Modi's 'pro-growth' budget 'lacking on key issues'

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Category: Business & Finance

Created on Thursday, 10 July 2014 00:00

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Modi's 'pro-growth' budget 'lacking on key issues'

India's new government has unveiled its maiden annual budget aimed at reviving growth and boosting foreign investment. But analyst Milan Vaishnav tells DW New Delhi still lacks a detailed blueprint for economic renewal.

The budget, presented by the recently elected BJP government on Thursday, July 10, promises a return to faster economic growth, an expansion of foreign investment in key industries, and fiscal discipline. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said to parliament that the steps announced in the budget "are only the beginning of a journey towards a sustained growth of seven to eight percent or above within the next three, four years."

The budget also included 10 billion rupees (167 million USD) for accelerating the development of the railway system in areas bordering Pakistan and China. The new government, which was elected with a strong mandate, also announced a 12-percent rise in military spending in a bid to modernize the country's armed forces.

In a DW interview, Milan Vaishnav, political analyst in the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says there is no doubt that the Modi government's first budget is pro-growth in its orientation, but it is short on specifics on a number of key issues.

DW: Reviving economic growth and alleviating poverty were the core elements of the BJP's electoral agenda. Is the new government's budget of structural reforms likely to boost the country's flagging economic growth rates?

Milan Vaishnav: There is no doubt that the Modi government's first budget is pro-growth in its orientation. The Finance Minister repeatedly made reference to increasing investment, making India a more hospitable place to do business, and easing the path especially for foreign investors. Yet, what the budget lacked was an overarching vision or detailed blueprint for economic renewal.

The budget re-affirmed the government's intention to pursue "structural reforms," but provided little in the way of specifics on a number of key issues. For example, there are no fewer than seven mentions of referring contentious issues to "committees." - bureaucratic-speak for kicking the can down the road.

There were nearly 30 mentions of individual Rs. 100 crore (16.6 million USD) initiatives or schemes which gave the speech a scattershot feel. Even on the all-important fiscal deficit, the government has stuck to the ambitious - some might say unrealistic - revenue projections made by the previous government that are needed to slash the deficit to 4.1 percent of GDP. But we do not have a clear sense of how those targets will be achieved.

PM Modi has repeatedly said he wants to boost manufacturing sector in India and allocate more funds to the development of certain manufacturing clusters. What is your take on this? Are the measures enough to boost the sector and create enough jobs?

Boosting manufacturing was a major theme of the budget speech and there were a number of pro-manufacturing initiatives mentioned by the Finance Minister. For instance, the government intends to set up a National Industrial Corridor Authority to coordinate the development of industrial corridors across the country. The Finance Minister also introduced a number of tax concessions, investment incentives and new industrial "clusters" meant to stimulate manufacturing growth.

However, the binding constraints to manufacturing in India remain unaddressed - namely regulation of the key factors of production such as land and labor. Unless and until reforms are introduced to ease labor laws or make it easier for firms to acquire land, it is unlikely that India’s manufacturing sector will take-off.

What were the Indian industry's main expectations from the budget?

Industry was looking for three things: a credible commitment that would signal the government’s intention to a) pursue growth-enhancing policies; b) deepen fiscal consolidation and reform subsidies; and c) bring clarity to India’s messy tax regime. This budget will not overly please or displease industry; it was a "safe" budget which leaves a lot of details for the future.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the government would initiate tax reforms to unify India's 29 states into a common market and introduce a national Goods and Services Tax (GST) system. However, there have been many disagreements between federal governments and the states over the issue. How will the Modi-led administration overcome the challenges?

I would say this was one of the big disappointments of the budget speech. There was very little in the way of specifics on implementing GST. Other than saying the GST was a priority and that New Delhi would seek to intensify discussions with the states, the Finance Minister neither put forward a notional timeline nor provided any hints for how the center might assuage the states' concerns on compensation - for lost tax revenue - and the inclusion of big-ticket items such as alcohol and petroleum in the tax scheme.

Granted the new government has only been in office for six weeks, but this was a big target they should have seen coming.

Is this new budget truly a foreign investor-friendly budget?

This budget, taken as a whole, is largely friendly to foreign investors - with some important caveats. On the plus side, the Finance Minister announced that foreign direct investment limits in insurance and defense would raised to 49 percent, clarified norms on transfer pricing, and introduced a number of initiatives that could make it easier for foreign portfolio investment to enter the country.

