I read with angst Gabby’s submissions in his article of the 25th of July which was published on the 26th July. Gabby’s attempt to present himself and the Danquah Institute as a respectable non-aligned voice of reason was frankly pathetic. We all know that Gabby and the Danquah institute are nothing like the paragraph below asserts, but underscores the cacophony in his and the NPP submissions; Otchere Darko, is a centrist, semi-liberalist, pragmatist, and an advocate for “inter-ethnic cooperation and unity”. He is an anti-corruption campaigner and a community-based development protagonist. He opposes the negative, corrupt, and domineering politics of NDC and NPP and actively campaigns for the development and strengthening of “third parties”. He is against “a two-party only” system of democracy {in Ghana}....... which, in practice, is what we have today. It is a widely held view that ever since Ghanaians said ‘enough was enough’ by unceremoniously chasing the elephant back to the bush at the end of 2008; the NPP, its ilk and surrogates have taken a rather regrettably nimby attitude to President John Evans Attah Mills and the NDC led government. A government which fought against near impossible odds to overcome the elitist, affected, property guzzling, self enriching, so called market leaning money grabbing Neo pillagers. Until the 7th of January 2009, our beloved country went through eight years of organised and systematic looting, plunder of state and national assets and resources; in some cases state assets were deliberately run down to devalue them in order to justify offloading these to quaffed up NPP financiers struggling to wake from their stupor, caused by the copious late night binge parties at the Presidency. We have heard severally, the argument that our courts and judicial system have so far found no culpable evidence to warrant the jailing of any member or surrogate of the previous NPP government. Then again, Ghanaians and the international community witnessed eight years of systematic opportunistic rape of our judiciary into subjugated capitulation. A situation which has left a sacred arm of the state perpetually handicapped thereby unable to effectively ensure a fair and just society. However, against sway within his own party, the President has insisted on allowing the cause of justice and rule of law to take its place albeit with the knowledge that mysterious fires, the efficient shredding of evidence coupled with a cancerous judiciary and a perilous economy will make the journey very difficult. The current NDC government under Prof. Mills has fought very hard since January 2009 to stabilise an economy that was near collapse during the latter days of NPP rule in 2008. The situation was so dire they didn’t have money for salaries. In order to raise cash to pay public servants, the NPP in the last two quarters of 2008 rushed into a poorly negotiated deal to offload 70% of Ghana Telecom and its sought after assets to Vodafone amid outcry from Ghanaians of all persuasions. They also violated the precept of the Eurobond special instrument to keep them afloat as the end was in sight. To add insult to injury, the ‘genteel’ giant increased public sector salaries by 30% across board, not caring where the incoming government was going to find the money to satisfy such gratuitous buffoonery. Notwithstanding the terrible state in which the NPP in government left the Ghanaian economy, the NPP in opposition, have at the slightest prospect, jumped on the bandwagon to cry wolf. Seeking shamelessly to score cheap political points out of wholly nationalistic and public interest issues to prep up a largely out of touch presidential candidate. A case in point is the government’s acquisition of aircraft to support the operational capacity of our men and women in uniform to better protect our sovereignty in the face regional instability, to protect our oil and other natural resources from marauding intruders and pirates on the high seas, to help with disaster interventions and to aid the fight against the drugs trade that the NPP was so complicit with as we now know from the wiki leaks telegraphs. In defence of their political mischief, the NPP and its surrogates such as Gabby Otchere Darko have sought to portray the NDC government as amassing debt through “stupid borrowing and spending” which is inimical to Ghana’s long term future. Interestingly, it was the same NPP and Gabby who argued that the Prof. Mills led government was not spending enough money to complete NPP era infrastructural projects and to undertake new ones hence the ability of the government to uncharacteristically manage to reduce and keep down inflation in single digits. This line of thinking went in the face of several annual and supplementary budgets further boosting spending. A few months down the line, the NPP and Gabby have done a U-turn, now scolding government for spending in the public interest. In a very classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, the NPP in opposition now with the benefit of hindsight of wrong doing, are impugning the same to the current government. The NPP in government benefited from substantial debt cancellation and increased aid in the form of HIPC and G8 Gleneagles initiatives as well as individual country debt cancellation arrangements with Japan, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. These arrangements gave the NPP the best foundation and the largest resource base since President Nkrumah to transform this good country of ours. Instead we all witnessed the all talk and no action mantra from the NPP and after eight years they left Ghana gaping at the abyss head in hands. Gabby and the NPP are calling on Ghanaians to cultivate a toughness of mind and resolve to stand against the only truly social democratic party in Ghana with a track record of delivering roads, rural/urban electrification, social housing, education and educational infrastructure, health infrastructure more than any other political party before it. However, I take the opportunity to call on Gabby and the NPP to engage in solid thinking of the kind needed of a party in opposition, proposing