Ghana’s Johns And The Coming Of Her Political Liberator….

Whether by accident or design, the name John has become synonymous with our Presidency. Jerry John Rawlings handed over to John Agyekum Kufour. He was succeeded by John Evans Fifii Atta Mills and finally the current president, John Dramani Mahama. Will it be John again come December 7, or otherwise? Follow through.

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight". (Matthew Chapter 3 verse 3)

Those of you who belong to the Christian fraternity would understand and appreciate my submission. The quotation above refers to John the Baptist who was sent to prepare the way and successfully lay the foundation for the coming of the liberator and the Messiah of the world. After the successful completion of the preparatory work by John the Baptist, the Messiah emerged to successfully liberate the world from all the dungeons of the devil; be it poverty, sickness, disease, frustrations, misfortunes, you name them. Scripturally, the successful accomplishment of the vision and mission of the Messiah was undoubtedly tied to the solid foundational work of John the Baptist. In fact, the role of John in the Messiah's mission is undisputable and cannot be understated.

The political history and dynamics of Ghana's ever growing democratic process make me doubt when exactly the political liberator or Messiah of Ghana would emerge. Prior to the presidential debate held by the IEA, I was of the belief, that the event would have the effect of helping me confidently predict the coming of this long awaited political liberator. But after the debate, my doubt has heightened. Despite the eloquence of the various candidates, their brilliant exposition of ideas, their mastery of the critical issues confronting us today and their firm commitment to the future of the country, it still could not shape my conviction about which of them was the political Messiah.

The prayer and cry for the Political Messiah dates back to the colonial era, but it was not until 1957 when God, through Dr Kwame Nkrumah, delivered Ghanaians from the British colonial rule. At that time, it was the belief and hope of many that Nkrumah was the long awaited Messiah. As issues and trends unfolded it became very obvious that Dr Kwame Nkrumah was not the supposed messiah. Indeed, our political history and the current level of socio-economic development support the claim that Dr Kwame Nkrumah was not the Messiah but just part of the process.

The search, cry and prayer for this Messiah continued unrelentingly until God decided to send a John in 1992 to prepare the way for this Political Messiah when a democratic environment was ripe.

This first John was in the person of Jerry John Rawlings. He was mandated to make the way straight for the coming of this Messiah. Unfortunately, even though his regime made some steady progress, as per the mandate, the path was ill prepared for the Messiah. After his tenure of office, the Messiah could not emerge because the political environment was not well prepared for his manifestation.

God had to send another John in the person of John Agyekum Kufour. Interestingly, the second John with desirable ambitions and more determined to make the way straight for the Messiah could not successfully lay the foundation for the coming of this Messiah.

Out of love for the nation and commitment to the destiny of the country, God sent a third John in the person of John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills. The third John realizing the importance of this foundation for the Messiah had this to say in his first state of the nations address: “A house that is constantly rebuilding its foundation is doomed to remain stuck to the foundation level, never to reach completion and decoration, let alone occupation”. As destiny will have it and in God’s own unsearchable wisdom, the work of the third John was curtailed. Fully aware of the uncompleted preparatory work of the third John and knowing that the Political Messiah could not emerge considering the progress of preparation attained, God immediately designated a fourth John to continue with the preparatory work.

Interestingly, in the closing remarks of the presidential debate held by the IEA, the fourth John had this to say “You entrusted professor John Atta Mills with your mandate, he commenced the better Ghana agenda, brought unprecedented development to all the districts of this country and we are offering you advancing the better Ghana agenda to move us to a higher level. We have established the foundation for the take-off of this country and I am positive that Ghanaians are going to endorse us to be able to do that”

Fellow Ghanaians this is my dilemma; “Does this John deserve our mandate to help finish the preparatory work for the political liberator or the political ambiance is fully ripe now for the political Messiah to emerge?

Time will tell, but God save Ghanaians.

Daniel Akwasi Kanyam

dkanyam@yahoo.com