Mahama’s 250 days as President

For the many Ghanaians, particularly those opposed to the ideologies of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who thought President John Mahama since assumption of office some eight months ago was disturbed about what the outcome of the vicious and spurious challenge mounted against his presidency by his main political adversary at the Supreme Court will be; the hard fact is that, the president had never considered the election petition a case to scratch head over.

The stark reality permeating all spheres of the ruling party, widely known by linchpins of the Mahama-led government are the conducts of some big shots within the party aggressively working to set the president on a warpath with the rank and file of the NDC, and this was what allies of the president said was his nightmare, not the outcome of the just-adjudicated election petition.

This inane and impious nonchalant attitude by some heavy weights in the NDC, close associates of the president say was the source of fret and agonizing nail-biting experience for Mr. Mahama.

Incredibly, just eight months into the Mahama government, the finicky accolades that were showered on the president in the heat of the 2012 campaign, which arguably hoodwinked some floating voters and a number of members of the opposition parties to hobnob with the NDC and voted for Mr. Mahama, his ‘rivals’ in the party argue, is gradually waning ostensibly as a result of apparent insensitivity to the concerns of party folks.

But even more seriously, in spite of the fact that President Mahama, since his ascension to the highest office of the land seems to have demonstrated how focused he is as a Head of State and commander-in-Chief, a posturing many have acknowledged is yielding desired results, “the President would score an explicable low mark when it comes to listening to the concerns of his party supporters and acting on them, a disgruntled senior member of the NDC who don’t want his identity disclosed recently confided in The Al-Hajj.

Origin of Disagreements with Party

Though there have been several backfiring effects of the president’s show of bravado as witnessed in his appointments and the nationwide rejection and protest in his choice of MMDCES, the president has stuck to his position and seems as someone who will not kowtow to the lopsided dictates of the hawks in his party.

Nonetheless, the Ppesident’s major faux pas in our view, and which if not arrested and cured could eventually become his Achilles heel has been his attempt to form a government on a clean slate as reflected in his appointments so far, which comprises a relatively fresh and untested faces on the political front of his government.

Another iffy political decision which is causing disaffection for the president has been the surreptitious but smart move to amputate and dim the political light of some influential persons who played lead roles in his former boss’ administration.

The president might have his own first-class reasons for taking to such a trajectory, especially when he served as a Vice President in the last administration in which most of the NDC “nerve wires” worked in different capacities, but the sudden attempt to match them to the dark side of the current government and make them ‘mere’ bystanders rather than shareholders is becoming a recipe akin to preparing a dreadful concoction for oneself.

According to another key member of the NDC, “even though the president worked closely with the team left behind by the late President Mills for a little over five months, his seemingly resolve to sidestep the “old guards” and introduce relatively new faces, oblivious of institutional memory, undoubtedly mirrors the numerous avoidable and reprehensible slipups and howlers that has characterized the administration so far”.

Indeed, this move we gathered marked the height of the deep rooted loathing for the president among some big shots in his own party, because those the president now considers as “boat sinkers” that must be ‘catered for’ to save the boat from capsizing believed they played key roles in elevating the president to where he is currently.

Interestingly whiles some of these bitter souls in the NDC may decide to hide behind the scenes to put spokes into the wheels of President Mahama’s government, others have pretended being with the president, but only setting traps for his government to be seen committing serious avoidable problems just to prove a point; any wonder the cause of the tons of gaffes that have become the second name of this government?

Most of these not inevitable blunders have sometimes not just embarrassed the president and the government, it sometimes also let-out the NDC as a party lacking the needed brains to run a government, a development that have inflicted cruel wounds on the ruling party.

In fact, President Mahama’s introduction of the highly competent and qualified, but fresh faces to government was in itself not a bad idea, however, care needed to have been taken in fusing the new with the ‘experienced’ in order not to discard the chain of continuity, particularly when the president is also championing the late President Mills’ policy, “Advancing the Better Ghana Agenda”.

Chief among the reasons why the blend ought to have been seriously considered is for the old and experienced to shepherd the relatively fresh faces in tackling some of the new challenges a new president and government like his, was likely to face.

To jump into such a death-defying gamble of deposing experienced and tested party big shots in the midst of horrid political opponent like the New Patriotic Party, and even hawks within his own party, the president undoubtedly cannot be immune from the several costly and unpardonable mistakes that have plagued his administration.

Domestic Dictator or Sheer Bravado

Certainly, it has not been all minuses for the new president. Notwithstanding the fact that the Mahama administration inherited hideous challenges in the energy sector which was christened “dumsor dumsor” and also shocks in the economy with its attending problems of high budget deficit, huge public sector wage bill occasioned by the implementation of the Single Spin Salary Structure and huge arrears owed to contractors and statutory bodies, his government has modestly succeeded in keeping its head above the turbulent storm.

Fortunately, the nauseating “dumor dumsor” phenomenon has progressively ebbed following direct intervention of the president.