But while the new 49 percent foreign investment limit on defense may be an improvement, it still means no majority foreign stake, and this may not be enough to attract serious investment and technology transfer. Furthermore, one of the biggest irritants for foreign investors has been uncertainty on tax policy, especially on retrospective taxation.

On that front, the Finance Minister assured foreign investors this government has no plans to pursue fresh retrospective tax claims against companies, but it would allow existing cases to work their way through the justice system. This means that high-profile cases like that involving telecom giant Vodafone will persist.

Some economists say that Modi’s financial policies are only aimed at benefiting the rich. Are these claims true?

To the extent this government invests in growth, there will be real benefits for India’s poor. This was one of the lessons, oft forgotten by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, of the high growth decade of the 2000s. In terms of specific schemes and programs, the government has not reversed subsidies in any significant way - which are often pitched as serving the poor, though quite often benefit the non-poor - or reversed big entitlement programs such as National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREGA). However, on the latter, it has signaled its intent to shift the focus toward productive asset creation.

Critics say that an unbridled privatization process might increase poverty in India and that the country's poor might not be able to cope with it. What is your view on this?

Privatization is a bad word in the Indian context given the ubiquity of state-owned enterprises and public sector undertakings.

This government has not, in this budget anyway, made a major privatization push though it has given a fillip to "disinvestment" - which means the government will sell shares of government-controlled entities but will retain a majority stake.

The experience across developing countries on privatization has been mixed, especially in cases where regulatory agencies are not well-developed. The bottom-line then is that privatization has to be well thought through and the government may need more time. But assuming it can develop a coherent, transparent plan for privatization, the poor could stand to benefit hugely.

Milan Vaishnav is an associate in the South Asia Program at the Washington-basedCarnegie Endowment for International Peace. His primary research focus is the political economy of India, and he examines issues such as corruption and governance, state capacity, distributive politics, and electoral behavior. You can follow him on Twitter @MilanV.

The interview was conducted by Gabriel Domínguez.

Date 10.07.2014

Author Interview: Gabriel Domínguez

Editor Shamil Shams

ource: Deutsche Welle

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Mahama Lacks Credibility- Nana Addo

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Category: Politics

Created on Tuesday, 01 July 2014 00:00

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Mahama Lacks Credibility – Nana Addo

Leading contender for the NPP flagbearership race, Nana Addo Akufo-Addo, Sunday lamented the leadership crisis in Ghana and accused President John Mahama’s government of sending the nation backwards and also lacking credibility.

He said the fact that the Black Stars players demanded for cash before lacing their boots against Portugal indicated that “there is credibility problem.”

Addressing the UK Branch of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) monthly public meeting on Sunday in Wood Green, London, the man vying to lead the New Patriotic Party in 2016 said of Ghana, “We are in an era of retrogression.”

He added, “You may look at the problems we are facing now and say we have seen all of them before. But, I have been around for some time now and I don’t remember the last time we had all these problems hitting us at the same time with such force. Ask yourself, why?”

He observed, “No water, no electricity, no petrol, no money, no jobs, no mercy,” and the audience added, “No World Cup victory!”

Nana Akufo-Addo, who was in London for a week’s visit, told Ghanaians in London, “It seems whatever the President touches turns into dust. This is, indeed, an era of retrogression. Everything about Ghana appears to be going backwards.”

He cited the ill-fated foreign exchange measures announced in February as a typical example. “Even when they try to fix the falling cedi, they end up making it worse. The cedi depreciation was worse in the four months since February, when the stricter rules were announced, than in the previous four months. You may ask yourself, why?”

He lamented how the government lambasted his 2012 running mate, the renowned economist, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, “when he warned them that it would not work. He was insulted! Today, Ghana’s cedi is the second worst performing currency in the world – doing better than only the local currency of conflict-hit Ukraine! Just, ask yourself, why?”

With a chuckle, the seasoned politician added amidst laughter from the gathering, “Not even our favourite past time, football, has been spared this era of repression. Under President Kufuor, we got through the group stages. Under Mills we got to the Quarter Finals. Under Mahama, we expected to at least match our old performances. But, we did worse in Brazil than in 2006. Ask yourself, why?”

Although he said he did not agree to the pressures the national football team put on the authorities to get paid before playing, he could see how the public sympathised with their concerns.

“I am not saying I support the way the players held the nation to ransom before our crucial match against Portugal. But, were you surprised that the Black Stars wanted cash in-hand before playing? It is because nobody trusts this government to deliver on its promises.

