Mr. President: â??any secret in South Africa?â??

For the third time, there has been the practice where once someone is elected as the president in Ghana, he has to first travel to Nigeria or South Africa before taking office as the commander in chief of the country.

When President John Agyekum Kufuor defeated ex-president John Evans Atta Mills in 2000 general elections, he quickly travelled to Nigeria where later it was reported that he went to strike a deal for petroleum products which were short in supply in Ghana at that time.


Apart from him, ex-president John Evans Atta Mills days after winning the 2008 general elections dashed down to Nigeria where video recordings showed him showering praises on Prophet T.B.Joshua for his prophetic prayers that won him the presidency.


That didn’t change the trend as President John Dramani Mahamah also followed in the foot steps of his predecessor days after winning the 2012 elections.


This time going to South Africa for days or weeks before coming back to take the oath as the newly elected president of Ghana in January, 2013.


Before president Mahamah went to South Africa, rumors that spread like wild fire was that he was seriously sick, therefore has to be rushed go to South Africa for medical attention to cure him of his sickness. Rumor mongers were looking over their shoulders before saying that.

Observing the trend, some Ghanaians seem to be getting convinced that there might be a top secret in South Africa and that except president Mahamah and that of the Asantihene can tell the whole country.


No but who is the last person to have gone to spend several days or weeks in South Africa that his absence from Ghana generated a hullabaloo? Your guess is as good as my.


Same rumor surrounded the Asantihene’s recent visit to South Africa that he was rushed there for medical attention which the Ashantiman Traditional Council denied thereby creating verbal fight between some Asanti chiefs and Reverend Owusu Bempah who claimed he had vision of the king’s plight and prayed for him.


Following the sequence carefully will it be wrong for one to say that there is a hidden secret in South Africa that has attracted our leaders so much that time after time they have to visit that country that they do not want to tell Ghanaians?


Apart from the medical attention they went for, [we may be wrong anyway], is there any political connections between the president and the Asantihene here?

President John Dramani Mahamah went there for his vacation as he claimed and did not go for medical check up as it was perceived same as the Asantihene for vacation and not for medical check up.


That one aside, how did they travel to that country? Exactly president Mahamah travelled in the presidential jet for his vacation and when it came to the turn of Otumfuor, president Mahamah allowed him to fly in the presidential jet all worsening the financial burden of the country.


Granted that both President Mahamah and the Asantihene travelled with the presidential jet to South Africa for their vacations and not for medical check up how much did each trip cost the tax payer?


Can any king, chief or queen mother from other traditional areas also put on his or her paraphernalia and followed by his retinue march to the seat of government and demand that he and his entourage be allowed to travel in the presidential jet for free?


Prior to the 2012 general elections and even after that, certain persons invoked the curses of river deities on persons who might aid in rigging the election. It became a common practice before the Supreme Court ruled on the election petition.

What Ghanaians want to know is whether the curses they invoked before, during and after the elections are taking effect on suspects therefore the trip to South Africa only to be dubbed” VACCATION TO SOUTH AFRICA?”


Mr. President, any secret in South Africa?


End.