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A PATRIOTIC CALL TO GHANAIANS
CHICAGO HOSTS A SEASONED GHANAIAN POLITICIAN & PATRIOT

Dr. George Ossei Assibey Mensah

President- Ghana U.S.A Chamber of Commerce

CHICAGO:- Without a doubt, the best of all times in doing business in Ghana is here!! Those words were echoed by Hon. Mr. J .H. Mensah, the Senior Minister in President J .A. Kufuor’s competent cabinet, during a dinner-dance fundraiser held at the Four Points Sheraton in Chicago on Saturday, September 13. In attendance were Ghanaians in Chicagoland and beyond, who, regardless of their party affinity, truly demonstrated their patriotism and love for the country.

Specifically, the honorable Minister gave a factual account of the legacy that his 32-month-old New Patriotic Party (NPP) government inherited from the 19-year NDC administration of J. J. Rawlings. To the extent that the NDC opposition destructively criticizes the Kufuor government without substance, it makes one wonder whether those critics are really conscious of the very, very, very serious damage the NDC administration inflicted on the social and economic subsystems of Ghana during its very, very, very long term in office. Additionally, it makes one wonder about their level of patriotism, or, if, indeed, they are patriots.

Narrating the circumstances leading to his imprisonment and eventual or subsequent sentencing during the NDC administration, he made clear that there was no rule of law then, a situation that his government has worked very, very hard to reverse, making Ghana a country whose citizens enjoy freedom of expression, one o.fthe hallmarks of democracy and political stability. Judicial freedom and independence, another fundamental democratic hallmark, was, in essence, missing, sadly leading to the senseless killing of a female judge, among other upholders of that beautiful hallmark. In spite of the danger in which constructive critics like him immersed themselves, he continually pressured J. J . Rawlings to let go his unnecessarily tight grip on state affairs by leaving those affairs to competent people to manage. Like my father, Ossei Assibey-Mensah (whose National Liberation Movement, or “M’ate Me Ho Kuo”, has evolved to be the NPP), Mr. J .H. Mensah exhibited his “Ka Na Wu” politician spirit and trait (meaning his telling the truth, fearless about the consequences most people dread). How many Ghanaians have such courage???

He wondered how some Ghanaians in the diaspora are so gullible as to believe continuous, unsubstantiated Intemet-based NDC charges against the NPP government, which, in fact, stands accused of doing nothing deserving those constant and baseless criticisms.

Interestingly, the NDC opposition and its cohorts begrudgingly accuse the Kufuor government of involvement in situations about which Ghanaians dared to speak during that party’s 19-year rule. Where was free press/free speech during most of those gruesome years in Ghana’s politics? What happened to Ghana’s love and quest for justice when Mrs. Justice Koranteng of blessed memory told Mr. J.H. Mensah that he was free to leave his jail cell and go home?

The Senior Minister of Ghana advised Ghanaians about a major role they could play during the 2004 elections: supervising polling booths in their villages to bring about genuine vote counts. He also exhorted them to demonstrate their patriotism by urging American businesspersons and enterprises to invest resources, etc., in Ghana. This, to him, will symbolize (1) a major substitute for their (Ghanaians’) inability to provide those investments themselves and (2) their patriotic contribution to Ghana’s economy that President Kufuor’s government is conscientiously and diligently seeking meaningful and long-lasting ways to rebuild via an overhaul following 19 years of NDC-government abuse.

To sum up, Ghana’s Senior Minister J.H. Mensah shared with attendees an account of the transparency of the policies of the Kufuor government, his own ambitious role in helping implement those policies, the role Ghanaians overseas could play in next year’s elections, as well as the patriotic role they could play in seeking and bringing investments into the country to continually foster economic development. A patriotic son of Ghana has spoken! ! What is your response to his pleas?? What will you contribute to overhauling the country’s economy??

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