A Word Of Caution To Victor Smith

By Ekua Kwansema

Sometimes the beauty of something can be marred by the action or inaction of just one person at the expense of millions of people. President Mills has been in office for less than a week, and is yet to get his government running in full gear. The transition team of the in-coming government is having a hard time getting the transition team of the out-going government to properly hand over. President Mills is sorting through his list to see who would man what positions in Ghana . The country’s economic outlook released by the World Bank paints a bleak picture. The new President has been blindsided by Kufour with the last minute hefty pay increases for public servants.

Therefore, the least thing President Mills needs at this time is someone who would call unnecessary attention that would leave a dent on the young administration. The last thing that President Mills needs is any avoidable action that the opposition would capitalize on to make news and draw negative attention to the NDC and his young administration.

A report by the Daily Guide is that Mr. Victor Smith, who is a member of President Mills’ transition team sent some armed soldiers to the Castle, Osu to seize the keys of some packed vehicles and others that have gone to there to get fuel.

Mr. Smith when contacted by Joy FM gave his side of the story, by saying that he rather tried to mediate between a misunderstanding between a former worker at the Castle and a member of President’s security detail. According to Mr. Smith the former worker of the Castle had gone to there with some documents to claim ownership of one of the cars parked at the Castle, but when this resulted in a dispute, he jumped in to mediate, saying “I calmed tempers of the arguing persons.”

Since I was not an eye-witness to the incident, I would hold my judgment, because if you read the report filed by Daily Guide they also indicted that they were not eye-witnesses to the event but got their information from “Castle Sources”.

In view of this, I would only caution Mr. Smith to be wary of whatever he does going forward. The NPP which still feels bitter about its defeat in the election would not go away. In fact they would be looking at everything that the NDC does with critical eyes, and if they find anything that would make news headlines to their advantage they would not hesitate but exploit it to their advantage.

What Mr. Smith and all NDC functionaries and supporters should know is that the NPP which is now in the opposition would not just vanish. Even though they are licking their wounds, they would be monitoring every move by the Mills government and pounce on any misstep by the NDC and make news out of it. And the more they make news out of any missteps, the more they make the NDC unpopular.

The NDC, which was in the political wilderness for 8 years, learnt a lot of fruitful lessons that helped in powering it back to office. Therefore, certain things that put into question the good name and credibility of the party should not be entertained no matter who is behind it. The hard-won victory of the NDC in the just-ended elections must be guided so that it would put the name of the party in good shape for the next elections.

I will urge all the big wigs in the NDC to take note that being in the political wilderness is not funny at all. The NDC was in that wilderness for 8 long years. And since Ghana has come a long way, the last thing any party would want is to cause unnecessary attention that would destroy its image to the electorate. Professor Mills at this time needs all the attention to focus on the bigger issues that would make economic conditions a little bearable to Ghanaians. Therefore, lets give him the chance to focus on the bigger issues that would also help Ghana to move on to the economic and social apex.

ekwansema@yahoo.com