A STRONG CASE FOR HON. AFENYO MARKIN TO BE MADE THE DEPUTY MAJORITY LEADER OF PARLIAMENT

A STRONG CASE FOR HON. AFENYO MARKIN TO BE MADE THE DEPUTY MAJORITY LEADER OF PARLIAMENT

Iddi Muhayu-Deen writes...

One of the reasons why many Ghanaians including myself, support the NPP is because of the party's abhorrence for mediocrity and their strong belief in competence. The party would, on any day, see competence as a nonnegotiable consideration in taking every decision. Simply put, the NPP has amply demonstrated to the Ghanaian people that competence has no substitute in its enterprises and that; it would always reward competence rather than convenience. Now, more than ever, the party's agelong belief in competence is once again, being put to test and I am confident that the party would past this test.

The test has to do with the appointment of a Deputy Majority Leader to replace Hon. Adwoa Sarfo, who has been elevated to the position of Minister of State. As much as I agree that the Majority Caucus has a lot of competent MPs to occupy this position, I also hold the view that almost all of these competent MPs are already being engaged either as Ministers of State, Deputy Ministers, Ranking Members on Committees or Committee Chairpersons. Arguably, the only experienced and competent MP in the Majority side of the House that is yet to be engaged is the famous Hon. Afenyo Markin.

His competence is not in doubt at all because he has been exceedingly astounding in his general parliamentary disposition, which manifests itself in the quality of his debate and contribution on the floor of the House and beyond. When the going gets tough for the NPP side in Parliament, you will see the Afenyos on their feet to do the rescue mission. Yesterday was the Afenyos, today is the Afenyos and I have no doubt that tomorrow, it shall be the Afenyos ‘doing the do’ for the NPP Caucus in Parliament. Is it debate on matters that have to do with the law? Is it politics? Is it social justice? Is it education? Is it security issues?... Just name it, and you will find the perfect answers in the Afenyos.

When the Afenyos stand on their feet to speak, you would have absolutely no ground to put them to order or challenge their claim. The name Afenyo Markin has become almost synonymous to perfection. As for his outspoken nature and articulation skills, especially in the Queen's Language, I don't want to even go there. What a blessing he is to the NPP and its Parliamentary Caucus! Certainly, the party couldn't have asked God for a better person. I wasn't surprised at all when he was once voted the best overall performing MP in Ghana's Parliament by the famous African Watch Magazine. I am also not surprised that a lot of people expressed shock when his name was conspicuously missing in the President's first batch of ministerial list.

Not even the second or the third or even the deputy ministerial list, which was largely drawn from Parliament. Hey! Like they always say, the President knows best and he, who laughs last, may end up having the best laugh. Initially, when his name came up strongly for the position of Deputy Majority Leader, many a Ghanaian expressed outrage why it didn't materialize but you see, we have gone round in circle and back to this stage. What is yours, they say, will always find you. God is indeed a wonderful God and He doesn't have to owe you before paying you.

Hon Afenyo Markin is one person who has not only paid his dues to his constituents in Efutu, but the NPP and Ghana at large. When I told the story of the Afenyos sometime last week or two, I spoke about how he abandoned his flourishing business to join politics and the NPP for that matter. I spoke about how he snatched the Efutu Seat on his first attempt in 2012; a Seat, deemed NDC stronghold which was at the time occupied by Hon. Mike Hammah, the then Minister for Transport and an NDC bigwig. Afenyo Markin has since been winning that Seat, virtually making it a safe Seat for the NPP.

I spoke about how he has been a pillar in the NPP Communications Team at the national level. I spoke about how he has become a legal authority in this country wining almost all the landmark cases he represented at the nation’s Supreme Court even though he spent less than 10 years at the bar. I also spoke about how he sacrificed his legitimate membership to the ECOWAS Parliament at the time Ghana was at the verge of facing an international embarrassment. Afenyo Markin did that in order to save the image of the NPP Caucus in Parliament and the image of his country. This trait, earned him the admiration of not only the Parliament of Ghana and the ECOWAS, but also the BBCs and the CNNs.

