Mahama Tricks Fishermen As He �Nicodemously� Increases Premix By 8%

Fisher folks along the coastal sections of the country have expressed a great deal of disappointment in the administration of President John Dramani Mahama accusing him of being a �confident trickster.� Their disappointment, the fisher-folks claimed, lie in the �Nicodemous� eight per cent (8%) increase in the price of a litre of pre-mix fuel which they use in their outboard motors used for fishing. �We are highly disappointed in the president and the pre-mix committee which has increased unnecessarily the price of a commodity which they know we cannot do without�,� angry fishermen who were part of a demonstration organised in the Effutu capital of Winneba in the Central region on Saturday, 19th July, 2012 variously complained. The price of pre-mix fuel, they said, has increased from the normal price of GH�6.00 to GH�7.50 representing close to 10% increment which to them, it�s not normal. Aside the price increment, the fishermen also alleged that the distribution of the commodity is now politically influenced with people who have no affiliation to the NDC also experiencing great difficulty in accessing the product. �Only known NDC men here always get the opportunity to buy the fuel�those of us who are known to be anti-NDC have to send these NDC boys to go and buy pre-mix for us otherwise we would not get the opportunity to go fishing�,� Egya Kwaw, a known fisherman told this reporter. These and other impediments, including the astronomical increase in the prices of fishing gears, the fisher-folks added, have made lives unbearable for them and thus, called on His Excellency President of Ghana to intervene and help the suffering masses. Wielding placards and clad in red attires, the demonstrators bemoaned the ever-increasing economic hardship. They argued the President has performed abysmally and hence were of the view that he should up his game to ensure that he works to reduce the continual hardships on the citizenry. The leader of the demonstrators, Nana Ofori Owusu, who told this reporter he was invited to lead because of his passion to help redeem the poor in Effutu also expressed similar feelings and was particularly disappointed in the Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu, Afenyo Markins, whom he blamed has been silent and watched on as the Municipal Chief Executive (DCE) of the area misapplied the meager resources of the people. According to him, the MCE has been engaged in fruitless ventures most of which have resulted in financial losses to the Assembly. Nana Ofori Owusu, who was the 2012 Progressive People�s Party (PPP) parliamentary candidate for Effutu, also accused the MCE of misapplying GH�100,000 of the Assembly�s money to clear portions of a litigated land for settlement by mechanics and other artisans in the area. The move by the MCE, he said, became a fruitless venture when the Assembly after a successful work had to leave the land to become bushy once again following the realization that there was litigation on it. The unsettlement of the litigation, he continued, has led to the abandonment of the land, thus making the money invested in it to go waste. Another wasteful expenditure, he said, was the decision by the MCE to spend a further GH�100,000 to construct road in a forest reserve only for the land he developed to become fallow after the regional forestry commission came from Cape Coast to cause them to halt the work. These and other issues, Nana Ofori said, amounted to a mismanagement of funds of the Assembly and hence called on the president to cause an investigation into it. The demonstrators however did not present a petition to anyone but rather to the people of Winneba and Effuttu in general whom they believed are the best judges.