NDC’s Essikado-Ketan nominee Dr. Grace Ayensu Danquah blocked me on Facebook when I sent her a question

Joe Ghartey’s 16 years service as MP for Essikado-Ketan has been very poor despite his first term looking very promising.

But Dr. Grace Ayensu Danquah, the NDC candidate, touted as the most likely to unseat Joe Ghartey, also does not look ready for prime time: she often tends to use social media the wrong way. 

Dr. Danquah has a Facebook fan page created in her name by some youth who believe Joe Ghartey has failed his constituents for the better part of the 16 years he has walked the corridors of power, not only as MP but as minister including being a cabinet minister. 

These youth are lobbying their contemporaries to prevent Joe Ghartey from being in Parliament for another four years. The idea of “20 years is too much”, is their battle cry. 

Even if Ghartey never promised anything, there was a mutual understanding among his constituents that once he always got a ministerial appointment when NPP was in power, Esikado-Ketan would and should see development. 

Many have, however, been sorely disappointed. 

And this is where the NDC’s Dr. Grace Ayensu Danquah comes in, but can she do electoral politics, especially against the experienced Ghartey?     

Dr. Grace Ayensu Danquah, when she won the primary as the NDC parliamentary nominee, immediately started moving from house to house engaging constituents, providing health care for the aged, and even helping some communities with electricity, wherever she got the funds from. 

The youth of Kojokrom, an important town within the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis where Esikado-Ketan is located, appealed to Dr. Grace Danquah to help clear their football field and put it in a better shape. 

She responded immediately and mobilized a bulldozer to the field.

But after some minutes of work having started, some elders of Kojokrom stopped the work. And need I say she was too slow in understanding who was behind this?

Interestingly, after every round of activity, whether she succeeds or not, whether it wins the hearts of the youth or not, Grace Danquah quickly gets to her personal Facebook page and shares photos, which are then repeated on the Facebook page managed by her fans. 

She then announces more goodies soon, etc, etc. 

But do these win the hearts of the youth? Again please note the repeated emphasis on youth. 

The elderly are set in their ways, and the NPP and NDC have their core support base among them. 

Therefore who wins the youth and first time voters wins the Essikado-Ketan seat. 

The youth of Essikado-Ketan have nothing to expect after the election, frankly. They have 16 years of “no show”, “abontua abontua, akaraka chi akaraka chow” poliTRIKs as self-evident testimony. 

Esikado-Ketan was created out of the Sekondi constituency and Joe Ghartey has been the only MP since 2004. 

In all these, we have not read anything concrete - clear-cut policies or issues within the communities of the Essikado-Ketan constituency - and how when given the nod, Dr. Grace Ayensu Danquah will handle things differently. 

All told, Grace Danquah is not measuring her campaign effort.  

As a journalist/constituent who monitor’s Dr. Grace Danquah’s campaign, and how the youth who will vote in December, I wanted to read Dr. Grace Danquah’s policies for the constituency, but I found none anywhere, not even on Facebook where she posts regularly. 

I then sent her this question on Facebook: “Dr Grace Ayensu Danquah, I wish you’ll win this year’s election to represent the good people of Essikado-Ketan. Now, can you tell us (constituents) what you have identified within the constituency especially Kojokrom, Ketan, Eshiem, Anoe, Mpintsin (that’s a place of interest to me) that you’ll be tackling first when you get our vote?”.      

An opportunity that has been given to Dr. Grace Danquah to sell her ideas to the people of Essikado-Ketan, right? 

But, no, Dr. Grace Danquah blocked me, without answering the question!

Does this suggest that she wants us to still do that base politics of sharing clothes, TV sets, standing fans, refrigerators, cash and bontua (yes, enema for obstructed defecation and egestion) so that she can be voted for?

Ok?

Bring it on!

The author is a journalist, communications and media analyst and a writer. The views expressed are solely his and do not represent the organisation he works for.