What more can one offer to his party and country that the Afenyos haven't offered the NPP and Ghana! But why hasn't his efforts been recognized and rewarded till date? Is it the case that some people in his party and beyond are just not comfortable with his growing popularity in the political space and are bent on thwarting his progress? Do they feel threatened by his enviable exploits and rising hegemony in the circumstances? Are they scheming to block every opportunity that comes his way? I really hope that none of these questions returns a YES answer, else, that would be a sad commentary to be made of our body politic after 60 years of nationhood.

I don't know about you, but I have been monitoring developments in the 7th Parliament very keenly and I can report authoritatively that the leadership of the Minority especially Hon. Haruna Iddrisu appears to be having a field day. He and his colleagues seem to be giving the Majority Caucus a tough time and a run for their money. They are stealing all the positive headlines and that worries me as a youth activist of the NPP. I must however admit that the Majority Leader, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu remains the finest and most experienced parliamentarian in the House by all standards.

Perhaps the only missing link is that unlike Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, he is not fortunate to have a strong force in the leadership of the Majority Caucus to complement his efforts. For instance, I don't recall the last time the Majority Chief Whip made a strong case for his side during parliamentary debates. Maybe I am wrong but that is what I've observed over the period. I am particularly worried because the NPP, we all know is the party that has the men. Yes, we have the men and that is not in doubt at all. I therefore expect the Majority Caucus in Parliament to take urgent steps to remedy the situation for love of God, country and the NPP.

I say finally that if there has ever been a time for Hon. Afenyo Markin to lead the NPP caucus in Parliament as Deputy Majority Leader, then it is NOW. There can never be a better time for this outstanding parliamentarian of the enviable Danquah-Busia stock, in whom; I see a lot of J.B. Danquah, one of the founders of Ghana. Let it be said that whatever decision the Majority (NPP) side of the House arrive at regarding the deputy majority leader position, they should be minded that posterity shall judge same. And just like the legendary J.B. Danquah, I am of the firm conviction that history will vindicate the Afenyo Markins. I rest my case....

Assalamu alaikum

Iddi Muhayu-Deen

#ForGodAndCountry

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DEMYSTIFYING NKRUMAH AND TELLING THE TRUE STORY OF GHANA'S INDEPENDENCE

DEMYSTIFYING NKRUMAH AND TELLING THE TRUE STORY OF GHANA'S INDEPENDENCE

Iddi Muhayu-Deen writes...

The hypocrisy

You have reduced the significance of the founder of your party, former President Rawlings to ground zero. You say he is a nobody. You say he is too weak to command any influence in the party. You say he is a barking dog so you decided to cage him in perpetual oblivion. That is how you are treating the founder of your party. That is how you are treating the man, whose sacrifices, sweat and blood gave birth to the political entity called NDC, the party you claim to support today. That is how you are treating the founder of your party.

Of course, there is absolutely no ambiguity about his founder status because your own constitution recognizes him as such. You also agree with me that you cannot love the NDC more than him, seeing how he "killed himself" to give birth to the party and nurtured it. But you give no damn to that. You treat him with so much disdain. You have tried every possible means to obliterate his records in your party and country. That is how treacherous you have become. That is how legendary your ingratitude has reached. That is how horrendous and repugnant you are treating the founder of your very party, who is still alive and kicking.

The Nkrumah bit

Yet, today, you are all over the place, celebrating the founder of another party, Kwame Nkrumah of the CPP, who died several decades ago. You say, till date, he is the greatest Ghanaian and the greatest African that ever lived. You say he did no wrong. You say he fought and got us Independence from the British. You say he is the sole founder of Ghana. You have associated everything that is positive in Ghana and Africa to Nkrumah. Perhaps the only thing you haven't said about Nkrumah is to liken him to God, because you fear thunder would strike you dead if you did that.

