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| NPP Government hates Ghanaians – Koi-Larbi |
6/21/2007 |
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Non-conformist former New Patriotic Party MP for Akropong, Mr. Agyare Koi-Larbi, has said the ruling government cannot hold itself truthful to be working in the interest of Ghanaians if it went ahead to spend a whopping 411 billion cedis on the cedi redenomination exercise.
Agyare Koi-Larbi, who featured on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, told host Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah that too many things are going wrong in the country that need to be fixed immediately.
He said given the environment in which the country finds itself today; with local industries falling apart, and given the biting energy situation, “if you can spend 411 billion which I’m being told may not even be the correct figure, I honestly believe that you hate the people you are governing. That you don’t like them, and if you look at the environment in which we find ourselves today in this county, if you can do this kind of exercise with this amount of money; I am only aware of 411 billion cedis, but I am being told it is far more than that, then honestly I don’t think you like the people you are governing.”
Agyare Koi-Larbi who had specifically requested that a patriotic song – Asem yi di ka (This matter deserves to be told) - by the late Dr. Ephraim Amu be played to herald his interview, said the nation cannot be run as though it was somebody’s private estate.
He said it was unthinkable that the Bank of Ghana could go ahead and commit the nation to the redenomination contract before turning round to inform the nation about it, and wondered how the Bank could be mute over the cost involved in the exercise and the quantum of money being printed.
“You don’t commit the country’s resources in this manner and then come and say after you’ve done it that this is what I have done. It doesn’t help anybody,” and cautioned that posterity will be a bar for all to scale.
“I will not file a writ, but basically I believe that the bar of history is there for all of us. If you are managing a country, you are not managing your personal estate, yes you may have the power to do some of these things now but who knows, at some future date you may be asked to account. So just do the correct thing. I mean basically the information should have been in the public domain before entering into any contract to print any currency,” he said.
The former MP (1997-2000) admitted that he has always been critical of situations that run contrary to his beliefs and precepts, and was not criticising the government because he had fallen out of favour with it.
“If we say we want democracy, let’s make sure we do the right things, and I think that part of the problem we are having in this country is that, we have a misconception of what democracy means. I keep on telling people that democracy is not just about voting, it’s about having accountable institutions. These are the two pillars which support the institution of democracy. If you miss one you are likely to fall.”
He said if Ghana was to make much progress with her democracy, institutions must remain accountable when a government is in power, “not after they have left. If we fail in doing that we will be in trouble again.”
Agyare Koi-Larbi warned that the country has a history of upheavals, which did not come out of the blue and advised that governments must be mindful of what they do at all times.
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