<<Print>>

It is now emerging that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government may have paid as much as seven million Ghana cedis for the �Better Ghana� advert that is currently airing on many television stations in Ghana! The money, the Searchlight newspaper has learnt is being channeled through the Zeera Group of Companies under the guise of creating jobs in the area of road, maintenance, which is essentially the work of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA). �My brother, we have been pressured to pay Zeera seven million Ghana cedis allegedly to maintain roads under the Road Safety Module of the National Youth Employment Program. He is doing very little road maintenance with the money, but is talking very loud on TV with his adverts,� a disgruntled source at the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) told this paper. The source revealed that what was hurtful was the fact that it is GHA which should have been doing the road maintenance, and not the gangs created by the NDC. The Road Maintenance Module of the National Youth Employment Program is one of several such ill-advised schemes decided by this government and numerous so-called businessmen to fleece the state out of billions of cedis under the guise of creating employment Last week, this newspaper revealed that in what may be an infamous first, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC is blowing tens of thousands of Ghana cedis of state cash to promote the ruling party ahead of election 2012 through the National Youth Employment Programme. The NDC is doing so through an advert that has suddenly appeared on our television screens and which seems to have the sole intention of advertising the so-called �Better Ghana� agenda of the ruling party. A close study of the advert by this newspaper shows that it does nothing more than promote the efficacy of the �Better Ghana� to unsuspecting viewers. The advert features a young man who introduces himself as Sefa, and who says that potholes are the primary cause of accidents and deaths on our roads. He then goes on to say that the Youth in Road Maintenance Module of the National Youth Employment Programme has employed over ten thousand youth and still counting, and that these youth have been patching roads across the country. He further adds that because of this work, lives are being saved across the country. Then comes the catch. Says Sefa, �Remember, the major advantage of roads is the speed with which they are maintained. Safe roads for all. This is a Zeera Group initiative, with support from the Youth in Road Maintenance Module of the National Youth Employment Programme, support it!� And at exactly the same time, there appears on the screen the following words in capitals; �Supporting a Better Ghana Agenda�! The interesting aspect to this advert, which is currently playing on all television stations across the country at cost to the taxpayer, is that it is not selling anything, not even to require drivers to be careful on the road or to require prospective job seekers to come for jobs. All it does is tell people about the so-called �Better Ghana� and why it should be supported - and you and I are paying for it!