But are all these things being said about Nkrumah really true? Have we been told only one side of Ghana's history, with deliberate distortions and exaggerations relative to Nkrumah's role in our independence struggle in order to project him far ahead of his compatriots? My simple answer to these questions is an emphatic YES and I would proceed to adduce some further and better particulars to vindicate my position in this raging debate which doesn't appear to have any terminal point. I have restrained myself enough from talking about Nkrumah's negatives. I am therefore doing this very reluctantly because of the respect I have for some of my Nkrumaist friends and mentors. But I have to do it anyway and damn the fallouts. I have to free my conscience.

To start with, I wish to make the point that, as a student of history and ardent follower of Ghana's democratic evolution, I have read a lot and attended several lectures on this subject. I have also keenly followed the famous 'independence documentary" compiled by a celebrated Ghanaian ace broadcaster, Paul Adom-Otchere, which tells the untold story of our independence struggle including the leading role played by the likes of J.B. Danquah and other members of the UGCC. I am therefore speaking from an informed position, so to say.

In this narrative, I would be focusing more on J.B. Danquah, the man described as the doyen of Gold Coast politics by the famous Watson Commission of Inquiry into the 1948 riots because I think that he is one person that our historians haven't been fair to at all. Very little has been said about him in our history books even though, his contribution to our independence struggle, is almost unrivaled. In case you didn't know, J.B. Danquah was one of the persons that discovered Dr. Kwame Nkrumah after he [J.B Danquah] and his coequals had laid a rock-solid foundation in relation to the struggle for independence including the formation of the almighty UGCC, the first political party in the country, which set the pace for our takeoff.

In other words, Nkrumah came into the picture at the time some 80 to 85% of the job had already been done. Again, it was J.B. Danquah that suggested to Nkrumah to rename the then Gold Coast as Ghana at the time of independence. Also, J.B. Danquah played a leading role in the establishment of the nation's premier University, UG. He is also the founder of the West Africa Times, the first daily newspaper in Ghana. What more can one offer to his country? What you just read is less than 9% of J.B. Danquah's achievements for Ghana. I cannot finish telling the enviable ‘Danquah story’ because I will need not less than 100,000 pages. But suffice it to say with heavy heart that, his story ended very sadly.

This illustrious son of our land and arguably, the greatest Ghanaian that ever lived [J.B. Danquah], was virtually "murdered"; by who? Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the very man whom, he [J.B. Danquah] discovered and nurtured. This was what happened. When President Nkrumah perceived that J.B. Danquah's rising popularity was becoming a threat to his continues stay in office, he ordered for his arrest and locked him in jail for life against his fundamental human rights. He wasn't taken to court for trial because Nkrumah himself knew that Danquah did nothing wrong to warrant such capricious use of State power and incumbency.

Nkrumah ensured that Danquah died and rotted in jail. He didn’t also allow a State burial to be observed in honour of this great Statesman of all-time until after his [Nkrumah’s] overthrow. This is certainly the apogee of insensitivity, treachery and ingratitude exhibited by Nkrumah. Follow this link and read J.B. Danquah's letter to Nkrumah from prison and you will cry like you've lost your mum and wife/husband in a car crash: http://citifmonline.com/…/j-b-danquahs-letter-to-kwame-nkr…/ .

Nkrumah and the UGCC

In the cause of the independence struggle which was spearheaded by J.B. Danquah's UGCC, Nkrumah at some point, had issues with the leadership of the party because he felt that the quest for independence needed so much vehemence and must be immediate (now) rather than in the shorted possible time, which was the belief of the UGCC leadership. In view of this little disagreement, Nkrumah broke away from the UGCC and formed his own party, the CPP.

[

Now, watch this, after all the talk about wanting Independence NOW rather than in the shortest possible time, it took the nation (Gold Coast) more than 8 years to realize this independence. So I ask, if somebody told you, he would give you something NOW and it took the person 8 years before doing that, would you say the person has fulfilled his promise? Wouldn't that rather qualify more as ‘shortest possible time’ instead of NOW? Well, I leave that for you to judge...

