Think tanks and civil society organizations are purposed to bring forth ideas, propose alternative solutions to existing challenges, unearth acts which affect the wellbeing of the nation, amongst other items.
In the present day Ghana, think tanks and civil society organizations have navigated far away from the above-stated functions and concentrated on issues which serve their interests.
Now, our think tanks are mostly set up to oppose the Electoral Commission and any policy initiative that the government intends to implement.
Let us look at IMANI Africa. They tend to remain relevant with their stiff opposition to the Electoral Commission in everything the Commission does.
IMANI Africa stoically attacks the EC, fabricates stories and when same are disputed with incontrovertible facts, these people come back with all manner of voodoo analysis and pronouncements that seek to make them right and the EC wrong.
In the run-up to the 2020 elections, these people came up with a queuing theory that proved to be ineffective as much as they were impractical. Their theory was defeated by the EC’s strategy for the registration exercise.
They invented another lie, this time round, they accused Jean Mensa of having breached some procurement laws which turned out to be false.
They threw their support for John Mahama when he petitioned the Supreme Court over rigging allegations without supporting same with evidence, a case that was described by the Supreme Court as lacking merit and frivolous and consequently thrown out for lack of evidence. These IMANI people were pained by the court’s ruling. The Unanimous 7 was their coinage.
They have spared no opportunity to go after Jean Mensa. They have reincarnated their botched procurement breaches. They have found themselves gleefully accusing the EC over the disposal of obsolete biometric gadgets, saying the sale of these machines as scraps was opaquely done. The EC has clarified the issue, yet they still perpetuate this ridiculous narrative.
Now, they are on SML. They do not want to accept the fact that SML is not tainted by any corrupt practices as they have been alleging. KPMG has finished with its job and these people believe the reputed auditing firm was compromised and, therefore, they are ready to do the auditing themselves.
As far as these people are concerned, they never get anything wrong. They are always wrong even if data and facts are adduced to make nonsense of their claims. They are actually not think tanks. These entities are blood-sucking mercenaries who go after entities that do not give them sumptuous contracts. It’s all about interest.
