Anyidoho, Jacobs, NDC versus Terkper
Events are unfolding under President Mahama’s headship of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that have no precedent under any leader or any government since Ghana’s independence.
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For the first time, a President of Ghana reveals to the people that his party members are baying for the blood of his Finance Minister. For the first time in Ghana’s history, members of a government are openly yelling at their Finance Minister.
Among the party members, the boldest have been Koku Anyidoho and Bernard Allotey Jacobs.
Speaking on Muntie FM in tones that sounded like a military coup announcer in a dawn broadcast, Mr Anyidoho, a Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, all but accused the Finance Minister of sabotaging the party’s re-election bid by his imposition of taxes, particularly the suggestion that pension contributions and allowances were going to start attracting taxes.
In a statement that seemed to suggest that he did not consider Terkper a “blue-blooded” NDC member, Anyidoho indicated that the NDC would not stand aside for any “political appointee” like Tekper to derail the party’s efforts with unpopular decisions.
“Seth Terkper, please watch your language,” he screamed.
Months earlier, on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” morning show, hear the boom of the party’s Central Regional boss, Mr Allotey Jacobs: “Looking at the situation now, Seth Terkper cannot handle the Finance Ministry…I am telling you the gospel truth. He cannot help. The job is too big for him”.
Stating that Terkper had done nothing to revamp the economy, Allotey Jacobs said the Finance Minister had proven beyond doubt that despite his qualifications, “he is incapable of steering affairs of the ministry assigned to him by President John Dramani Mahama.” Like Anyidoho, Allotey Jacobs warned: “If the NDC loses power, Seth Terkper will have to be blamed… He has become a Judas in the party [NDC]. His policies will determine our [NDC] victory or failure in 2016. Seth Terkper is our problem now.”
This article is not a defence of the tenure of Mr Terkper as Finance Minister; after all, readers of this column will recall that in the wake of last year’s dance of the cedi against the major currencies, I wrote on this (same) page asking that Mahama fire Terkper.
In a sense, therefore, Mr Anyidoho, Mr Jacobs and I are speaking the same language.
There is one difference, however. Their fear is an NDC defeat at the polls; and that is what gives me cause for worry. Would they complain of the harshness of Terkper’s policies if there were no looming elections on the horizon? Didn’t I hear Anyidoho and Jacobs at other times and on other platforms defending the achievements of the Mahama-led NDC government, citing “massive infrastructural projects everywhere”? Where did they think the money came from?
Help me, dear reader. What is it in Ghanaian (African) politics that makes elections such a do-or-die affair? Chop-chop? Ministerial, ambassadorial, state enterprise CEO and board appointments? The pride of being seen by our relatives, classmates and fellow church members as we descend from our four-wheel drives?
So why has Mahama not fired Terkper? Apparently, the President sees or knows something he is not sharing with his party members, especially Allotey and Anyidoho.
Beyond and above all, what frightens me is that a party official such as Mr Anyidoho chose to boom when he had not even taken his time to understand what Terkper actually said in relation to the Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896) at the forum.
In apparent response to Mr Anyidoho’s threats, the Ministry of Finance issued a press statement explaining that the submission made by the Minister on the Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896) at the forum had been misinterpreted. The ministry’s position was later confirmed by the President himself.
The impression I got was that Anyidoho spoke too soon. It reminds me of his outbursts when, in his capacity as Spokesperson for President John Evans Atta Mills, he announced the government action against the Ashanti Regional ECG boss in the wake of the Baba Yara Stadium black-out, letting the world believe that it was the President’s directive! Same anger, same passion in his voice!
Imagine that the fate of somebody (to die by firing squad or to live) were to be determined on the strength of Anyidoho’s feelings!!
Do not get me wrong. Nobody likes taxes, and only an alien who has just dropped from Pluto will speak for the present economic conditions under which Ghanaians live. However, people ask questions when the crocodile’s own children surface to complain of their mother’s predatorial excesses.
Is it the case that as our elders say, no one tells the chief that his cloth smells or that his face is ugly? Is it a case that members of the NDC are talking to the President in a language they expect him to understand? Are they talking to the wind when the message is meant for God?