This is the government that finds nothing wrong when the law has levied taxes on people for those revenues to be paid directly in statutory funds like the GETFund, District Assembly Common Fund, and NHIS. If a government can refuse to pay money to an institution the law says it should, then how can we expect the Black Stars to expect to be paid on a word of promise from the President?” Akufo-Addo queried.

He said the announcement by the credit rating company, Moody’s last Friday, was just the latest of how the world had lost confidence in the capacity of the government to manage the economy.

Moody’s downgraded Ghana from B1 to B2, describing the outlook as “negative.”

“What it means is that Ghana will now pay more in interest rates to borrow,” Akufo-Addo explained.

Source: Daily Guide

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Reconstitute Vetting Committee- Addo Kufuor

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Category: Elections & Governance

Created on Friday, 04 July 2014 00:00

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Reconstitute Vetting Committee- Addo Kufuor

Former Minister of Defence in the previous Kufuor administration, Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor has advocated the re-consideration of the composition of the membership of the Vetting Committee of Parliament.

In his view, the Vetting Committee should be made up of some selected Members of Parliament (MPs), representatives of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Christian Council and the Muslim Council.

Others, according to him, include the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), National House of Chiefs, University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).

Dr Addo Kufuor disclosed this in his book which would be published soon.

In his view, a President with executive powers may be tempted to, for the sake of convenience, appoint ‘mediocre, pliant party cronies to positions of authority into his government with the view to escape opposition to his policies even at the Cabinet level.’

He said that the re-composition of the committee with representation from the organized national bodies would be useful in assessing the capacity, integrity, past experience and sustainability of nominees to head ministries of state in order to achieve positive results for the development of the nation.

He noted that such representatives of the organized bodies cannot be influenced in anyway by the President’s nominee and the best would be approved by the committee in the interest of mother Ghana rather than political considerations.

One other way of fighting corruption is to get presidential nominees to political office to present written declaration of assets to the committee during vetting, and once the nominee is approved for the position, the assets so declared are made public, he said.

Dr. Addo Kufuor added that the ‘winner-takes –all’ syndrome in the nation’s body politic is injurious to national unity and makes competitive politics brutal, intimidatory with its accompanying verbal violence.

‘We must pay more attention to our culture as we in Ghana strive to improve the liberal democratic governance we now enjoy,” he said.

He added that countries like Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and India have been able to achieve economic development to enjoy stable open political tradition on the basis of solid cultural base.

‘Without deep respect for a nation’s culture and history, the people’s confidence in themselves and their institutions is undermined,” he noted.

Dr. Addo Kufuor said ‘no society can disregard native wisdom, respect for the collective experience of the elders, discipline, hard work, appreciation of the positive aspects of its culture and expect to thrive.’

Source: By Kwesi Biney

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Alan Bawumia and The Future of NPP

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Category: History

Created on Sunday, 22 June 2014 00:00

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Alan Bawumia and The Future of NPP

…From the Archives of United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP): Why the United Party (UP) Traditions had been a failure in winning democratic elections to rule Ghana

POLITICAL HISTORY

The main opposition NPP; traces its political and ideological roots to- Dankwa-Grant-Dombo-Busia traditions, and to be precise, to the UGCC- a nationalist political forum conceived among others by Paa Alfred Grant (aka Paa Grant) and Dr Joseph Boakye Dankwa (aka JB Dankwa). According to the Ghana National Reconciliation Commission report of 2004, the UGCC was formed at Saltpond in August 1947 under the chairmanship and financial sponsorship of George Grant, better known as Paa Grant- a wealthy businessman, with an idealist slogan of “Self-Government within the shortest possible time”. The UGCC attracted a large following, particularly chiefs, farmers and among the educated persons such as Obetsebi Lamptey, Ako Adjei, not forgetting young Kwame Nkrumah, who arrived at the end of 1947 as its General-Secretary, establishing structures through which UGCC could function effectively. By 12th June 1949, Nkrumah had broken away from the UGCC and formed the Convention People’s Party (CPP), due to personality and of course ideological conflicts and strategy on how self-rule, could be achieved for Gold Coast. Accordingly, Nkrumah left, taking with him most of the young people he had so successfully mobilised. From then on, CPP became a façade of election winning machine, while UGCC looked not only like a broken tiles but also, like a settling dust, bedevilled with leadership crisis.

