Komenda sugar politics plus Ford Expedition 4x4 ...Is equal to Peduase Lodge!
I was enlightened on the various possible interpretations to be put on the current furore surrounding the recently inaugurated Komenda Sugar Factory by President John Mahama and the so-called revelations of Mannaseh Azure on the provenance of a Ford vehicle now part of the presidential fleet at the Flagstaff House, when I re-read the well-written contribution to the former by Alan Kyerematen, former Trade Minister, in this very paper, and published on page 47, last week Wednesday.
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I was compelled to re-read this Alan piece to locate one incontestable reason for its presence in the ongoing debate and arguments on the factory. I regret to announce that I did not find any. That revelation opened my eyes to the political basis for the entire contrived and deliberate confusion over the matters which have seized our attention since the factory was inaugurated some weeks ago. I will explain why I say so presently.
The first question that came to mind is, why do some believe a whole President, our very own President to boot, will inaugurate a factory slated to produce sugar to significantly and positively affect the quantum of sugar we import every year, which would be a hoax? Is that how low our own expectations of reality is, paranoid, cynical and constantly disbelieving even of a project designed to do several things at once for the people of Komenda and Ghana at large?
The article referred to above should have been written before August, 2014, when President Mahama cut the sod for the construction of the factory and not after. This is precisely because Mr Kyerematen cannot claim to have knowledge which is not available in his former trade ministry, and which definitely must have informed the decision to set up such a factory in the first place. Some of us curiously believe this government is incompetent, but the worst form of it is twofold; offering advice after the decision has been made and pretending to be the source of wisdom after the event.
This led me to other possible reasons for the fury with which critics of this laudable idea approached the matter. Either the people of Komenda do not deserve this or the Central Region is being short-changed in the provision of working manufacturing industries. These two of course take into consideration the fact that this is an election year, and one of the swing regions in our elections since the advent of the Fourth Republic is the Central Region. I heard distinctly one of the Tema Members of Parliament, Mr Titus-Glover, make broad hints along these lines on an Accra radio station last week.
If this be the case, why seek to downplay the reality of a factory which will employ 7,300 people in an election year, instead of promising to expand it to employ more people, and also to lower our import bill for sugar? The participation of two active local politicians in the district and constituency on the negative side of the brouhaha, Dr Ato Arthur, the sitting NPP MP and Dr Kwesi Nduom, former minister and MP for the area and a business mogul, speak volumes about the rancid character our elections are likely to assume this year. Dr Ato Arthur has effectively gifted his seat to his main opponent, Samuel Atta-Mills of the NDC, by pursuing this road and Dr Nduom has willingly given up his rights to claim to represent the voice of the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem for whatever it is worth in this country for extremely short-sighted reasons.
Now we all know, from the late but nonetheless welcome initiative of two intrepid journalists from the Multimedia company stable, Messrs Evans Mensah of Joy FM and Captain Smart of Adom TV, and FM stations that the factory is a reality and it has not been shut down for whatever reason. These two gentlemen took the trouble to visit the factory and reported faithfully back to us what they saw and experienced. I was pleasantly surprised to listen to Captain Smart on an Accra radio station speak Abura Fante as he affirmed and impressed on us what the President and others had said at the inauguration of the factory weeks ago!
As if this disgrace brought upon themselves is not enough, our super-intelligent critics of everything are up in arms again. This time, they are weaving a web of deception around the latest Mannasseh Azure report on a Burkinabe contractor and a Ford Expedition 4x4 gift to the President and waxing lyrical about possible impeachment. Really?
I read the entire Hansard from 1951 to 1966 when I was at the University of Ghana, Legon in pursuit of my academic interests then, and do recall some matters which I am certain will send our present crop of critics to the mental hospital in fury! Obviously, I have forgotten most of the stuff I read but I recall somehow the highlights. I refer here to the case of the presidential residence known since then as the Peduase Lodge, situated atop the hills of the village of Peduase just before Aburi in the Eastern Region. That was initially a two plot parcel of land presented as a gift to President Nkrumah personally by the chief of Peduase or Kitase, I forget which, and increased to 25 acres on which Osagyefo built the magnificent structure which now serves as one of our presidential residences. Peduase Lodge was constructed gratis by one of the contractors who built the Tema Harbour, who later participated in the construction of the Akosombo Dam.
The later drama was as follows. President Nkrumah presented the building to the state and Parliament declined and gave it back to him. He came back and re-presented it and this time it was accepted. I am not certain whether it was Mr KA Gbedemah or Honourable Kofi Baako who led in the debate on the matter in Parliament. The only President of this country so far who stayed and lived there was President Edward Akufo-Addo in the second Republic. To our friends who are proclaiming the guilt of President Mahama, I ask, is the Peduase Lodge our property or not?