anticipated. Northerners have seen the worst form of NEGLECT and IMPOVERISHMENT under the administration of their own.

President John Mahama has, in the nutshell, completely BROKEN HIS SOCIAL CONTRACT with the good people of the north. John Mahama, the “northern president” has taken the good people of the three northern regions for granted as he only sees their relevance during general elections. This is obviously a classic case of BETRAYAL. Indeed, “s3 aboa be b3ka wo aa, na efi wontomamu” which is essentially interpreted to mean that “your own brother might end up being the one killing you slowly but surely”. And this Akan dictum, is exactly what we are seeing in the case of President John Mahama and his people from the north. 

Fortunately, election 2016 provides Ghanaians, particularly northerners, a rare opportunity to RIGHT these wrongs. We are all going to have another glorious opportunity to choose between the path of mediocrity cum hopelessness, which we are experiencing today, and that of progress and posterity. This decision, shall be based on not just the track-records of the various political parties but also, on the credibility their flagbearers. For the discerning Ghanaian northerner, who has been through these suffocating difficulties under the presidency of John Mahama, a REGIME CHANGE should not only be NECESSARY but also INEVITABLE for the love of God and country.  GHANA MUST INDEED WORK AGAIN!

Assalamu alaikum

This piece was compiled by a concerned Ghanaian in the business of OCCUPYING HEARTS and MINDS for the love of God and country.

IDDI MUHAYU-DEEN

A Disappointed Northern Youth Activist  

A Crusader for CHANGE

(0245335197)

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