Blame game by MPs on cocaine issue worrying — Clergyman

By Edmund Smith-Asante, ACCRA

Ghanaians have  called  on  the two main political parties, especially Members of Parliament (MPs), to cease the blame game  over the Nayele Ametefeh cocaine affairs and find a lasting solution to the cocaine threat.


The latest to add his voice is a leadership consultant, Rt Rev. Samuel N. Mensah, who  has described as very disappointing and worrying for the nation the apportioning of blame by parliamentarians with regard to the cocaine case involving Nayele.

Rt Rev. Mensah, who is also the President of the Full Gospel Church International (FGCI), has, therefore, called on civil society and religious organisations to impress on parliamentarians to show a sense of leadership where they would move away from a commitment to their parties to a commitment to their country.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Rt. Rev. Mensah bemoaned the fact that both the ruling and the opposition parties were “throwing the ball of blame in between the two of them, as to which group of people or which number of people were involved in cocaine during their reign or when they were in power.

“It should not be a focus as to how many people were caught in cocaine activities who are linked to a particular ruling party or not. It has to be, ‘What do we do to reduce this and really send a strong signal that we can put in important measures to secure processes and to solve this problem?’”

Accusations

“Unfortunately, our MPs are busy raining accusations, blaming each other, when they need to solve the most important issues of this cocaine.

“It is about the image of Ghana and not about the number of people who have been involved during their reign,” he stated.

Rt. Rev. Mensah said the parliamentarians involved in the blame game had become an embarrassment to the nation and their leadership.

“It appears they are losing their sense of focus and direction, and they are not really moving this country forward in the way things must go,” he said.

Rt. Rev. Mensah said the job of the Members of Parliament (MPs) was to discuss very pertinent issues affecting the nation to help find solutions to them, such as the recent fire outbreak at the medical stores in Tema, which cost the nation GH¢263 million; the recent financial mess exposed at the National Service Secretariat and the issue of ghost names raised by the Auditor General’s report, instead of holding press conferences to apportion blame.

“The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament must focus on these things and punish the offenders.
“So I am calling on civil society and religious organisations to come very strong on our parliamentarians to be able to show forth a sense of leadership.

“People are losing interest in the country; people don’t feel they must die a little more for their country; people are not ready to sacrifice for their country, all because of the bad examples these politicians, especially the MPs, are exhibiting in our country.

“Under NDC and NPP, we were equally saddled with this problem so that should tell you that the problems are not new.  Therefore so if they can’t solve these problems they have no business being there as MPs and in government,” he said.

Rt. Rev. Mensah added that no one political party could solve the nation’s problems since it needed the collective effort of all political parties and the active participation of citizens to do so.

“The solutions to our country’s problems is beyond partisan politics,” he said.

Writer’s email: edmund.asante@graphic.com.gh

This story was first published by the Daily Graphic on January 21, 2015