strong alternatives and putting the ruling party on its toes. To borrow from Martin Luther King Jnr, I think for far too long there has been an almost universal quest within the NPP for easy answers and half baked solutions as though having to take the time to think is such a pain within the party. Writing directly to the issue of the acquisition of aircraft, the NPP in 2006 contravened parliament and the supreme law of the land by going ahead to trade in the Gulf Stream III presidential jet as a down payment for the acquisition of four K8 Chinese attack aircraft and a flight simulator in excess of 80million dollars at the time. This was a clear violation of articles 178(1)/(2) and 182 of the constitution of Ghana. Against this backdrop, it takes a group of people with serious affected egos to cry wolf suggesting complacency on the part of the top brass of our men and women in uniform as well as the integrity of the Brazilian government and all others associated with the current deal when the right procurement laws and processes are being followed to the letter and spirit. It is therefore, very pathetic and reckless for Gabby and the NPP to argue that the aircraft and the soon to be built housing units under the STX for our security and armed services amounts to ‘election bribery’ and inducement; a truly unfortunate assertion. The NPP led by Osei Kyei Mensah in parliament were brandishing papers taken from the website www.aircraftcompare.com like a child, excited at the prospect of a parent treating her/him to fanice. They felt they had discovered their ace that will throw the spanner in the works. If only as advocated by Martin Luther King Jnr, the NPP before getting all excited had applied a small measure of solid thinking, they would have discovered the disclaimer on the bottom of the pages they were brandishing with grammatical errors and all, which read “*Please note- The price of the aircraft may vary depending upon customised specifications, though we have tired to gather information from the best possible source-not all of them is official...................Also we request the aircraft manufacturers to share with us their official spaces and pricing information and help us in serving the aviation industry ...............” Please read the full disclaimer on the website given above. Now this is the party of so called intellectuals, who brought such information to parliament purporting that it came from the manufacturers of aircraft. Even their super sure Danquah institute couldn’t point out to the minority the following rules of thumb; 1. That due to the very nature of the industry, aircraft builders do not publish prices on their websites. Further that defence budgets the world over are not subject to such scrutiny or public discussion due to national security considerations 2. That they were looking at information relating to civilian aircraft not military, with listings of the basic package without any modification or enhancements 3. That the same website also offers information which suggests that they inflated figures when they arranged to purchase an airbus 319 for 67 million dollars in 2008 when in fact the current price in 2011 is 51million dollars. But for the diligence and forthright leadership of Prof. Mills, in cancelling the deal, Ghana will have lost millions of dollars 4. Again the official parliamentary Hansard of Wednesday 19th of May 2008 indicates that Ghana paid at least 43million dollars for the Dassault 900EX support air craft when its current price in 2011 is 36 million dollars. NPP! Where is the difference? 5. Again, in trying to trivialised the aircraft hanger as a common garage without recognising the fact, that argument further alienates the NPP from our men and women in uniform, is frankly baffling to say the least Gabby and the NPP argue that from the lay mans point of view based on common sense, the NDC is embarking on frivolous spending aimed at increasing their election kitty without consideration for socio-economic infrastructure. I believe this is a non starter as in the same week that parliament debated and approved the purchase of the aircraft, $359miilion was also approved for the construction of a $597 bed capacity University of Ghana hospital as well as the upgrade of the Ho and Hohoe Regional and District hospitals respectively. Similarly, parliament also approved 13 million Euros for the Barekese water treatment plant, 25 million dollars for further works at the Aboadzi Thermal Plant in Takoradi to increase operating capacity and output as well as 103 million dollars to further government’s agenda of further rural and urban electrification projects in the country. In addition, an amount of 36 million dollars was also approved by parliament for Agric development. These are all worthy examples and evidence of a party and a government in power working towards equitable spread of developmental projects across board without playing mischief. Further, I want to draw the attention of Gabby and the NPP to the fact that, the NDC under Prof. Mills has so far achieved 68% coverage of public services with the roll out of the single spine salary scheme and in last week’s supplementary budget; provision has been made for the remainder of workers currently not on the scheme. This is a government which cares about the people of Ghana, which represents their will and within two and half years of government have done what the NPP couldn’t muster the courage to do in four years under President Kufuor. It is a widely held view in Ghana that, the NPP is out of ideas, out of touch with reality and has resorted to propaganda and insults hence in real danger of losing any shred of credibility they have left. Therefore, I call on Gabby, the Danquah Institute and the NPP national executives, members of parliament and above all Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, to think long and hard about playing the politics of entitlement and mischief that has characterised their history or risk losing their place to the CPP as a formidable opposition. God Bless Ghana, God Bless the NDC. By Gameli Hoedoafia Croydon, Surrey UK Togbegh@gmail.com