President Mills Lives By His Word

By Ekua Kwansema

During the 2008 Presidential campaign, President Mills was often quoted as saying that he would not carry any political vendetta if voted to office. If fact he stated on countless of occasion that he would not ask workers to proceed on indefinite leave as happened immediately Kufour was sworn into office in 2000. He even mentioned it again hours after he was declared President-Elect by the EC Chair, Dr. Afari Gyan.

But true to his word, Ghanaians have seen pockets of the honesty of this President. It was not long ago that news filtered in that Dr. Bawumia, the vice-presidential candidate of Akufo-Addo has sneaked back to work. I guess if Dr. Bawumia has been on the opposite isle in 2000 he would not have been successful even at passing the security gates at the Bank of Ghana, much more going to enjoy the comfort and luxury of his office.

We also heard the directive by President Mills asking all DCE’s not to leave their positions but to continue to work until further notice. This is really President Mills backing his earlier words with action. And this is something that needs commendation from Ghanaians.

I wrote in my article “The Speech That President Mills Should Deliver” that the days of winner-takes-all should be over with us. Much as NDC has good people who can work for the common good of Ghanaians, there are equally good people in the NPP too. Therefore, if President Mills thinks that there are some brains in the NPP that he can tap for the common good of Ghana, I urge him to do that. To be a successful leader, you must sometimes even work with those who disagree with you. There is always something to learn from those who oppose you.

I was reading a story about an interview that U.S. President-Elect, Barak Obama granted on msnbc.com. He stated categorically that he reads the criticisms from other people.. And by doing that, Mr. Obama said it helps him to learn a great deal from what is happening at the opposite side of the of isle.

It therefore, gladdens my heart that President Mills has started running the country in the right direction. The NPP and NDC are not enemies. I have said it before that the two parties all want to do something good for the country. The major difference between the two parties is route in achieving what they want to do for Ghana.

Ghana needs to move forward, which is why President Mills asked the opposition during his inaugural speech to help him to move the country forward. The country is crying for selfless people who would come on board and exhibit qualities that would move the country on to a higher ground.

I pray that the global economic situation would improve so that President Mills can deliver on his other promises of creating jobs, improving infrastructures like roads, hospitals, schools and others.

If this current President is going to succeed, it would need the collective effort of all Ghanaians. I expect the opposition not to adopt the wait-and-see attitude, whereby they would sit and jump on any little mistake, but to offer concrete and constructive suggestions that would better the lot of all Ghanaians.

Before I sign off, I would like to congratulate Professor Mills by living up to his word of not dismissing people just because they do not share the same political philosophy. I hope Ghanaians are keeping watch.

ekwansema@yahoo.com