Dr Tony Aidoo
I had the privilege to live in England during the administration of Anthony Linton Blair who is popularly known as Tony Blair.
Before Tony Blair led the labour party to electoral success in Britain in 1997, the Conservative Party had been in power for close to 20 years, during which the legendary Iron Lady of British politics, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, loomed large in both Conservative Party in particular, and British politics as a whole. The Labour Party, under the leadership of Tony Blair, in 1997, rebranded the party and campaigned on the platform of “the New Labour”. Brilliant brains as Peter Mandelson and Alistair Campbell were tasked with this rebranding strategy and in the end, the Labour Party was able to defeat the Conservatives, after nearly two decades in the political wilderness.
Obama Isn’t The First Black American President
Now, when it comes to the presidency of America, people think Barack Obama is the first black President of the United States. But the fact is, before Barack Obama, other great black Americans had occupied that position and the first president of the United States, he served from 1781 to 1782 and he was black. The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation. This document was actually proposed on June 11, 1776, but not agreed upon by Congress until November 15, 1777. Once the signing took place in 1781, a president was needed to run the country. John Hanson was chosen unanimously by Congress which included George Washington. In fact, all the other potential candidates refused to run against him, as he was a major player in the revolution and an extremely influential member of Congress.
As president, Hanson ordered all foreign troops off American soil, as well as removal of all foreign flags. He established the Great Seal of the United States, which all presidents since have been required to use on all official documents. He declared that the fourth Thursday of every November to be Thanksgiving Day, which is still true today. Even though elected, one variable that was never thought through was that America was not going to accept a black president during the heart of the enslavement period
2. Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States, he served from 1801 to 1809 and he was black. His mother a half-breed Indian squaw and his father a mulatto, half-white and half black from Virginia.
3. Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. He served from 1829 to 1837 and he was black. His mother was a white woman from Ireland who had Andrew Jackson with a black man.
4. Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States. He served from 1861to 1865 and he was black. His mother was from an Ethiopian tribe and his father was an African American.
5. Warren Harding was the twenty-eighth president of the United States, he served from 1921 to 1923 and he was black.
6. Calvin Coolidge was the twenty-ninth president of the United States. He served from 1923 to 1929 and he was black.
7. Dwight E. Eisenhower was the thirty-third president of the United States. He served from 1953 to 1961 and he was black. His mother, Ida Elizabeth Stover Eisenhower, an anti-war advocate, was half black.
A Positive Campaign Strategy
Now, Obama’s bid to become the president of America obviously caught the world’s attention because most people didn’t know there had been other black presidents before him. Again, the presence of the information super-highway (internet) largely contributed to the global interest in the exploits of Obama since he used this medium to execute his campaign and actually succeeded in bringing onboard more first-time voters in American history. This feat was achieved by a crack team of campaign strategists headed by David Axelrod and David Pleuff, both Israeli Americans. Now, this tells you how sharp brains can actually bring about positive results.
The Pot Calling The Kettle Black
However, in the case of Ghana and in the politics of NDC where truth has always been a scarce commodity, while plain lies have always reigned supreme, they came up with a well-fashioned deceptive scheme to paint a picture of a “NEW NDC”. Tony Aidoo described then Kufuor administration as “fascist” and Ghana as “a failed state”, at a time ordinary citizens were enjoying the benefits of social intervention novelties as NHIS, MMT, LEAP, NYEP, free ante-natal care, school feeding, capitation grant and free bus ride for school children.
Tony Aidoo, who is today jumping up-and-down with senseless rage because the truth is being spoken about Atta Mills’ incompetence and abysmal performance, actually described Kufuor as “mumu” (dumb). Now, if Kufuor, with his mental faculties firmly intact, could be described as “dumb”, then how will Tony Aidoo describe Atta Mills, whose voice now sounds like that of a female anopheles mosquito? It is this very same Tony Aidoo who described all tongue-speaking Christians as “mad people”.
This man who is being paid gargantuan monthly salaries together with other excessively appetizing official freebies to “evaluate and monitor” non-existent government policies, obviously has plenty of time on his hands to engage in what I will term as crass vituperative shadow boxing.
Tony Aidoo, whose duty it is to monitor and evaluate non-existent policies spanning archeology to zoology of Atta Mills’ failed administration, actually refused to see the meetings Alfred Agbesi Woyome held with the Chief of Staff, his two deputies and Betty Mould-Iddrisu right at the seat of government where he (Tony Aidoo) operates from, to plan and execute the gargantuan “Woyome scam” as captured in Alfred Woyome’s hand-written caution statement to the police following his first arrest in connection with the case.
State-Sanctioned Looting Of Taxpayers’ Money
This level of official connivance with companies/individuals to frantically loot the state coffers, was given a further exposure when a witness, Mr. Boakye Dankwa, who is the Director of Claims at M/S EP Ghana Limited, told the PAC that it was through the advice of some government officials at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning that he petitioned the Attorney-General in 1997 for the amount and interest, totaling GH¢177,000 paid to the company. A Daily Graphic story culled and published by ‘myjoyonline’ (12/7/12) has it that the government of Ghana signed a contract with Bankswitch Ghana Limited, in 2007, to provide IT services to Customs, Excise and Preventive Service.
However, the Atta Mills-led administration abrogated this contract in 2009 and the company, Bankswitch has, sued Ghana at the International Court of Appeal in Hague-Netherlands, for a judgment debt of GH¢816million. All these monies are going down the drain while the president, with advisors as Tony Aidoo around him, embarks on a trip to America on Christmas day, just to sign for a loan of $18m.
Total Chaos Under Tony Aidoo’s Nose
Tony Aidoo sits at the Castle monitoring and evaluating ‘Isofotonic’ government policies but cannot bring sanity into what the exact role of Atta Mills going to be, as regards the upcoming NDC electioneering campaign; while Koku Anyidoho claims that Atta Mills “would hit the road”, Nii Lantey Vanderpuye insists the “old man would not be part of the mainstream campaign but rather stay in the office and work”.
On the other hand, the propaganda secretary of the NDC, Richard Quashigah, says Atta Mills “would not campaign and that his works would speak for themselves and that when he mounts a campaign platform, he will only have to wave at the crowd and people would go and vote for him”.
Indeed, my fellow Ghanaians, you went to the polls in 2008 and put the destiny of your great nation’s children and its resources in the hands of hungry cannibals, and as a result, it is not only the nation’s resources that are being looted, but the very flesh of your children is being devoured as well.
Consequently, with the behavior of Tony Aidoo and his ilk under the Atta Mills-led administration, my best advice to the good people of Ghana can best be captured in a southern Sudanese axiom that says “never leave your child and food inthe care of a hungry person, else, the food will be eaten and your child will be left to go hungry”.
E-mail: justnoff@yahoo.com
Part 3 of ‘shameless hypocrites and political hermaphrodites’ comes your way next week.
By Justice Abeeku Newton-Offei