The other ills of Nkrumah

Upon attaining independence, the British government gave Ghana, several millions of pounds sterling as a reparation package to help in the country’s rebuilding efforts. The money was significant enough to have turned the fortunes of this country. But that didn't happen because it wasn’t used for its intended purpose. Nkrumah chose to use a chunk of that money to pursue his agenda of Pan-Africanism, so that, he would lead the entire Continent. He wanted to be President of Africa. And so, he used our money to put up a number of developmental structures with huge investments in other African countries to help his bid. That's how Nkrumah became very popular on the Continent of Africa and not because of any extraordinary thing he did. In other words, he used our money to pursue his parochial and egoistic agenda.

Indications are that, if Nkrumah had invested all of that money in Ghana, our country would have been perhaps more developed than South Africa. And as if he hasn't done enough disservice to this country already, President Nkrumah also wanted to rule Ghana as President for life. So in 1964, he changed the country's Constitution and made Ghana a one party State (with his CPP). He also passed a law to ban people from criticizing his style of leadership. If you criticized Nkrumah, you would be arrested, imprisoned without trial and if you were not lucky, you would be killed or beaten to pulp. He wasn't accountable to anybody and nobody could challenge him. Nkrumah was more than a tyrant and a notorious dictator, having succeeded in cowing everybody into absolute submission. Democracy was alien to him and the culture of silence was his pride.

I am not surprised that his political party, the CPP, "died" the very day he died. Today, Nkrumah's number one legacy, the almighty CPP, is struggling to make 1% of total valid votes in general elections. Whereas J.B. Danquah's political tradition, which is now called, NPP, consistently obtains more than 48%. In the 2016 elections for instance, the NPP secured more than 53% (precisely, 53.8%) of the votes, whereas Nkrumah's CPP managed to poll less than 1% (precisely 0.2%). Such a disgraceful performance! That is how unpopular anything Nkrumah has become in present day Ghana.

And you want me to celebrate him as the sole founder of Ghana? Your gods must really be crazy. In any case, our history doesn't suggest that Ghana has a sole founder but founders or if you like, founding fathers. The NDC government's decision to institute a founder's day (in honour of Nkrumah alone) rather than founders' day, is surely a blot on the conscience of our historians. It was purely a political decision meant to spite the admirers of J.B. Danquah and other founding fathers of Ghana and that is grossly unfair to their memories.

Well, I would on any day, choose J.B. Danquah over Nkrumah and that is me. I also think that Nkrumah has been celebrated enough in this country. The choice of 21st September, which is Nkrumah's birthday as "founder's day", is enough honour for Nkrumah. Let's celebrate others too. Let's begin by bringing the apostrophe after the "s" to make it founders’ day but maintain the 21st September to show among other things that, Nkrumah was the President at the time of independence. I would be highly disappointed in President Akufo-Addo if he left office without taking steps to give J.B. Danquah and others, their rightful position in the history of Ghana’s independence. The thoughts of a student of history and a citizen not a spectator.

Assalamu alaikum

Iddi Muhayu-Deen

#ForGodAndCountry

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PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO'S 110 MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENT: THE ISSUES AND MY TAKE

PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO'S 110 MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENT: THE ISSUES AND MY TAKE

Iddi Muhayu-Deen writes...

Are you aware that as many as 42 out of the 54 Deputy Ministers appointed by President Akufo-Addo are Members of Parliament (MPs)? Are you aware that over 68% of the 110 Ministers and deputies are MPs? Are you aware the President could have appointed only 50% plus 1 of his Ministers from Parliament as provided for in the Constitution? Are you aware the President is saving a lot of money for the State by deciding to appoint overwhelming number of his Ministers and deputies from Parliament? Are you aware that all these people/appointees are not going to receive salaries as Ministers or Deputies and at the same time as MPs?

