Beware Our Wrath

�Spending GH�5,000 per delegate to become the chairman of our great party is one of the most unthinkable things for anyone to do as we said earlier. We are very much surprised at the splash of monies to delegates. Surely it is against the tenets of probity and accountability. The time will come when you will be called to account for�,� Kwabena Adjei, immediate past chairman of the NDC. Dr Kwabena Adjei, the man who lost his position as chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) last Saturday, said it all about the obscene use of money to influence delegates as succinctly captured in the aforementioned quotation. Although his remarks were informed by the worrying trend within the NDC, it is a phenomenon which the party has always used in national polls to the detriment of democracy. The remarks are rich in lessons for those interested and responsible for nurturing our fledgling democracy. Using state resources for such political chicanery as perfected by the NDC is one of the anomalies which has given politics a bad name and deterred experience-studded citizens from the occupation. It is amazing therefore when those who profess to be clean and occupy the helm of state dip their hands into the state kitty and distribute same unashamedly to delegates to influence their minds. It speaks volumes about the extent to which such persons can go to hold on to power. We saw it during the last elections and the outcome of the litigation thereafter. One day, as Kwabena Adjei predicted, those who splashed the ill-gotten money on delegates, including the distribution of custom-made kettles to Muslim delegates and the emptying of the contents of relief warehouses, will be held accountable for their smelly deeds. It is no curse but a natural phenomenon awaiting such fellows. At a time when the average Ghanaian can hardly make ends meet, the obscene doling out of money to delegates should be a heart-wrenching development. It was an interesting and auspicious coincidence when Ivor Greenstreet spoke along those lines while delivering his party�s solidarity message. Although Samia Nkrumah said he (Greenstreet) spoke for the whole Convention People�s Party (CPP) as its general secretary, we state without any shred of apprehension that he did so for all of us Ghanaians. The acceptance of the speech and the fact of its overshadowing the Kumasi event are undeniable. The citizens of this country are slow to react but when they do there are landmark consequences, which is what those at the helm should be mindful about. The reaction of President Mahama to Ivor Greenstreet�s or CPP�s statement was as appalling as it was disappointing, coming from the man who presides over the affairs of state. If the gentleman was myopic and considering the unequivocal fact that he spoke for all Ghanaians save the president�s appointees who have unbridled access to state resources, it goes without doubt that his insult covers his compatriots. So President Mahama lives in fantasy land not knowing that the so-called �Better Ghana� agenda is all a sham? How sad! Power, absolute power, which is what President Mahama appears to be relishing, distances the governor from the governed. When the cup is full and the Rubicon is crossed, such symptoms manifest loudly and obscenely. Let not our physically challenged be downcast for we share in the consequences of the insult the President showered on them. We too are myopic according to the President. Tempora mutantur, to wit: �Time will Tell,� as the Romans say.