Though there are still some works to be done in the energy sector to bury the canker completely, the president’s uncompromising directive to the Ministry of Energy to institute measures to fight the stomach-churning pest has indeed, brought a sigh of relief to many Ghanaians and the economy

In the storm of copious industrial strikes and threats of strike on the labor front coupled with agitations by contractors, the government has tenaciously purged itself from spending outside the budget which could possibly increase the already high deficit; instead, it has worked out modalities aimed at addressing the issues of huge public sector wage bill.

The recent seminar held at Ho among stakeholders to fashion out the way forward for the pay policy was a classic example.

Another high point in the Mahama-led administration though not quite common with African governments was the administration’s open and sincere admission that the economy was faced with serious challenges that needed to be addressed devoid of partisan political stands.

But, the government could have received wide commendation and save itself from deleterious public bashing if it had focused its attention to addressing the nation’s challenges rather engaged in other exceedingly gratuitous and superfluous things like the attempt to change the name of the Flagstaff House to Jubilee Flagstaff House.

Even as the Mahama administration many a time appears erratic and contradictory in its attempt to paint a picture about government policies and programs such as the infamous pilgrimage of Pastors to Israel, it nevertheless, deserve commendation for having gained the confidence of the populace through some of its policies.

The successful disbursement of the first and second tranches of the USD 3bn China Development Bank (CDB) facility to continue works on the gas processing plant now at advance stages and the issuance of the nation’s second Eurobond which was oversubscribed, is an indication of investor confidence in the business arena of the country despite the threat posed by the eight month long uncertainties surrounding the election petition which was only recently resolved at the Supreme Court.

Despite some of these success stories chalked by the administration, what seems to be gradually but iniquitously endeavoring to possible sink the boat is President Mahama’s seemingly indifference to the larger wishes of the grassroots of the party that catapulted him to power which very much runs contrary to his much-vaunted affable nature. This was the common theme running in the minds of his critics within the NDC.

To some of his compatriots in the National Democratic Congress, appointments made by the president so far, from presidential staffers, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and now, MMDCEs suggest he is acting on what he personally thinks is right and not what ought to be, to salvage the party and set it on an unending winning ways.

“Yes, it is true, and we all know it to be factual that the president per the constitution of Ghana has the powers to fire and hire people to certain positions, but such discretional powers must be done with some moderation and in the best interest of the party we all cherish”. A disgruntled senior party member told this paper.

According to this member who spoke on condition of anonymity, “this is not to say the president should be seen yielding to the dictates of party folks; the undeniable fact in modern day Ghanaian politics is that, people have vested interest in whatever decision the president takes and that alone must guide the president to do a thorough job, especially, on the background of persons before they are appointed to certain positions”.

It would be recalled that when the president dropped names of his Executive Secretary, Secretary to Cabinet, Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor at the Presidency, some NDC gurus and hardliner sympathizers were not amused.

Their first reaction then was that the president bypassed all those that needed to be consulted in the party and went ahead to appoint those persons to such sensitive positions, a development that was demonstrated in radio discussions and Newspaper publications of how some bigwigs in the party felt peeved by what they referred to as ‘tyranny’.

Despondency and agitations, even at the highest echelon of the party became rife when the President started naming his Ministers and Deputy Ministers. Nevertheless, the President kept faith to himself and won’t budge; may be to prove to those who might consider his affability as an opportunity to remotely dictate to him that he is a man of his own words and decisions.

This apparent over-expressed hegemony appears to have hugely created yawning cracks, not only in the NDC party but the President’s own government, to the extent that some government officials in solidarity of their ‘disappointed mentors’ feel reluctant to defend the President with the needed zeal as it was done to his predecessor.

Fortunately for the NDC and the President, the election petition engineered by the NPP which lasted over eight months and created a lull which also served as a windbreak as none wanted to rock the boat, likely to impact the outcome of the case at the Supreme Court.

Many government officials may today rebut this as a charade or a travesty due largely to the recent favorable ruling by the Supreme Court and the change in government’s approach to communication, even so, it is important President Mahama reviews his strategy lest else, his own party folks and appointees will unclothed and expose him to the ‘carnivorous’ NPP to feed on and subsequently, cut short the life cord of his Presidency.

Even as the timing and mode of the recent public chanting by the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NDC, Joseph Ade Coker that the party will not allow any member to contest President Mahama for the 2016 flag bearer slot may be problematic and might not be good to some ears, we dare say it is no fluke nor imaginary and an outright dismissive of it wouldn’t be in the interest of the President, the NDC party and those who want his head chopped off.

Indeed, if what ensued in the NDC in the run-up to Sunyani congress which eventually became a battle between the late President Mills and wife of the founder of the party, Nana Konadu is anything to go by, Ade Coker’s cry must not be wished away as this time round, and if adequate attention is not devoted to smoothing out the perceived difference, the next congress of the party to elect a flagbearer for 2016 may pitch more than a candidate of the NDC party against the President.

As it stands, the most threatening aspect in all these is the prospect of influential “old guards” in the party, who in the time past had problems with party founder, Jerry Rawlings and wife, Nana Konadu likely patch-up with the former first couple, who themselves aren’t much enthused with the Mahama administration, which will then leave President Mahama with no option than to either voluntarily truncate his second bid to lead the NDC or risk been deflated like a punctured lorry tyre at the next NDC congress.