In other words, are you aware they are not going to receive double pay? Are you aware they will only be paid their salaries by Parliament, except that, a little would be added to their salaries to make up for the extra duties they will be performing as members of the Executive? Remember the Bible tells us that the labour deserves his wage. Are you even aware that this marginal cost that will be incurred on them is absolutely negligible? Are you also aware that these MPs would still be paid their salaries anyway, even if they were not made Ministers or Deputy Ministers?

So if we genuinely want to address this issue, we have to tackle it from the root. And by that, we probably have to significantly reduce the number of Seats in Parliament in order to reduce the number of MPs so that we wouldn't be paying so much as emoluments to our parliamentarians and for that matter political officeholders. Or maybe, we should be paying our MPs including the NDC MPs who are crying wolf over this matter, the same way we pay teachers, nurses and other government workers. Let's take away all the dignifying and deserving luxury associated with political offices until the ordinary Ghanaian is satisfied with how much he/she takes at the end of every month.

Let's withdraw all the privileges we give to our political officeholders until we are able to solve all our problems as a country. We shouldn't even provide accommodation and vehicles to our President and Ministers until we are able to provide same to every citizen of this country. Let's continue making "a fool" of ourselves thinking that we are the only country or island in the World. You can add more and more and more until we complete the absurdity.

I didn't know that when the call was made of us to be citizens rather than spectators, it meant that we should be these kinds of citizens. Well, if indeed this was what it meant, then I prefer to be a spectator rather than a "citizen". I believe in my President, His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo, whom the Ghanaian people have given an overwhelming mandate to use his own standard and methodology to govern this country. I am only interested in getting results; nothing more, nothing less. And I have absolute confidence in my president to deliver the much expected results. Insha Allah, our country is on the right track to working again. Let me hear believers say Amen..

Assalamu alaikum

Iddi Muhayu-Deen

#ForGodAndCountry

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IDDI MUHAYU-DEEN SETS RECORDS STRAIGHT

IDDI MUHAYU-DEEN SETS RECORDS STRAIGHT

They say I am not a voltarian. They say I am not an Ewe. They say I do not hail from the Volta region. They say I should not talk for the people of Volta region. They say I should shut up because I have no locus. They say I am a northerner. They say I am a politician. They say I am doing politics with matters that concern the people of Volta Region. Why should I respond to them and why should I not?

I can see that my mentor, H. E. Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has indeed always been spot on in the manner he describes these people. He says that, whenever you are debating them on issues and they begin to attack your personality rather than attack your message, then you know that you have really bitten them to it; then you know that you have won the debate; then you know that you are victorious. This gives me so much gratification.

Ordinarily, I would decline their invitation to debate them in their territory and by that, engage in an exercise of pettiness and mediocrity. However, I am minded of the possibility that people who do not know me in private life may be tempted to grant an undue audience to their absurdity. To this extent, I feel compelled to indulge them and thus, response to their otherwise contemptuous cum mischievous effusions.

Am I a voltarian and do I have a stake in the Volta Region?

For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to state without any modicum of contradiction that I hail from Kete-Krachi in the northern part of the Volta region, where I was born and bred. I attended Roman Hill Kindergarten, then Roman Catholic Primary 'B' basic school at Krachi lakeside and then proceeded to Bunda JSS all in Kete-Krachi before I moved to Bolgatanga for my secondary education at the Bolgatanga SHS. The rest is history and not really consequential under the circumstance.

Am I an Ewe? NO. I am a Mossi by tribe and a proud one at that. The northern Volta is a cosmopolitan area comprising mainly of guans and typical northern tribes including Kokombas, Nanumbas, Hausas, Mossis and many others. So you see, to the extent that my hometown, Kete-Krachi is in the north of the country, I am a northerner except if you want to tell me that people from northern Ghana are not called northerners but something else.

Also, to the extent that my hometown, Kete-Krachi is in the Volta region, then I am a voltarian except if you want to tell me that Kete-Krachi is not in the Volta region. So you can see clearly from the foregoing that, being a northerner and a voltarian are NOT mutually exclusive since part of northern Ghana is in the Volta region. This is something you don't need to be intelligent to understand.

Am I an NPP sympathizer?

