Galloping Thievery

Hyundai�s Galloper has entered Ghana�s political hall of infamy through no fault of the mother company in far away Seoul. This is a case of connivance between the local importers, perhaps encouraged and emboldened by the bad Woyome and CP judgment debt precedents, and a willing cabal of state players. Should the economically awful payment be made, another rueful entry would have been made in the annals of corruption and judgment debt payments in a manner aptly described as despicable for want of a better description by chroniclers of the unfolding debacle. Had the project been without a moral blemish, the debate between those on the side of payment without scrutiny and others on the flip side of the ensuing arguments could have been a fantastic source of a gratis advertisement for the importers of the Galloper. Not so though because the Galloper is on the verge of being used to fleece the country of millions of Ghana Cedis in a country already suffering the fallouts of the payment of controversial judgment debts to opportunistic firms for no work done. For a vehicle far below the Toyota Landcruiser and other Japanese of similar rating to attract the price being quoted by the Ablakwas, we can only sneer at their conduct and wonder what is happening to us, as a people. No wonder some disappointed Ghanaians think that it would not be out of place to regret being a Ghanaian. Ghanaians might be showing a stoic determination not to allow this one to pass, although state players ironically would have rather payment is made with alacrity, the negative repercussions to the state�s kitty notwithstanding. When the government-supported importers of the Galloper collect their cheques from the state, the ingredients for the establishment of a Ministry of Judgment Debts would be just a stone�s throw away from becoming operational. Another Mills legacy! What a shame! In the face of the absurdities, the Deputy Information Minister has gone ahead to throw dust into the eyes of Ghanaians as though they were kindergarten kids. So on whose side is government as represented by Ablakwa Okudzeto, the importers or Ghana? During this year�s Martyrs� Day service at the Catholic Church Of The Most Holy Trinity last weekend, Rev. Dr. J.O.Y. Mante pointed at the contagion of judgment debts and bad economic leadership as some of the challenges militating against the progress of the nation. He could not have summed the challenges of the nation more succinctly, we can bet. With judgment debts finding space in the nation�s annual budget and a resolve to have them paid to those making the claims, things cannot be said to be moving in the acceptable direction. Such attitude by those at the helm is what the clergyman described as �bad economic leadership�. If a people get a government that they deserve, as the political dictum goes, we do not think that we as Ghanaians deserve this Mills administration. Oh no!