COMMENTARY

To understand the politics of the NPP of today, you might neither restrict your political binoculars to the seemingly J.A. Kufuor-Akufo-Addo diplomacy or undercurrent arms-twisting of the 21st century nor the proxy wars of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen. It might even be wrong to simply tag the ongoing leadership struggles within the NPP on political fault-lines of 1979, where UP traditionalists: William Ofori-Atta and Victor Owusu- once a CPP enthusiast, agreed to break-tracks on the question of who was more able and capable of leading the Popular Front Party (PFP) to victory in the 1979 general elections, where Jones Ofori-Atta of PFP and General Akwasi Amankwa-Afrifa (rtd) of Paa Wille’s United National Convention (UNC), had been the prominent faces in that fierce struggles.

It is speculated that the UP tradition could have won the general elections of the Third Republic if Paa Willie and Victor Owusu had put their acts together by pushing party interest ahead of their personal quest to become a president. I had never been persuaded by this argument. If the Akyem-Asante counter accusations and suspicions were to have any relevance on electoral fortunes, then one could comfortably predict an advent of a one party state in Ghana if the ruling P[NDC] were to be reminded of its core values- a political force born out of visionless leadership, economic frustrations and uncertainties. Indeed the UP traditions had had or should we say prides itself of men of women of dedication and valor, it is being said that but for National Liberation Council (NLC) supervised elections of 1969 and the disbandment of the CPP, UP had always struggled to win elections on its own beliefs and standings.

Of the fourth republics, totaling some 33 years, the UP tradition can boast of only 10 years 3 months in government [Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia- 1 October 1969 to 13 January 1972; and Mr John Agyekum Kufuor- 7 January 2001 to 6 January 2009]. Whereas democratically, CPP accounts for 4 years [Dr Kwame Nkrumah- 1 July 1960 to 1964], excluding the period of one party state, by 07 December 2016, the ruling National Democratic Congress might have chalked 16 years of governance to its credit [Mr Jerry John Rawlings- 07 January 1993 to 06 January 2001; Professor John Evans Atta-Mills/Mr John Dramani Mahama- 07 January 2009 to ??6 January 2017]. Dr Hilla Limann’s People’s National Party (PNP) of the Third Republic of Ghana, ruled from 24 September 1979 to 31 December 1981 [2 years 9 months].

Having checked the political and elections history of well-established conservative political parties such as the Republican Party of the United States of America, the Tories of Great Britain, not forgetting the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian-based sister party Christian Socialist Union (CSU), in the Federal Republic of Germany, it could be argued that the UP tradition is the only conservative party that appears to lose public elections by narrow margin due to its perceived personality contests and democratic pomposities. The answer might lie in the Tribute to Justice N.Y.B. Adade [EXCERPTS], culled below from statesman Akenten Appiah Menka [Daily Graphic, Friday, 16 August 2013]:

…For my part, I cannot say anything more than how I perceived and wrote about N.Y.B. Adade in my autobiography, “The River in the Sea,” published in June 2010 almost three years before the demise of N.Y.B.

“I remember my law practice days not because of the “I put it to you”, “I put it to you” or the “Objection, my Lord”, “Objection, my Lord” but most importantly for the experiences of life gathered in the course of these active ten years.

“Primarily, the training I had during my law pupilage and practice days from my boss, Nicolas Yaw Boafo Adade of Yaanom Chambers, Kumasi, and the impact on my lifestyle, not only in my own law days, but most importantly, my subsequent years in politics, business and society, still remain solid in the foundation structures of my walk through life. N.Y.B., as he is popularly called, rose to become in his later years not only the Attorney General and Minister of Justice but also followed it up by his appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court and acting Chief Justice of Ghana.

“In October 1960, N.Y.B. Adade admitted me as a pupil, yet to be called to the Bar at his Yaanom Chambers in Kumasi. From Part Six – “Ghana Politics – 1960-2000”. Chapter 24 “The Roadmap to the Third Republic” entitled “A House Divided against Itself” – “Victor Owusu vrs. N.Y.B. Adade and others” are the following:-

“Primarily, the breakup of the Second Republic of the Progress Party frontline was regrettably the uncompromising offspring of the professional clashes between Victor Owusu on the one side against N.Y.B. Adade. This originated from their Kumasi law practice years in the late 1950s to the mid 1960s. Along the line through politics Adade was joined by R.R. Amponsah, Yaw Manu and William Ofori Atta (Paa Willie).