My answer is in the affirmative. And so what? Why should this even be an issue to start with? Are we now saying that if you sympathize with any political party in Ghana, you can't fight for your people? Your inalienable right to speak on national or local issues in the country is curtailed simply because you are politically active? Is that the new standard in town? Then who qualifies to talk about developmental issues in Ghana, since almost everybody is associated with one party or another? Is this what we want as a people?

I thought the main reason why people go into politics is to serve the interest of their people or constituents. Must we play politics with everything in Ghana? Is it not true that the entire population of northern Volta including all the Chiefs and people across the political divide have been clamouring for a regional status for over 20 years having advanced cogent arguments for same? Is it not true that in the runup to the 2016 polls, both Candidate John Mahama and Candidate Nana Akufo-Addo promised to honour this commitment if they won the elections?

So what is wrong if as an indigene of the area, I add my innocuous voice to help my people fight for what they are deserving of and have been promised? You sit there and tell me I can't do that because I am associated with the NPP. Such "kwasiabinti logic" [credit to Asiedu Nketia of mosquito fame]! Well, I am sorry to disappoint you because I will fight for my people today, I will fight for them tomorrow and I will fight for them forever. Even in afterlife, I will fight for my people if I have the opportunity and I owe you absolutely no apologies.

Assalamu alaikum

Iddi Muhayu-Deen

That Kete-Krachi boy

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I VOTED FOR AN EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT NOT A LEAN GOVERNMENT

I VOTED FOR AN EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT NOT A LEAN GOVERNMENT

Iddi Muhayu-Deen writes...

I have followed with keen interest and considerable disquiet, the hew and cry from a section of the Ghanaian populace about the size of the Akufo-Addo government. I have heard all the arguments, the legitimate ones and ones driven by political mischief and malevolence. Quite characteristic of me, I wish to also share my perspective on the raging debate, for the second time. My fellow countrymen and women, we must first and foremost, situate this discussion in proper context so that we are fair to all parties and the facts. Our country is not in ordinary times. We are in an extraordinary period, to put it bluntly.

We are in a period where almost all our fundamentals including the economy and social welfare system are unacceptably weak if not completely broken. We are in a period where our President says that he wasn't elected by the Ghanaian people to complain or lament about this legendary crisis but to fix whatever is broken and he is unwaveringly committed to doing just that. More importantly, we are in a period where the government of the day is having to fulfill some seemingly overly ambitious and grandiose electoral promises, upon which premise, it got the overwhelming mandate of the Ghanaian people.

I dare say, NO GOVERNMENT in the history of Ghana right from the proverbial days of Adam till date, has found itself in this ‘unenviable condition’ as the Akufo-Addo government. You should therefore not expect the Akufo-Addo government to do what all governments in our history have been doing, except if you want to be told the same old story. From all indications, President Nana Akufo-Addo is committed to changing the Ghanaian narrative and that is why he has appointed some 110 ministers and deputies to help him achieve his gargantuan transformational agenda for God and country.

I want us to at this juncture, do some number crunching and situate same in proper context for the sake of analysis. President Kufour, who is generally seen as arguably, the best performing president in the forth Republic, used some 93 ministers to achieve all the big things he did for Ghana. President Rawlings and late President Mills had a leaner government as they both did an average of 85. I'm not sure you would want us to compare their records with Kufour's because the difference is perhaps bigger than the Atlantic Ocean. Now here is the shocker, President Mahama had the leanest government, yet he is arguably, the worst performing president in the forth Republic and this is evidenced in his complete rejection and humiliating defeat at the 2016 polls.

Nowhere in Africa or elsewhere has a sitting President lost election by such astronomical margins. This confirms that, instead of efficiency, President Mahama's so called lean government only produced untold hardships, legendary profligacy, arrogance of power, deprivation, economic mismanagement and the looting of the National Kitty through corruption scandals we used to hear almost on daily basis. So you see, claims that the leaner a government, the more efficient it is, cannot be true, at least our own history doesn't support such claims as I have succinctly demonstrated.