Email: paanyan7@gmail.com

Blog: ekowrites.blogspot.com

Twitter: @3ArthurAidoo

The Bawumian 'cost of one Interchange' analysis leaves the media and electorate confused and lost

The cost of one interchange under the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama administration is the cost of four interchanges under the Akufo-Addo administration, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has said.

Speaking at a ‘Town Hall’ meeting on Tuesday, August 18, he said this clearly shows that the NPP administration has been prudent with the little resource at its disposal, thereby, doing more infrastructure projects than the previous administration.

The Vice President cited the ongoing Tema, Pokuase and Obetsebi Lamptey interchanges in the Greater Accra Region and the ongoing Tamale interchange in the Northern Region all of which he indicated are at a total cost of “$289million” compared to the “$260million” Kwame Nkrumah interchange and asked the electorate to “ponder” that.

He claimed that for the eight years that the NDC was in power, it could not complete one major road in erstwhile three regions in north Ghana, namely Upper West Region, Upper East Region and Northern Region.

But, the Akufo-Addo administration in the first-term has constructed at least one major road in those regions.

Prior to the 2016 elections, John Dramani Mahama commissioned a redesigned Kwame Nkrumah Circle interchange to ease the heavy vehicular traffic in the capital.

Dubbed the ‘Dubai interchange’, Ghana’s first-ever three-tier interchange included a 1.2km flyover from the then Busy Internet end of Ring Road Central to the Awudome Cemetery, near the Obetsebi-Lamptey Roundabout with street lights, and a Kwame Nkrumah park.

Phase one of the project cost €74 million whilst phase two was done at US$170 million.

In 2019, President Akufo-Addo cut the sword for the redevelopment of the Obetsebi Lamptey Circle into an interchange at a reported $39million for phase one and $100million for phase two.

This project is far from what anybody can describe as even nearing completion.

In short, the cost of a completed project cannot be compared to the cost of an ongoing project; only projected estimates can be discussed.

And yet when we as journalists hold the feet of politicians to the fire, our own colleagues chide us and tell us to look out for something positive to say about so that the general public will see us as “neutral and balanced”.

In Ghana, road projects take longer to complete, and costs can escalate especially when the project delays, which is often the case.

The $39million phase one component of the project is being undertaken with a loan from HSBC, which was secured under the Mahama administration and approved by Parliament in August 2016, four months to Mahama’s leaving office.

The opposition NDC are expected to contest these four-at-the-cost-of-one claims.

But sadly neutral observers must keep quiet; they must not express an opinion; logic, the natural human inkling that enables all humankind to arrive closer to the truth must not be aroused in the ways of a “journalist and political junkie”.

The Tamale interchange project, with side roads, covering a total length of one-kilometre is the first-ever in the Northern Region.

This is being constructed as part of the projects funded through the $2billion Government of Ghana and Sinohydro Master Project Support Agreement.

The Vice President’s claims will, therefore, require verification and further clarification, and this will require audits of payments made, which are most reliably obtained from the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament - long after the fact.

The much talked about four-tier $65million Pokuase Interchange project in the Ga West Municipality of the Greater Accra Region - with viral social media pictures - covers five-kilometres, comprising the two-kilometre Awoshie-Pokuase portion, the two-kilometre Accra-Nsawam portion and also and the Kwabenya portion of the project.

It is not clear whether Dr. Bawumia is saying all these components which are being circulated on social media, cost the figures he mentioned. In Ghana, road projects typically involve compensation for the demolition of buildings or loss of business.

These are sometimes aggregated into the cost of the project; sometimes they are separated for political expediency.

It is only when the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), passed in 2019, after 20 long years, is implemented, that the electorate and the media can verify and authenticate such details.

The FOI was passed by Parliament, and President Akufo-Addo gave it presidential assent, yes, under this NPP administration.

