But what are Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive People�s Party (PPP); Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and; incumbent Professor John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) doing in the capital of the United States of America?
Whose trip to Washington DC is beneficial to Ghanaians back home? Is the trip by each one of these individuals good for the development of the country? If you ask any one of the three, the answer to the above questions would be a big Yes!
But information pieced together by this writer suggests that all three are in Washington for varied reasons. So what exactly is Nana Akufo-Addo doing in Washington DC? What about Professor Mills and Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom?
Earlier reports suggested the NPP flag-bearer was in Washington to meet President Obama during a National Prayer Breakfast session.
Checks in Ghana also show that it is presented as if Nana�s supposed prayer session meeting was the first by any Ghanaian politician.
However, further checks in the US show that first there was no such meeting between Nana Akufo-Addo and President Obama during the National Prayer Breakfast programme; again this writer discovered that it is not true that Akufo-Addo is the only high-profiled Ghanaian politician to have attended the National Prayer session.
Indeed for the past six years, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom has been a regular participant to the US National Prayer Breakfast programme; so was former President John Agyekum Kufuor who according to credible report, had previously, attended the programme on two occasions and even, then Minister of State, Enoch Tei Mensah, who is currently the Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, has been a participant to the National Prayer Breakfast session.
�So there is nothing very special about the US National Prayer Breakfast Session,� a Ghanaian resident in Washington told this writer and added �Based on the fact available, it is obvious that the reports preceding the Akufo-Addo trip to Washington DC were nothing short of pure Public Relations gimmick.�
It is not very much an issue because in the estimation of many Ghanaian residents in Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland where this reporter conducted the Vox-Pop, the so-called Prayer Meeting is only a part of the NPP and Akufo-Addo�s propaganda master-piece to sell their candidate as perhaps the best candidate among the lots.
Indeed they made reference to Nana Addo�s pilgrimage to Jerusalem and questioned what really the NPP candidate did in Jerusalem, except to posit as if he was out there to solicit investments for Ghana if he is elected the President of Ghana.
�Nana Addo should tell us exactly what he went out there to do in Jerusalem,� Ama Kaakyire Keteni, a Ghanaian in Virginia, disclosed and further stated that �in the same instance what was beneficial about Nana Addo�s trip to the UK, except to gimmick that he met with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron,� and questioned whether it was all beneficial by just meeting the British Prime Minister.
The Ghanaian residents also wondered how Nana Addo could arrive at a decision to meet Ghanaian Muslims in New York and questioned whether there are more Muslims in New York than in Ghana with one of them, Jane Yendork, asking and further added �If he has any package for Muslims, then he should first consider Ghanaian Muslims and not Ghanaian Muslims in New York.�
In the case of President Mills the Ghanaians asked whether there was anything special about meeting an American Under Secretary for Africa, Johnny Carson, when indeed his portfolio is even lower than a Ghanaian deputy minister of state.
They also contend that such a visit should not have been embarked on by a high-profiled personality as the President of the Republic of Ghana, adding that it is not a trip that would be beneficial to Ghanaians.
�Being an NGO programme, we believe the President should have delegated any of his junior ministers to attend the meeting,� Jane Dadson noted, questioning the rationale behind the timing of the President�s visit.
The Ghanaians were miffed that the Ghanaian President should engage in such fruitless journeys at a time that Ghana is virtually in flames as a result of irresponsible comments by elements in the Ghanaian government and the leading opposition party.
They believe the President should have shown leadership right from day one when some players in the political game started disrupting the biometric registration exercise with their irresponsible comments.
The group was shocked to hear that in the heat of the Northern crisis in 2007, it took the bravery of Dr Nduom, then running on the ticket of the Convention People�s Party (CPP) as its presidential candidate, to calm many agitated nerves at Yendi and Gushegu Karaga.
In the face of the current growing tension in the country, Dr Nduom put out a statement to put the issues in proper perspectives and urged the President as the Commander-in Chief of the Ghana Army to be more proactive in nipping-in the bud, any of such irresponsible comments which often result in unnecessary tension in the country.
�This is the kind of leadership that we are looking for in Ghana. We still are Ghanaians with relatives and many investments back home so we are looking for a leader who can hold the country together in a peaceful atmosphere and we believe that so far it is only Dr Nduom who can lead that crusade,� Nino Akuamoah disclosed.
This writer also gathered that unlike the two others, Dr Nduom is not in Washington on a PR stunt, but indeed looking for investments and business opportunities for Ghana although he is not the President.
Many Ghanaians here told me that they discovered Dr Nduom is about the only political party leadership who has shown his leadership stuff by openly talking about how the myriad problems confronting Ghanaians can be solved.
They also share in Dr Nduom�s belief that the Ghanaian problem is about leadership, �a leadership that can offer solutions that can help deal with our problems,� Abena Yekoaa, a store attendant in Maryland told this writer.
Abena and many of her friends were happy that Dr Nduom�s solution oriented policies are geared towards improvements in education, job creation and all other sectors of the economy.
They believed it was time Ghanaians offered the economist, Dr Nduom, the chance ahead of the lawyers whose predecessors have proven that they cannot manage the herculean task confronting Ghanaians.
They again contend that with his background as a public service specialist, Dr Nduom has a better understanding of the Ghanaian problem than any of the two who all parading as the front-runners in 2012 elections.
Source: Today
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