Fortunately, those criticizing the President's appointments are not saying that he has appointed incompetent people as Ministers. They only have problem with the so called large size of the government, based on which they conclude that it would automatically balloon the cost of running government machinery. This argument is not only premature but pedestrian and incompetent especially because the government itself, has given the strongest indication yet of its resolve to significantly reduce some of the payments and entitlements to these appointees/ministers.

Remember that, this is the same government whose appointees/representatives on the transition team as well as the Ghana @60 central planning committee decided not to take their allowance for love of country. So the government has that track record. That is why I say, numbers do not really matter in this analysis.

In any case, the NPP never promised to run a lean government and that is a fact. Rather, they promised to run an efficient government and they are committed to doing just that. Also, Ghanaians did not vote for a lean government. Rather, they voted for an efficient government that is committed to fulfilling its promises. Ghanaians voted for the restoration of trainee allowance; restoration of fiscal and monetary discipline; competent management of our economy; free SHS; the scrapping of nuisance taxes like import duties on spare parts and levies on Kayayes; Zongo Development Fund; 1-District-1-Factory; 1-Village-1-Dam; $1 million per each constituency among others.  

Governance is about choices. A leader can chose to have a lean government and be corrupt and inefficient. Another leader can choose to have a "large government" but very industrious and efficient. President Mahama chose the former whereas His Excellency President Nana Addo has chosen the latter. As indicated, President Kufour used a 'large government' to build a solid foundation whereas Mills and Mahama used a 'lean government' to destroy this foundation. So the debate ought not be about the size of a government but its efficiency and that conclusion cannot be reached in advance, except if we want to do the usual petty politics.

My fellow countrymen and women, need I have to remind all of us that we have given an overwhelming mandate to President Nana Akufo-Addo to govern this country for the next 4 years, at least. It is only fair that we allow him space to use his formula or methodology to govern. Our interest should be whether we are getting results and efficiency. So if the President thinks that appointing some 110 Ministers and deputies out of the over 29 million Ghanaians would make him effectively deliver the desired results to the Ghanaian people, then so be it.  After all, at the end of his 4 years, we would have an opportunity to assess him and this would form the basis of our renewal or otherwise of his mandate come 2020. The perspectives of a citizen not a spectator.

Assalamu alaikum

Iddi Muhayu-Deen

#ForGodAndCountry

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TELLING THE AFENYO MARKIN STORY AND CELEBRATING HIM

 

TELLING THE AFENYO MARKIN STORY AND CELEBRATING HIM

Iddi Muhayu-Deen writes...

He was one of the most enterprising and successful young business moguls in the country. He was the owner of arguably, the largest haulage company in the country with over 80 trucks that were primarily involved in the hauling of bauxite across the country. The company was involved in the haulage of bauxite from Awaso to Takoradi port, the haulage of limestone from Aflao to Buipe as well as the haulage of palm oil from Abidjan to Jos State in Nigeria. So you can imagine what that meant. I am talking about the defunct Excel Haulage Limited. Sometime in 2004, he decided to venture into a new territory having excelled beyond distinction in the World of business.

This decision was influenced by his unquenchable love for his people, whom he had served at some point as a Presiding Member for the Effutu Awutu Senya District and also Presiding Member for the Effutu Municipal Assembly from 2008 to 2010. He also served as an Assemblyman of Kojo Beedu South from 2006 to 2012. Whilst serving in these capacities, he brought so many developmental projects to the relevant communities including the establishment of a number of schools and health facilities as well as the granting of scholarship to some brilliant but needy students. Despite this invaluable feat he chalked for his people, he still felt that he hadn't done enough and needed to serve them in a much bigger capacity. 

He wanted to have a direct influence on policies and programmes that affect his people right from the national level. He wanted to have a much bigger voice. So he decided to get into partisan politics, which provides such opportunity. His first point of call in this respect, was to contest for the Effutu Parliamentary Seat on the ticket of the NPP. Prior to that though, he, in 2004 contested and won the NPP's primaries to contest for this Seat (Effutu Constituency) but was prevailed upon by some party elders including former President Kufour to step down because he was "very young" at the time. 

