MAHAMA TO CANCEL FREE SHS SHOULD HE BECOME PRESIDENT IN 2020

MAHAMA TO CANCEL FREE SHS SHOULD HE BECOME PRESIDENT IN 2020

Ex-President John Dramani Mahama, Ghana's only one-term president has given the strongest indication yet that should he become president again in 2020, his government would CANCEL the Free SHS policy. The policy is undoubtedly, the number one flagship programme of the Akufo-Addo's government and has rightly been adjudged by many educationists as the greatest social intervention in the nation's educational sector since independence.

It is the policy that is helping secure the future of thousands of our younger brothers and sisters who would have prematurely ended their education upon completion of JHS because of financial challenges. It is a life-saving policy that is ultimately going to secure the future of our country because there CANNOT be any substitute for education. Leadership is indeed about choices; whereas President Akufo-Addo thinks investing in Free SHS by whatever means is the way to go, John Mahama thinks otherwise. The former President has articulated his position on this subject over the weekend in Tarkwa after an NDC "unity walk".

Mahama tells us that because the implementation of the policy has been fraught with a myriad of challenges, we should do away with it. This is in spite of the fact that these challenges are not insurmountable. But John Mahama would have none of that, as he maintains that the policy should be CANCELED entirely because of the foregoing infrastructure challenges in particular. As far as Mahama is concerned, if your hand is paining you, you don't take it to a doctor for medical attention, you cut it off. And so, if there's problem with Free SHS implementation, you don't fix it, you cancel the policy. That is the John Mahama model.

Interestingly, the same Mahama (H.E) told us that his government had revolved the infrastructure issues bedeviling second cycle education when they were in power with the construction of some 123 schools. In fact, Hon. Okudjeto Ablakwa is also on record to have said that the NPP's Free SHS became possible because they [the NDC] had put up enough infrastructure in our schools. So, what has changed now? Have all the so called unprecedented infrastructure vanished because a different government is in office? Your guess is as good as mine.

Again, former President Mahama, whilst chiding the current government for "not doing broader consultation before rolling out the policy" stated that, it was not for nothing that the framers of our laws provide that it should take 15 years to fully implement Free SHS policy [I wonder which law he's talking about]. He asked rhetorically that, "why does Akufo-Addo think that he can use one year to implement something our constitution says should be implemented in 15 years?".

No further comment, except to say that the ball is now in our court, whether or not we should vote for John Mahama in 2020 [if he is courageous enough to contest again] and BID FAREWELL to Free SHS or we should trust the NPP to fix the problem and thus secure the future of the nation's youth.

IDDI MUHAYU-DEEN

#ForGodAndCountry

GHANA MOURNS A MEDIA ICON

GHANA MOURNS A MEDIA ICON

Undoubtedly, the name, Kwadwo Asare Baffuor Acheampong, aka KABA, is one name which would forever be associated with the Ghanaian media industry for all the good reasons whether or not the bearer of that name lives. The nation woke up on the beautiful morning of Saturday, November 18 only to be greeted with the shocking news of the demise of this fine media icon, whose enviable virtues and life story, I cannot finish extolling. Simply put, it would forever be told generations that the KABAs came to this world, saw and conquered that which is conquerable for the love of God and country. He paid his dues not only to Asempa fm and the Multimedia Group but to the rest of Ghana and the world at large.

As much as we say, death is inevitable and in the fullness of time, all of us shall taste the agony of death, it is still inexplicable and devastating if you lose somebody you least expect to lose. My good friend and brother, KABA was arguably at the peak of his career in service to his country. He had been to work even at the later part of the week to inter alia, engage his distinguished discussants on the prospects of the 2018 adwuma budget. He showed absolutely no sign of ailment. He came across as someone who was very well and hearty. So, with this in mind, if you were, in less than 48 hours told that this same KABA, had passed on to glory, you certainly would have every reason to be devastated no matter how religious you are.

Perhaps, this development, as sad as it is, should tell us one thing, that, we are nothing but mere mortals, with absolutely no options but to respond to the call of our Maker anytime. My fellow countrymen and women, let’s prepare for that unavoidable call at all times because it can come at anytime whether we are prepared or not; whether we are weak or strong; whether we are rich or poor; whether we are young or old; whether we are famous or infamous; whether we are leaders or followers; whether we have achieved much in life or not and more instructively, whether we are sick or perhaps stronger than Bastie Samir, the conqueror of the Bankus.

