It is becoming quite apparent that the NDC Government which was sworn-in on January 07, 2013, is working very hard to lose the massive support it garnered in the run-up to the 2012 general elections.
In less than 3 months, the Government is fast losing its support via some of the very unpopular decisions it has taken, amidst the hardship Ghanaians are going through. The recent of such decisions is the banning of Okada as a means of transport - this is one move that is certainly working against new the government.
The offices of The Informer newspaper has been inundated with calls, as well as, bumping into persons who are extremely livid at the decision by the NDC Government to ban the use of Okada.
The 'Informer�s scouts in the World Bank of the NDC, the Volta Region, continue to pick up strong signals that the decision to ban the use of Okada is one that has not gone down well with most of the people there.
The scouts in the southern belt of the Volta Region, (Atatsi, Abor, Dzodze, Agbozume, Keta etc), are picking strong signals that many of the NDC foot soldiers have vowed to ensure that the party loses heavily in the 2016 general election, following this unpopular decision.
Many of the Okada Boys and their passengers cannot believe that the government they voted into power to make life better for them, is rather turning them into complete paupers and leaving them in a state of penury.
The angry NDC supporters cannot believe that in the wake of all the crises and economic hardship they are saddled with, the Government can be so wicked and insensitive so as to take away their source of livelihood/source of commuting.
What is most disturbing, is the fact that, in many of the rural areas, the Okada business is the most reliable and cheapest means of transport.
Indeed, the recent hike in prices of petroleum products and the subsequent rise in the transport fares has forced many rural folk to depend on Okada as a means of transport for short distance travels.
The anger in the southern parts of the Volta Region, is no different from the anger brewing in the middle and northern parts of the region.
Specifically in, Logba, in the Hohoe North Constituency, an NDC ward chairman told The "Informer" (name withheld) that the party shall surely lose the 2016 election if immediate steps are not taken to reverse the calamitous decision.
�We are begging the Government not quickly reverse this bad decision because the boys are very angry and swearing that they will work hard to vote against the NDC if the situation remains the same�
�If Government has a problem with the Okada business, it is better to put in place regulations and measures that will punish offenders instead of the wholesale banning of the business� the ward chairman said.
�From Logba to Tafi, most people use the Okada because vehicles to ply the road regularly; so now that the business is being banned, how does Government expect us to survive?,� the ward chairman asked rhetorically.
Apart from the Volta Region, The Informer�s spies in all the 9 other regions, where NDC gets most of their votes, the story and the anger is the same as in the Volta Region.
In Nii Lantey Vanderpuje�s Odododiodoo Constituency, specifically around WATO, the Okada boys are not hiding their anger at all.
Many of the boys The Informer spoke to, used a lot of unprintable language to describe the decision. Seething with rage and anger, all the boys the paper spoke to, had lots of unkind words for the President, the Government and the NDC Party.
Indeed, Nii Lantey, who had no hand in the decision, is also being attacked just because he is an MP on the ticket of the NDC.
�We said that Kufuor was wicked when he started joining taxi drivers; but this wickedness by the NDC Government is worse than Kufuor�s wickedness�, one Adotey said.
�I used to be a thief until I started this Okada business; am I supposed to go back to the bad habit of stealing� another chap by name Ashitey asked.
�After all the work that Nii Lantey made us do, is this our reward? 2016 is just around the corner and we will see how the NDC will win any election again in Odododiodoo� an elderly women called Untie Fio, said with a lot of anger and pain.
From all indications, President Mahama and the NDC Government have touched so many raw nerves, as a result of this decision to take away the only source of livelihood from lots of poor persons, and if nothing is done to stop this reckless arrests, the NDC must not waste its time going into the 2016 election because the party will surely lose to the NPP.
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