This is a fact which this “political junkie of a journalist” must praise while conveniently forgetting that the NPP was in power for eight years during which they ignored the bill, introduced in Parliament when a certain John Mahama was Minister for Communications (with additional portfolio for Information).

The said John Mahama became Vice President and President of Ghana for eight years during which he failed to get the FOI passed. Serves him right when Bawumia does his contorted Bawumian analysis and keeps us groping in the dark, doesn’t it?

For now, the costs and comparisons will be kicked about in the typical political football that Ghanaian politicians play…..and the media will be blamed for not fact-checking like their colleagues do in America and elsewhere.

We, in the media and the electorate - no, all of us taxpayers, are the only losers here.

The author is a journalist, communications and media analyst and a writer. The views expressed are solely his and does not represent the organisation he works for.

Email: paanyan7@gmail.com

Blog: ekowrites.blogspot.com

Twitter: @eArthurAidoo

Akufo-Addo delivers controversial and divisive 15th coronavirus address

 

President Nana Akufo-Addo has delivered a controversial speech, condemning the violence that occurred at some registration centres during the just ended voter registration exercise.

In his 15th televised Coronavirus address to the nation, President Nana Akufo-Addo stated that those incidents were ‘regrettable’, nevertheless, they were ‘isolated incidents’ within what he described as a largely successful exercise.

He, then, hoped and prayed that the police would deal with those involved in the violence, but never told the nation that he, as Commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces and Head of State, was now “aware” of the very acts of violence he denied knowledge of, despite viral videos.

“By the grace of God, the work of the Electoral Commission, and the effective measures put in place by the government, these prophecies of doom did not materialize. There were, nonetheless, deeply regrettable, isolated incidents of violence, which I condemn unreservedly, and which I expect the Police to deal with without fear or favour, but the exercise was generally peaceful,” Akufo-Addo said.

The President used the opening parts of his address to deliver a tongue lashing diatribe against those he called ‘political naysayers’ who were opposing the compilation of new voters register but ended up registering.

He said: “[Those] who swore heaven and earth to resist the compilation of the register at the peril of their lives, ending up registering”.

He continued: “There were also those who offered delicate, personal sacrifices in the event of the register, again, ending up registering. And, there were those who claimed that, in the midst of a pandemic, the registration exercise should not be conducted, with some warning of an ‘explosion’ in our case count and very high numbers of deaths, should the exercise go ahead.”

President Nana Akufo-Addo then expressed his profound gratitude to the Electoral Commission (EC) over the ‘orderly and safe’ conduct of the ‘most credible’ voter register, while singling out for praise some staff of the Electoral Commission, an act uncharacteristic of Ghanaian heads of state, when in office or out of office, with about three months until Election Day.


“On behalf of the people of Ghana, I congratulate warmly, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Jean Mensa, her two deputies, Dr. Eric Bossman Asare and Mr. Samuel Tetteh and the entire commission for their efficient, safe and transparent nature of the registration exercise”, he said.

President Akufo-Addo and his incumbent NPP insist the new register was necessary to remove names of minors, foreigners and dead people.

The incumbent argues especially strongly that for a population of 30 million, Ghana should not have more than 15 million names on its electoral register.

The USD150 million new provisional register is only about 70 thousand names shy of 17 million registrants. The EC has admitted that those same problems for which the new register was compiled persist and have hence vowed to remove the unwanted names, another controversial move which has generated controversy as to the criteria and legality.

Critics have asked why people had to crowd at registration centres and infect each other with COVID-19 in a nation where some 3374 coronavirus samples were left in a veterinary laboratory in Takoradi for several weeks because there were no reagents and “discovered” around 17 July.

The President himself, apparently now aware that his decisions and addresses do not follow “the science and the data”, as he and his hirelings often claim, now declared: “Indeed test results that used to take weeks are now available within 48 hours”.

In Ghana, contract tracing is the longest-running joke by far. Has anybody tried contacting the 3374 Takoradi people to test them again since we were told their samples were discarded?