Like I said, the life story of KABA can never be told in full. But suffice it to say, he was an embodiment of excellence in our media industry. He used his international award winning platform, “ekosisem” on asempa fm, to tell the story of the Ghanaian as accurately as it ought to be told. He made “ekosisem” the most popular afternoon political talkshow in the country. The only political show in the country that lasts for more than four hours each working day, with the best of scintillating interviews, sound bites, national discourse and all that you need to make your afternoon worthwhile. No wonder you would almost always find political commentators, Ministers of State, students, teachers, drivers, lawyers, media personnel and all the people that matter in our governance system, tune to asempa fm once it was 2pm to listen to the ever sensational KABA on “ekosisem” for all the breaking news in the country. He was recently adjudged the Best Talk Show Host for the year, 2017. 

If you had a genuine concern and needed national attention, you could just walk to KABA, and he would provide you his platform, free of charge, to tell your story whether or not you had officially written to the management of asempa fm before coming. I’ve had a lot of such experience especially in my days as a national student leader. His sense of humility is incredibly legendary. I do not know what would become of our favourite “ekosisem”, now that KABA is gone forever. But you can always trust the Multimedia Group to get us a replacement, though it wouldn’t be easy, considering the niche KABA had carved for himself and the Multimedia brand. Of course, nobody thought after the exit of the Late Komla Dumor to the BBC, the Multimedia Group was ever going to get a perfect replacement for this media colossus, until a Kojo Oppong Nkurumah emerged. As always, I wish them well.

In the meantime, I, with heavy heart, join the rest of the world, to commiserate first of all, with KABA’s immediate family especially his beloved wife and kid, the Multimedia Group, colleagues in the media fraternity and Ghana at large. We have not only lost a colleague, but a brother, a friend and a mentor. KABA, you would forever occupy a special place in our hearts and minds. Stay blessed brother till we meet in afterlife.

IDDI MUHAYU-DEEN

ForGodAndCountry

CALLS FOR THE REINSTATEMENT OF KWABENA AGYEPONG ABSOLUTELY MISPLACED AND SUICIDAL FOR THE NPP

CALLS FOR THE REINSTATEMENT OF KWABENA AGYEPONG ABSOLUTELY MISPLACED AND SUICIDAL FOR THE NPP

It started like a joke when I heard one of our communicators making calls for the reinstatement of the suspended NPP General Secretary; Kwabena Agyepong on Accra based Oman fm. He was ignored as everybody in the party thought he was doing mischief and therefore his weird call was treated with the necessary disdain for want of logic. It has however now emerged that the gentleman is not into this alone and that, he was only being the conveyer belt of a well orchestrated and sponsored media campaign for this diabolic agenda against the NPP. The development of 23rd October, where some people, calling themselves, concerned NPP group, organized a Press Conference to DEMAND for the immediate reinstatement of Kwabena Agyepong only goes to confirm this agenda I'm talking about. Now we hear of the formation of FREE KWABENA AGYAPONG MOVEMENT. Clearly, these people mean business.

But, I'm prayerfully confident that the almighty Allah I worship; would not make them succeed for the love of country and the NPP. The governing party, cannot, will not, and should not travel on the path of implosion which characterized its affairs in the build-up to the last general elections until the suspension of the "infamous trio" [Kwabena Agyapong, Paul Afoko and Sammy Crabbe]. Only a fool, they say, would sit unconcerned and allow his testicular organs to be stepped on more than once. Again, of course, the first fool, they say, is not a fool properly so called but the second and the third. It is against this backdrop that I find gratifying that, so far, it doesn't appear to me that the leadership of the party is giving audience to these ugly and unmeritorious noises disguised as legitimate calls.

Of course, it is so, because, they [the top hierarchy of the party] know how SUICIDAL any such contemplation would be to the NPP. Recalling Kwabena Agyepong or any of the three "musketeers" would be tantamount to the NPP pressing the SELF-DESTRUCT button. At the time the NPP needed them the most, they betrayed us. Not only that, they did everything to ensure an NPP defeat in the elections; so that, Nana Addo wouldn't get to be President of Ghana. As a matter of fact, Kwabena Agyepong, whom we are being told should be reinstated today, is on record to have dared then candidate Nana Akufo-Addo to be very careful with him, else he [Kwabena Agyepong] wouldn't endorse nor submit his Nomination Form to the Electoral Commission (EC) for the NPP to participate in the 2016 presidential polls.

His hatred and antipathy for Nana Akufo-Addo was so manifest to the extent that he [Kwabena Agyepong], at some point, removed the portrait of the party flag bearer from his office at the NPP headquarters and smashed it on the ground. He felt bigger than the NPP and even when the party suspended Paul Afoko, defiant Kwabena Agyepong disrespected the party's decision and still regarded him [Paul Afoko] as the legitimate National Chairman until he was also suspended. Anytime our internal troubles were coming down to the dislike of the NDC, you would see Kwabena Agyepong or his "twin brother", Paul Afoko, doing something to bring the NPP back on the unenviable trajectory of self-destruction and for that matter negative media headlines. I don't even want to talk about his infamous "Kumasi fufu comment" or sad developments that culminated in the unfortunate demise of my uncle, the late Upper East regional chairman of the party [may almighty Allah continue to bless his innocent soul].