Nationwide rejection of MMDCEs

Though we have seen it happened under various governments since the inception of the Fourth Republic, the rejection of President John Mahama’s nominees for the position of DCEs seem to suggest District Assemblies across the country may have signed a pact to embark on a nationwide rejection exercise, maybe, to demonstrate how they abhor the President’s leadership.

In spite of this, the president seems to have taken his eyes off the golden ball in the handling of agitations arising out of the appointment of MMDCEs.

Whiles many believed the nationwide rejection of the President’s nominees for MMDCEs is been orchestrated by some disenchanted party gurus aimed at ditching the President, and rightly so, because such a permutation cannot be rob off completely; it is also possible for the president to tidily dribble these so-called “trouble fomenters” in the NDC by listening to voice of the masses on the ground.

For example, in some of the Districts, even NDC Constituency Executives have come out openly to object to the re-nomination of some incumbent MMDCEs; but, these same persons were nonetheless, designated as if to say, ‘go to hell’ to the very people who worked tirelessly day and night to put the government in power.

Significantly, in some instances, constituency executives or core party persons who are government appointees at a district that fail to approve a nominee, have had their appointments revoked and replaced with new persons to pave a smooth way for the nominee to secure the mandatory two-third majority votes.

Of GYEEDA, Corruption and Scandals

Expectedly, the Mahama administration like any administration has not been left out of the scourge of scandals and corruption, some of which were carried over from the Mills-led government. Several bloodcurdling scandals have dogged the two NDC administrations; but, his critics say the President has so far handled the issue of corruption fairly well even though in some few instances it could have been better.

The point must also be made that in all these so far; the two Presidents have never been cited in any fraudulent deal unlike what was witnessed under their predecessor, former President Kufuor’s era including what became widely known as ‘Hotel de Waa Waa”.

Although, President Mahama has kept a clean slate in as far as

corruption is concern and has sufficiently proven beyond doubt that he is equipped to deal with the canker, the government’s handling of the current brouhaha on alleged corruption at GYEEDA and several others cannot be said to be the best.

Considering the nuggets of wisdom and experience President Mahama has garnered over the years, it was least expected of his administration to be uncontrollably goofing, even as the effect of some intra-party disquiets cannot be entirely ruled out of the challenges he is facing.

It is partial true that, whereas the self-indulgent conduct of the President’s nemeses in his own party maybe abominable, most especially when the party is in government, the President’s head-on attitude bears the responsibility for such needless agitations.

Apart from the President’s experience as a former legislator, a former Deputy and Minister of state, and subsequently a vice president and now President, Mr. Mahama indisputably has an army and a “human library” of learned individuals in his party whose input in the daily running of his administration could have saved him and the party the public bashing from his unappreciative political opponents.

In fact, the pointless denigration of the President by members of the opposition New Patriotic Party on a supposed leaked GYEEDA report was a self-inflicted wound occasioned by the President’s handlers and advisers.

President Mahama’s name would have been left out of all the public discussions on the supposed mess at GYEEDA if he had been properly advised not to personally receive the report of the committee set up by Mr. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, his Minister for Youth and Sports to investigate circumstances that led to an alleged act of financial malfeasance at GYEEDA.

This ceaseless attempt by handlers of the President to display his might as a master tactician in charge of every happening around his administration is the cause of the harsh censuring he receives from his political archrivals.

What at all could be the motivating factor for a President to have opted to receive a report of a committee that was not constituted by him, that wasn’t also a presidential commission?

Leadership by Example

The President acted in good faith when he led a team to apologize to Madam Theodosia Okoh, the designer of Ghana’s national flag after the Mayor of Accra, Afred Vanderpuije in his over-zealousness, mistakenly renamed and replaced her name on the National Hockey Stadium with that of late President Mills’.

That was the right and wiser thing a President worth his caliber must do. Whiles you stay back and allow them the freewill to operate, you keep a close eye on your appointees so that when they get it wrong you step forward to remedy the situation.

Unlike in the case of GYEEDA, whiles the Minister who set up the committee has been left out of all the deadly verbal assaults, the President was forced to draw himself on the line of fire because he accepted to receive the report.

In the meantime, the Youth and Sports Minister has become a nice man in the eyes of the public whiles the President, who had done no wrong is bearing the brunt of cruel foul mouth political communicators and some sections of the public even after the main report has been released which showed that the earlier allegations were untrue.

Whiles no person or for that matter, no President would wish to invite negative criticism onto himself, there is a school of thoughts that believe President Mahama’s inability to talk less and listen more has necessitated some of the unnecessary negative censure that has greeted his administration so far.

For instance, in the heat of the “dumsor-dumsor” era, the President in one of his public speeches announced a date on which the load shedding was going to end, but unfortunately for the President, his prediction never came to pass.

From hindsight, the President could have stayed out of trouble if he had allowed a low key official or at best, the Minister of Energy and Petroleum to make such announcement if, indeed; it was an assurance from the power generators, the Volta River Authority.