And judging by trends, some “too known” man has estimated that if even one per cent, namely 34 of the 3374 were positive, how do we trace the persons those 34 met then, and continue to meet?

Mr. President must be made aware that the trend worldwide is that 99 per cent of those who catch the virus will recover anyway, hence he is completely at sea; he has missed the mark completely.

Yes, we may not be dying in Ghana, but avoiding death is not the only reason for the global fight against COVID-19. There is even documented evidence of long term illnesses including nervous system problems.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) “Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan” has at number one on their list of objectives: “Limit human-to-human transmission, including reducing secondary infections among close contacts and healthcare workers, preventing transmission amplification events, and preventing further international spread from China”.

This document has been in “draft form as of 3 February 2020” and has been available as a “Featured Publication” since “14 April 2020”.

Now replace China with Ghana and try flying out of Ghana on “1st September” as the President promised.

We must be our neighbour's keeper; that is the principle here, for crying out loud.

The author is a journalist, communications and media analyst and a writer. The views expressed are solely his and does not represent the organisation he works for.

Email: paanyan7@gmail.com

Blog: ekowrites.blogspot.com

Twitter: @eArthurAidoo

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful and the smelly KelniGVG deal: snubs accountability to our elected representatives too?

  

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister for Communications, was nowhere to be found in Parliament on Wednesday, August 5, 2020, when it was time for her to provide answers to some questions on the $89 million KelniGVG deal. 

Her ministry signed a controversial contract meant for a separate entity to monitor revenue mobilization from the mobile telecommunication companies, a job which critics have said the National Communications Authority can do. 

Samuel Nartey George, MP for Ningo Prampram had posed some questions to the Minister for Communications on the incremental revenue accrued by the state since KelniGVG was engaged.

But when the moment of truth arrived, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader told the Speaker gave the representatives of the people the clearest message that the representatives of the people had no control over government appointees:

“I have been trying to locate the Minister. Unfortunately, I have not been able to touch base with her," the Majority Leader said. “She could come, and when she comes, we may vary the Order of Business and allow the Minister to come and respond to the questions.”

Such cock and bull stories are so reminiscent of earlier Parliaments, meaning we are not growing as a nation. 
 
Muntaka Mubarak, Minority Chief Whip, protested that the minister’s non-appearance is untenable, adding “even the answers have not been provided.”
 
“I don’t want to impugn the wrong motive to say it is deliberate and the minister is avoiding to answer these questions. We have a responsibility as a House to get ministers to be accountable," the Minority Chief Whip continued. “Mr Speaker, this is the third time… Mr Speaker, I hope you give the right directives so that the minister will come and answer these questions [......] without further delay.”
 
Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye, the Rt. Hon. Speaker, stated that the communication minister had earlier in a letter dated August 3, 2020, requested to be absent from the proceedings of the House.

The Speaker agreed that despite her absence from the House, questions posed on the controversial KelniGVG deal still remained unanswered which was irregular. 

He then directed that the minister has a 48-hour ultimatum to show up on the floor of Parliament to respond to questions relating to the KelniGVG contract.

“To cut a long story short, I direct that the minister must answer all the relevant questions and make herself available on Friday,” he said.

MPs Questions are an important way of ensuring public accountability in every serious democracy. 

These questions are usually responded to by the Chief Director of each ministry on behalf of the ministry in question. They have then submitted to Parliament ahead of the scheduled day for responses as dictated by the Order Paper. 

The Order Paper is prepared by the office of the Majority Leader who doubles as the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs. 

In fact, since it is not personal, any minister present is often selected to read the already - submitted written answers on behalf of the minister. 

What Ursula Owusu-Ekuful is running away from is the follow-up questions which have not been scripted. Her answers coming from her head if and when she does appear - not scripted by any chief director - will take all of us closer to the truth. 

How come we have a minister for Parliamentary Affairs when there is separation of powers? 