Truth is, if I want to chronicle all the "bad things" Kwabena Agyepong/Paul Afoko did to destroy the NPP's chances of winning the 2016 elections, I would certainly not be able to finish. But all of that notwithstanding, the NPP, after their suspensions, went ahead to win the elections overwhelmingly. This victory, however, didn't come on a silver platter. It took the sacrifices of the rank and file of the party and the leadership, particularly, JOHN BOADU, the National Organizer of the party, who was added additional responsibilities, not only as the Operations Director of the entire campaign but more instructively, as the acting General Secretary of the party. John Boadu was thus, arguably, the busiest national officer in the NPP 2016 campaign taking charge of the national organization of the party, the campaign operations as well as the National Secretariat.

As hardworking as he's always been, John Boadu led this party against all odds, to chalk an unprecedented electoral feat in the elections through his award winning organizational, leadership and administrative skills. Today, the NPP is in power and we are being told to sideline John Boadu and bring back Kwabena Agyepong to take over his former position. We should reward treachery and betrayal at the detriment of hard work. How unconscionable can we be! Even beyond John Boadu, what about the hundreds and thousands of NPP activists and sympathizers whose sweat and sacrifices brought the party to power after Kwabena and Afoko's mess? Over 90% of these hardworking patriots of our party have still not received any recognition or reward for their hard work and sacrifices but they are being very patient because of the love they have for the NPP.

Now, you want to provoke and test their patience by rewarding somebody like Kwabena Agyepong, who deserted the NPP at the time the party needed him the most? What signals are we sending to them, and can the party stand the repercussions of any such egregious move? Is that how the NPP want to insult our intelligence and sensibilities for virtually killing ourselves for the party when it mattered most? Or, is the NPP telling us that it is all about "monkey dey work, gbako dey chop?" Is that the precedence we want to set for ourselves going forward as a party? Like seriously? Of course, I know my NPP is NOT that kind of party and that is why I am very confident that all these ugly noises calling for Kwabena Agyepong’s reinstatement would be treated with all the contempt that it deserves by the party leadership.  

And to the so called friends of Kwabena Agyepong, who told them the NPP can reinstate Kwabena Agyepong without reinstating Paul Afoko? How is that possible when we all know that the two of them did all the “bad things” together to destroy the NPP’s electoral fortunes? Kwabena Agyepong is certainly inseparable from the ills of Paul Afoko. In fact, as some point, Kwabena Agyepong proved to be even more dangerous than Afoko and this, I have confirmed from some National Executives of the party who worked very closely with the duo. So, if the party goes ahead to reinstate Kwabena and leave Afoko, we would only be confirming suspicion that the NPP is an Akan party and that, the Akans can always have their way at the detriment of northerners.

And what would that say about the future of the hardworking Alhaji Dr. Bawumia [His Excellency the Vice President], one of my finest political mentors of all times. I place on record that if such unconscionable thing should happen, I would personally ensure that northerners in the NPP stage a mammoth and sustained protestation against the party and if that would lead to massive defections, then so be it. Discrimination is tantamount to injustice and injustice anywhere, they say, is a monumental threat to justice everywhere and same must be fought with all alacrity even at the peril of one’s life. They are telling us that Kwabena has changed. That, he now loves the NPP more than his life. Why don’t you have a good laugh?

Remember we’ve heard that before. In the build-up to the NPP National Delegates Conference in 2014, which was held in Tamale, we were told Kwabena Agyepong had changed and so, we should vote for him. Not only did some of us support him, we also went all out and campaigned vigorously for him to become the General Secretary. I lost count of the number of articles I wrote to project Kwabena Agyepong, because like many others, I was also of the mistaken belief that he had truly changed as we were told. But we’ve all been LET DOWN after he became the Secretary. In fact, his campaign manager and my good friend and brother, Iddrisu Musah Superior was the first person to desert him when he [Kwabena Agyepong] openly showed biases against the party flag bearer and personified arrogance.

Today, we are being told he has changed again and so, the party should reinstate him. Let me ask, how many times is he going to change? You can fool some of the people some of the time and get away with it. You can also be able to fool all the people some of the time but certainly; you cannot fool all the people all the time. If the NPP can win a competitive election like the 2016’s without Paul Afoko, Sammy Crabbe and Kwabena Agyepong, then surely, the party should be able to govern the country without them. In conclusion, let it be told to the leadership of the NPP that it is well within their right to take any decision on the fate of Kwabena Agyepong and his cohorts but whatever decision they take would be judged by posterity and prosperity.

Assalamu alaik

Iddi Muhayu-Deen

ForGodAndCountry