The clash between the two legal luminaries existed when I joined the Yaanom Chambers of Adade in the late 1960s but it kept escalating over the years and out of the court houses into the public and political arenas.

Victor Owusu originated his law firm and named it the Okomfo Anokye Chambers. The Yaanom Chambers had its roots from Sir Edward Asafo Agyei, the first Kumasi law practitioner in the mid 1930s. He later became Ghana’s first High Commissioner to the United Kingdom after the nation attained her sovereignty in 1957 and handed over the Chambers to Siriboe. N.Y.B. Adade joined Siriboe in 1957 till the latter was appointed a Senior Magistrate in 1958. Adade renamed the office Yaanom Chambers.

In a matter of three years Adade had a renowned and reputable law chamber in Kumasi/Ashanti, putting him in professional competition nationwide with all the brilliant legal practitioners of the land, notably the Akuffo Addos, F.K. Apaloos, J.B. Danquahs, the Koi Larbis, all of Accra, the Blays of Sekondi, the Victor Owusus, the Henry Prempehs, the Effah and Totoes, all of Kumasi.

Intellectually, there was not much difference between them. The only difference of substance between the two was one of ideology and attitude.

N.Y.B. Adade was a red hot Marxist socialist who had even some connection and training at the Communist Pravda Publication Office in Moscow, Russia, in the early 1950s. He could laugh out cheerfully, crack jokes and was easily accessible. He had many nicknames with every acquaintance, and was vocal against corruption of any sort. He was also a playboy who, notwithstanding his social traits, had a nightclub, “The Jamboree”, at Asafo Kumasi and also formed his own highlife band, “The Globemasters”, which soon became one of the leading bands of the 1960s in Ghana.

Victor Owusu, on the other hand, was arch capitalist and blue ice cold Conservative. He believed in class regimentation and made it appear even a privilege to stretch his hand to shake anybody outside his circle. His lawyers, politicians, golfers and lodge mason friends could be counted on the fingers of the left hand. There was nobody one could count on as Victors’s real and trusted confidant except maybe, “Afro” Gbedemah and F.K. Apaloo.

While between 1960 and 1965 the two were probably the best lawyers in Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and the northern sector of the country, it appeared their courtroom clashes were carried outside the court precint.

The internal conflicts between them started to peak from 1962 after the famous Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s “Dawn Broadcast” in which he castigated the Judicial Service of corruption and other unacceptable practices.

Adade, as I knew him as a practising lawyer and member of the judiciary in latter years, had always held the view that judges were not per se corrupt, but in most cases are led into that temptation by members of the Bar in return for undeserved judgments.

Stop these lawyers who flirt with the judges for advantage and this seemingly negative perception will die away, as ordinary litigants under normal circumstances lack the courage to approach a Judge for such judicial favours”. “This was a view not shared by Victor who resented Adade’s general views on the private lives and moralities of the judiciary”

“In 1966 Victor Owusu was appointed the Attorney General by the National Liberation Council (N.L.C.) after the overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah’s First Republic. Barely 18 months later, for some unexplained reasons, Victor was replaced by N.Y.B. The latter was made to hold this office after he became the Progress Party’s parliamentarian for Konongo/Juaso Asante Akim in the Second Republic. Victor Owusu, who had been the only Member of Parliament to have won his Agona Ashanti seat unopposed by any other party, was made the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

At this critical period, two unfortunate incidents befell the Government of Dr Busia. First was the Salah case of wrongful dismissal against the Government before the High Court, Accra, presided over by Justice Apaloo.

The Government was completely dissatisfied with the judges’ insistence on handling the case, after the Attorney General, N.Y.B. Adade, had raised objection to the trial Judge’s jurisdiction over the case based on bias or close intimacy of the judge and the plaintiff. While the Prime Minister, a devout Methodist Christian and sociologist, saw everything wrong with the judge’s conduct, this was a view not shared by Victor”.

“Before any Cabinet reshuffle could be made, there was the need for a lawyer to be posted as deputy to assist Adade and this is how I found myself transferred from the Trade, Industry and Tourism Ministry to be Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Minister of Justice.

The need for Cabinet reshuffle became inevitable. Adade was transferred to the Ministry of Interior, Victor and Paa Willie were moved to the Attorney General’s office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs respectively. While Victor blamed Adade and Paa Willie for engineering his transfer, Adade also pointed the same fingers at Victor”.

