Thank you, Mahama; Welcome, Nana
There it is: a concrete tapestry of interweaving roads like the enormous arms of a desert cactus; it is a huge iconic piece of engineering that has transformed and eased vehicular traffic at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle; it is irrepressible, an eternal memorial of the short focused leadership of John Dramani Mahama! The people of Ghana cannot thank you enough for the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange.
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And neither do we have words to express our sincerest appreciation for the schools, hospitals, airports, roads and several other things that you have done for the nation within the span of only four years! That is the mark of leadership: to improve the life of the people. To you, John Dramani Mahama, we say a big thank you for your service to our dear nation. “The heavens do rule” is a saying in the Book of Daniels, and your time has ended. Be at peace with yourself, and rest from your labours.
And to my learned senior and our august President, Nana Akufo-Addo, we say welcome! Congratulations! Ayekoo! You fought valiantly and have won a deserving victory. When the heady fragrance of victory has abated, and the adulations of the mob have ceased; when the rapturous carnival of celebration is over, and you are left alone with the silence of your thoughts, you would feel the weight and profundity of the new office that you have fought for and won, and, at that very moment in time, you would realise, most poignantly that the future of Ghana is in your hands!
The duty we owe you, as citizens of a country, is to help you carry the burden that we have placed on you and such help would come in diverse forms. Let’s think together on some matters that are foremost on our minds as Ghanaians.
Divine guidance
First, receptivity to divine guidance. Your cronies, party gurus and financiers would crowd around you day and night to flatter you and appear to help you with governance. They may mean well. However, if they crowd around you as flies exposed food, they would seek their selfish interests at your expense and that of the nation. They do so everywhere. It would be most salutary to keep all of them at arm’s length and seek divine guidance for governance within the space of solitude and silence away from Accra. Keep away too from pastors! They will certainly confuse you and stick on you like leeches! You understand, so no more.
Unfinished projects
Second, unfinished projects. Projects initiated by the past government are at various stages of completion. We would want your government to bring them to a perfect finish; they are for the nation. We must never repeat the evil we did against Nkrumah where we abandoned his projects to our shame and detriment. It may be necessary in some instances to renegotiate the cost of the projects but it need not result in re-awarding the project to an NPP contractor! Such pettiness must cease. When the projects are completed, equipment for facilities such as hospitals and schools must be provided to enable the facilities to be functional.
Appointments
Third, appointments. We have done this nation an egregious wrong by appointing party faithfuls into office who, apart from sycophancy, have neither knowledge nor competence, drive nor initiative to execute programmes or create new ones other than to acquire wealth and property through graft and corruption. We hope your government would avoid such practices. Again, it is not wise that all appointees by the previous government should be changed for the sake of change. This is especially so in the civil and public services. Those getting results for the nation should be retained at least for the next four years! Also, there are Ghanaians not committed to partisan politics who are intelligent and competent and would give value for the trust reposed in them. Look for them and use them. And, one more thing: disabuse the minds of some Ghanaians that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is an Akan party and that non-Akans are discriminated as regards appointments, and, where given, peripheral. Please think of the Big Six and their composition and let the wisdom therein guide you.
Mayoral executives
Fourth, mayoral executives. It is apparent that past governments have appointed mostly men as Chief Executives of our cities and towns. Personally, I have been very disappointed with the quality of leadership exhibited by the men. I suggest that we give some of the cities and towns to our women to handle. Women have a sense of organisation that we men must acknowledge is superior to ours. They have a sense of harmony and beauty that is lacking in the men. Relatively speaking, they are more morally upright than the men. Let’s give Ghanaian competent women a chance; we shall still assist from the wings.
Corrupt practices
Fifth, unveiling of corrupt practices. When you have fully settled in office, you would discover, inevitably, corrupt deals and other malversations of the previous government. The tendency and public relational antics of a government is to expose the wrong doings of the previous government as if the new government were angels from heaven! The NPP was once in power and we know some unmentionable things they did! We have had too much of this self-serving exposẻ of corruption in Ghana. It is sickening and tends to lower our self confidence in governance. May all such negative practices be handled with decorum and appropriate silence when necessary. This does not mean persons won’t be asked to make restitutions, punished or deprived of illegal acquisitions according to law, but it means such things should not take centre-stage in our affairs.
International relations
Last, international relations and sovereignty of Ghana. As a former Attorney-General and Minister for Foreign Affairs, you no doubt have experience and knowledge of the intrigues that take place at the international level. You also know about the intra-national relationships between Ghana and the rest of the nations. There is a disconcerting practice of the advanced nations tagging their aid programmes with questionable conditionalities. As a new President, they would come at you desirous as you are to make a mark in Ghana. Please, take inspiration from late President Atta-Mills who rebuffed them when they wanted Ghana to uphold the horrid aberration of homosexual relations as legitimate, rightful and natural. More of such odious conditionalities would be thrown at you. Protect the sovereignty of Ghana and your image as a principled person by rejecting them all. With commonsense, we can and shall build this nation. We have everything to do it. Be bold and courageous and we shall help you to the hilt! Be a Joshua and let God be God!
I am done. So many other things that require talking about shall be done in the course of time. For now, let’s all be thankful to the Almighty God for showing His love for this nation once more. Let’s work in a spirit of unity and common purpose and build our nation into a beautiful and prosperous and Godly one. We can make it! We shall!
Writer’s e-mail l: [email protected]