Parliamentarians and the executive have long bemoaned the lack of information and collaboration, so the idea of having the majority leader sit in cabinet sounded appealing. 

JH Owusu-Acheampong was majority leader cum minister for parliamentary affairs during the Rawlings administration. 

JH Mensah played the same role during the Kufuor administration, followed by his successes through the many reshuffles. The practice was continued during the Mills-Mahama administration. 

And now here we are. 

Did we go or did we come?

"Think about it," apologies Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko.

Ekow Arthur-Aidoo

The author is a journalist, communications and media analyst and a writer. The views expressed are solely his and does not represent the organisation he works for.

Email: paanyan7@gmail.com

Blog: ekowrites.blogspot.com

Twitter: @eArthurAidoo

Filthy Accra awaits her first sky train station - shall we hold our breath?

Ghana awaits its first Sky Train station. 

Officials promised the skies of the capital Accra will be lit with a glorious flying metal sheet in the month of August 2020 - this very month. 

The promises were reminiscent of Sylvester Stallone asking the driver of the sky train to stop so he could get down in the middle of skyscrapers in the movie Assassins, co-starring Antonio Banderas and Julianne Moore. 

The promises came after the concession agreement signed between the government of Ghana and Sky Train during an African Investment Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa in November 2019. 

Well, from November to August is nine months, a perfect gestation period for a human pregnancy, so who were we mere mortals to doubt that. 

At least not when Joe Ghartey, the Minister for Railways Development, who has also served as a leader on the majority front bench in Parliament, attorney-general, shuffled between countless cabinet meetings both within the Osu Castle and Jubilee House, and served as MP in a region littered with railway lines, all with nothing to show to the people of Essikado-Ketan, his and my constituency. 

But who are we mere mortals to not hope against hope? What else could we have done but wait… whether we chose to exhale or not? 

The Accra Sky Train, a 194-kilometre project, when opened - hopefully this month because afterall it is a gift of the gods dropping from the sky - will provide the development of five routes. 

Four of the routes comprise radial routes that originate at the proposed SkyTrain Terminal; at the heart of Accra; Kwame Nkrumah interchange; and one route that provides an intra-city commuter loop distribution service, also emanating from Kwame Nkrumah Interchange. Oh la la! 

At the signing ceremony on Monday, November 11, 2019, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo described the Accra Sky Train project as “a happy day for Ghana and her good people”, adding that it is a “critical step towards the consummation of this project”, and a vivid testimony of the value of the African Investment Forum.

The Accra Sky Train, Akufo-Addo said, “is meeting an important infrastructural need, and hopefully the step that is being taken today, that is, signing the concession agreement, is bringing the project to much nearer conclusion. That is what we are hoping for so that the people of Ghana benefit from the progress and the relief that a modern system of transport in our capital city is going to bring.”

Even the president who is 75 years, still has hopes in Ghana, and in his own words, and in his hirelings - who are we mere mortals to prevent being detractors and “naysayers”? 

Many opposition party supporters have described the project as “a scam” by the incumbent NPP administration because since the contract was signed in November 2019, there has been nothing to show whether or not the project will come on.

But we, mere mortals in the journalism profession are only to report with balance and fairness. We dare not express our opinion based on facts…and trend analysis. 

Not even when Joe Ghartey has been our MP for 16 years, lest we make Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, the incumbent party’s chief apologist, “a little hurt”, and he adds us to his list of persons who “choose to stay negative even if under the guise of fifth gear cruising neutrality”. 

Wait, we may be being unfair...we are in a coronavirus pandemic, and trend analysis may not apply here. May we start breathing now? 

By: Ekow Arthur-Aidoo 

The author is a journalist, communications and media analyst and a writer. The views expressed are solely his and does not represent the organisation he works for.

Email: paanyan7@gmail.com

Blog: ekowrites.blogspot.com

Twitter: @eArthurAidoo