Akuffo Addo and Bawumia have effectively ruined both their party, the NPP, and Ghana’s economy.

This is so, in part because party loyalists outnumber ordinary Ghanaians. In the name of loyalty and greed, many who should, and could have spoken out remained silent, watching as the government devastated the nation—its economy, forests, water bodies, and moral fabric.

Suffice it to say that Ghana hasn’t had a government for the past eight years. Rather what we have had under Akuffo Addo is a triumph of profit and party over the people, resulting in a national tragedy. 

Of all those to be most pitied for being more partisan against their true Ghanaian nature, Vice President Bawumia stands out.

In the name of party loyalty and the need to fit into a political tradition he originally did not belong to, he may have been compelled to invent and wear an oversized mask.

He had hoped his face would quickly grow to fit it.

This facade put a psychological strain on him to maintain and defend his lies and propaganda even when reality and personal dignity demanded otherwise. 

As the cedi fell below sea level against the US dollar and the weak fundamentals showed, Bawumia looked and sounded even more comical, clueless and incompetent. This was worsened by the exigencies of electoral campaigns that required a forceful defense of the government’s indefensible economic record.

Bawumia had to run away from the economy and took refuge in digitalization.

To help this flight from reality, millions of monies were spent on the colourful razzmatazz of political campaigns aimed at wiping out memories of our lived experiences of hardship. This in a way, is like telling the electorate that “Hey, fellow Ghanaians, it’s an election year and rather than admit our failures, we have to bombard you with lies” Akuffo Addo and Bawumia’s campaign team did exactly this, hoping to pull wool over our eyes. 

With the pressure of the elections over, I hope Bawumia will discard his oversized mask so that his self-inflicted alienation will end. 

A few within the NPP, who could no longer bear to live with their conscience, especially those parliamentarians who tried to be Ghanaian and called out their government were threatened and whipped back in line. Current revelations have it that some were even poisoned. 

Now that the power that enabled this farce and misgovernance is waning, many of the opportunists who had previously stayed silent, are suddenly speaking out.

They are shifting their allegiances and behaving like the Ghanaians they should have been all along.

My hope for the upcoming John Mahama administration and the NDC is that they work diligently to foster more true Ghanaians within their party and across the country. 

To achieve this, we must move past political hypocrisy, where we remain silent in the face of socioeconomic injustices and human rights abuses that threaten our peace, only to hear empty calls for peaceful coexistence as elections draw near. 

We all have a responsibility to prioritize our identity as Ghanaians and protect our country from the misdeeds of our governments. 

 Amarkine Amarteifio

[email protected]

Sun 15th December 202