He made a comeback in the party's 2008 primaries but lost to the late Owusu Adjei by a single vote. He was however successful in the party's 2011 primaries. So he represented the NPP, for the first time, as the Parliamentary Candidate for the the Effutu Seat in the 2012 general elections. He won the Seat, which until that time, was a safe Seat for the NDC. But this man was able to win it on his first attempt, beating competition from the then Minister for Transport, who was the incumbent MP and an NDC colossus, Hon. Mike Hammah. He has since been winning that Seat in subsequent general elections, virtually making it a safe Seat for the NPP even though, that is not really the case. 

Unfortunately for him, in 2012 when he first snatched the Seat from the NDC, his political party (NPP) lost the general elections. The NDC government felt that he has given them a raw deal for snatching that important Seat away from them, so they decided to witch-hunt him. They used some State Institutions and Agencies to harass him and ensured that his business did not flourish. This was how the ever captivating business mogul of our time lost his enviable pride of place in the corporate World.

Fortunately for him however, he happens to be a lawyer of great repute. Though he is less than 10 years at the Ghanaian bar, his accomplishments in the legal profession are unmatched. He stands tall among his compatriots. Perhaps he is the youngest lawyer to have appeared before the nation's Supreme Court as a COUNSEL in several high profile cases and secured far-reaching landmark judgements (favourable). Mention can be made of landmark cases he won against the Electoral Commission of Ghana, EOCO, the Financial Intelligent Centre (FIC) and a number of State Institutions, which were acting with impunity. He is essentially an authority in this field as his name is cited in several Case Laws and for that matter Judicial Precedence in our Jurisprudence. 

Also, in the Parliament of Ghana, he is a great force to reckon with, in both caucuses. When he gets up to speak on the floor of the House, everybody is eager to listen to him because of the nuggets of wisdom and authority he exudes. You dare not put him to order else, you would lose a lot. This man is always seen smartly dressed in Parliament, cheerful looking and committed to duty without complaints. I'm not surprised he once won the best overall performing MP by the famous African Watch Magazine. 

He also, recently placed 5th in Odikros' assessment of the 6th Parliament out of the 275 MPs. Just go through the Parliamentary Hansards and you would be overwhelmed at the rate at which his name is mentioned. Aside all of these, this man is also an excellent communicator and an award winning orator. He speaks for the NPP on every major media house almost on daily basis. His loyalty and commitment to party work is unassailable. 

With the above narrative, you would think that the enviable gravitas of this man, should fetch him a Ministerial appointment in the NPP government but that has not happened as yet. Like they say, the President knows best. He was also penciled, as widely publicized, for the vacant position of Deputy Majority Leader at some time but that again, someway somehow, did not happen. This man was not and is still not worried. He continues to serve his party and country to the fullest. I wonder how many men in his shoes would be able to do that. 

As if he hasn't done enough for his party and country, he recently sacrificed his legitimate membership of the coveted ECOWAS Parliament in order to save the image of the Majority Caucus in Parliament and Ghana at large from an international embarrassment. I'm sure you have followed this issue, so no need to regurgitate. No wonder he wasn't only celebrated by the ECOWAS Parliament and that of Ghana but also, by the BBCs, and the CNNs for being extraordinarily gentlemanly and standing in for his country when it mattered most. What more can one offer to his party and country! 

As to whether his decision to leave his hitherto, flourishing business to get into politics in order to serve his people and country has paid off, is paying off or will payoff anytime soon, I leave that to prosperity to judge. In the meantime, what is yours, they say, will always find you. That is the end of HON. AFENYO MARKIN'S story, as told by one of his ardent followers and a citizen of Ghana NOT a spectator.

Long live the Afenyos!

Long live my Motherland! 

Assalamu alaikum

Iddi Muhayu-Deen

#ForGodAndCountry

 

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