NDCs Operations Are Against The Principles of Jerry John Rawlings

An avowed critic of the current administration and a member of the group, Friends of Nan Konadu Agyeman Rawlings (FONKAR), which was formerly affiliated to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) opines that the ruling party is operating on a set of principles dissimilar to the core principles of Probity, Accountability and Social Justice on which Jerry John Rawlings founded it. Speaking to the issue of reports that the Mahama-led NDC intends sponsoring about 200 selected Pastors to embark on a trip to Israel, Ernest Owusu Bempah said to him the issue is not really about the intended pilgrimage but how the ideals of the revolution which brought the NDC�s parent, the PNDC to power, to lessen the hardship of the citizenry and bring relief to them, appears to have been thrown to the dogs. He wonders how in the face of the recent increase in fuel prices, erratic power and water supply, challenges in the health sector coupled with intended strike action by teachers and imminent tariff increment, the best news the ruling NDC, a party claiming to be social democrats, can give Ghanaians is the flying of 200 selected members of the Christian Community to a pilgrimage in Israel to offer intercessory prayers for the country. Speaking on �Ghana Decides� on OkayFM, Ernest Owusu Bempah, pointed out that since the �People�s Revolution� came to give hope to Ghanaians by enforcing the above core values, the present NDC, by its actions are alienating itself from the principles Mr Rawlings stood for. To him, any leading member who will speak against or act contrary to this core values and principles is lost; stressing that President Mahama has failed and it is a disgrace for anybody to support the idea of sponsoring pastors abroad to intercede for Ghanaians while the nation lies in crisis. �I am sure the NDC founder will not condone this; he will never condone this because he knows what is going on is contrary to the principles of probity, accountability and social justice�the people of Ghana�s demand for electricity, water and the supply of gas should be the primary concern of the party,� he said. Reports trickled in from news sources last Thursday that the government was allotting an amount of $2 million to fund the travel of some Pastors to Israel to allegedly pray for President John Dramani Mahama. According to a Daily Guide publication on Thursday, March 14, 2013, �each Pastor would be given $10,000 amounting to $2 million, to cover their cost of air fare, hotel bills, feeding and perdiem.� As surprised as he sounded, Owusu Bempah said that it is strange to see President Mahama�s government ignore the current crises of the nation to give $ 2 million dollars to pastors. He however said that there is nothing wrong if an individual is volunteering to sponsor the pastors� trip but to him it is absurd that government should sponsor this trip from the almost empty purse of the nation.