ANALYSIS: One Hundred Days Of Jak

If President John Agyekum Kufuor has been unsure of his performance ratings since he assumed office on January 7, he certainly will know today. Political analysts have been doing over-time since last week, assembling facts and figures to remind the President of how he has weighed-in on the scale of public expectation during the past 100 days.

"Don't groan, don't judge, wait and see" has been the watchword of talkshows for the past three months since the inauguration of Kufuor as the second president of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. The convention of adopting this 100-day grace period is, probably, an indication of how wrong you can be, whatever your political bias, if you immediately judge a man, not of your political persuasion, the moment he assumes the highest political office of the land.

Having spent much of his political life in opposition, President Kufuor is now the Castle (or the State House), after pushing relentlessly against what must have seemed to be a closed door.

On his coronation on January 7, President Agyekum Kufuor sketched an inaugural vision with a vow to serve with civility and character that will be a catalyst for transforming this country. Right from day one, he had his job cut out for him in the great task of providing the leadership for rebuilding this nation. The magnitude of this task is summarized in two main areas, namely, reviving the stagnant economy and restoring national unity.

Every word in his inaugural speech was received by Kufuor's supporters as a refreshment of ideas for a country in search for recovery strategies: zero level of tolerance for corruption; national reconciliation; respect of rule of law to give a new direction in good governance; directives on economic recovery. He predicted better times for Ghana's economy, but pleaded for patience, stressing that the NPP had only just begun addressing the mistakes of the past.

Where his predecessor, Rawlings, kept journalists at arms length, Kufuor has pursued a relentless communication link with the media.

But after only seven days in office, the leader of the new Ghana started receiving brickbats even as the bouquets were still flowing in to the State House.

President Kufuor made an erratic take-off into his presidency by hitting his first speed ramp with that eventful official visit to Lome to attend the anniversary celebrations marking President Gnassingbe Eyadema's coming to power 34 years ago through a military coup d'etat.

Under Gnassingbe Eyedama, Togo has become a watchword not only for the misrule so many had come to expect from Africa but also the indiscriminate brutality that went with it. If you include the years either side of the Eyadma's era, first when he ruled the country from the 1960s as a soldier, and later re-inventing himself along the way into an elected civilian president since the 1990s, then you see a country that has been left to slide into destitution.

Coming from a political tradition with a principled stand against all military takeovers in whatever form, President Kufuor's participation in the January 13 anniversary was, therefore, seen as a contradiction.

The main thrust of the Kufuor administration's foreign policy, which is founded on the principle of trying to rekindle the old flame to herald a new era of friendship and co-operation in the West African sub-region, seemed to have been over-shadowed by the uproar that greeted the Lome visit.

The public relations disaster that followed the new administration's attempt to justify that sneaky trip, exposed the government's main characteristic as its amateurism. This level of amateurism found further expression in the handling of the Mallam Issa and the US$46,000 episode. And that is ironic, considering the fact that one of the best media practitioners in the country today in the person of Elizabeth Ohene was recruited to ensure a solid public relations establishment for the government.

Even as the furore created by the President's official maiden trip continued, the new administration was faced with how to handle two issues that were more exciting and heart-rendering in the matter of end-of-service benefits (ESB) and vehicles of former ministers and other state functionaries. No single issue has attracted as much public interest, controversy and outrage as these two, which have been described by some commentators as the rape of a nation.

Adopting the tough-guy's stance to deal with beneficiaries of the "spoils of political power" exposed the administration to accusations of witch-hunting by a section of the society. However, for those who felt justifiably outraged by these dishonourable acts, the government was not decisive enough in dealing with the issues. The dichotomy generated by this debate tended to create an atmosphere akin to a post-coup period that often led to polarization of the society.

Yet, the major task that confronted President Kufuor as he assumed office was how to forge one nation out of the two or more that have been created over the past twenty years. During the Rawlings years, a huge chasm was opened between political opponents; between the rich and the poor, and even between the poor and the poorest.

Over the past 20 years, certain groups of people have either been perceived or perceived themselves as not being part of the system of government. In the early days of 1982 when former President Jerry Rawlings (then head of a revolutionary regime) seized the reigns of power through a coup d?tat, the country seemed polarized between "the people" and "the citizens". The "people" being the downtrodden for whom the revolution was said to have been launched, and the "citizens" being the ruling class and their allies who were seen as oppressors of the people.

This unofficial division in the country between the oppressed and the oppressor saw much damage done to national cohesion. Those who suffered political persecution and those who were punished for one economic crime or another found themselves on the "other side of the political divide" even when the country returned to constitutional rule and President Rawlings' party won the elections in 1992.

To prove his worth, the new Kufuor government was expected to accomplish the task of national reconciliation. And that formed the central theme in the President's maiden State of the Nation address, which outlined his government's vision for Ghana. While some members of the opposition described the speech as "empty" and lacked incisiveness, many believe the address was the best the president could have delivered, given the government's short term in power.

The President announced the first step in the reconciliation process by requesting from the Attorney General guidelines for the rapid release of previously seized assets, which would be considered by the Presidency and Cabinet.

The much-trumpeted zero tolerance for corruption policy, together with its twin moral force of uprooting the culture of impunity, have come under close scrutiny within these 100 days.

There are lingering doubts over how the renovation works at the President's private residence are being financed; while more questions are being asked over the perceived role of Oboshie Sai-Cofie in supervising architects in the Castle renovation, as explained by the government. "In what capacity?", commentators are asking, considering the professional background of Oboshie as an advertising practitioner.

Saddled with impossibly high expectations, Kufuor seems to have inevitably disappointed sections of the electorate, which voted for him back in December 2000. The government acknowledges that the hopes are yet to materialize, but asks for patience. Government functionaries point instead to a strong residual antipathy towards the NDC, arguing that the population knows the deadening legacy NPP is having to confront.

This new government came into office facing a ballooning budget deficit, slowing export earnings, increasing import bills, rising interest rates, surging inflation and suffocating national debt. As if these were not bad enough problems to create headaches for a new government, President Kufuor was immediately given a certificate of urgency to increase fuel prices.

Take a look at the markets. You will find galloping inflation bequeathed by the former government.

But even sympathizers of the Kufuor government will be declaring the honeymoon over and start looking forward to the "Big Night". For now, all Ghanaians cannot help but be suffused in the atmosphere of sheer freedom that pervades the country. There have not been any arbitrary arrests or shaving of heads within the past 100 days.