“They were both very good listeners and commanded respectable business practice of supervision and delegation to achieve the concerted result. In one aspect, however, there was a vast difference and this was timing. Adade was very particular about timing, while Victor, perhaps with his Agona Royal upbringing, had no respect for time but expected everybody to wait for him and sometimes, would offer no tangible explanation for his lateness. He would simply say: “I am sorry for being late”.

In the ensuing confusion, the “Pro Broad Base” group started to walk out led by Osei Duah, followed by Yaw Manu, R.R. Amponsah, N.Y.B. Adade and Darkwa Dwamena. At this juncture, da Rocha gave up his chairmanship of the meeting in favour of Mr. William Ofori Atta, who declined it on some strange religious grounds. After a lengthy oration bordering on religion and politics, Paa Willie decided to walk away amidst protestation and pleadings from particularly Dr. Jones Ofori Atta, da Rocha, Victor Owusu and myself, but to no avail.

After his departure, only four Senior Ministers of Dr. Busia’s were left behind. They were Kwasi Lamptey, R.A. Quarshie, J.H. Mensah and Victor Owusu. The latter was offered the chair, only for the meeting, which eventually decided to revive the Progress Party with a different name and symbol, yet to be decided.

Soon after we came out with the name and symbol of our party, the so- called “Broad Based Party” also inaugurated theirs under the name of “United National Convention”- U.N.C. and surprisingly with Paa Willie as their presidential Candidate. Their party symbol of open hand was an innuendo of openness, transparent and cleanliness as against the uncleared and seemingly dirty Victor Owusu.

The Popular Front Party at the time had not elected its Party Leader. Here Paa Willie had disabled his admirers in the party from pursing their clamours for him.

The U.N.C.was essentially a combination of the Progress Party “Walk Outs” from da Rocha’s law office and most of the Gbedemah’s N.A.L. Party members notably Okudjeto, Osei Nyame, Dr. Obed Asamoah, Dr. Agama and few outsiders including Peter Ala Adjetey, Prof Adu Boahen, Harry Sawyerr and unbelievably General Afrifa. The battle for the dirty mud slinging had begun between P.F.P. and U.N.C.

The result was the second round Presidential election between Hilla Limann’s P.N.P and Victor Owusu’s P.F.P. As the U.N.C. came third with their political stalwarts of Paa Willie, N.Y.B. Adade, Prof. Adu Boahen, Afrifa, R.R. Amponsah,Yaw Manu, Ala Adjetey, Dr. Agama, Sam Okudjeto, Obed Asamoah and Harry Sawyerr, ignored their political roots of the Danquah/ Busia/ Dombo tradition and opted for the P.N.P. of the C.P.P. ancestry.

This enabled Limann Win the Land slide victory over the PFP victor Owusu in Round Two. Thus the Danquah/Busia/Dombo houses divided against itself fell in 1979 and the builder had to wait for over twenty years to put it back in 2001.” Fortunately, Victor and N.Y.B, for the 20 years in the wilderness had learned to come together before J.A.K was sworn in as the President of Ghana in 2001, a lesson not to be repeated by any member of the Danquah, Busia, Dombo Tradition. Fare thee well N.Y.B.

Source: http://graphic.com.gh/features/features/10681-tribute-to-justice-n-y-b-adade.html

Measuring Alan-Bawumia

Alan coined a political name for himself when in his attempt to lead NPP in 2007, captured 32.30% of votes cast as against Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s 47.96% but for party loyalty and time-and-resource wasting, Alan honouably, conceded defeat to avoid a re-run. In their 2010 encounter, Alan settled at a distant 20.40% of to his fierce contestant- Nana Akuffo Addo, who swept some 77.92%.

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia- the twice presidential candidate of the NPP, made a strong case and repute for himself when he mounted the witness box at the Supreme Court of Ghana to unseat the president-elect John Dramani Mahama, on allegation of presidential election fraud and irregularities in 2012. He was nearly killed in a car accident at the time John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, was seeking the support of the president-elect, in his bid to become World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General. How, then, could this, together with Bawumia’s persistent economic fireworks on the NDC, not be a worry to Alan?

CONCLUSION

We could foresee a trend or emergence of one party which ought to be managed at-all fronts but also a political and of course, personality replay and arguments that if not well addressed, will sharply pole Alan Bawumia apart even long after J.A. Kufuor and Nana Akufo-Addo, had reunited with their makers.

Asante Fordjour authored this compilation and commentary.

……

References

Available on Request

JusticeGhana

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