The death of sitting presidents and what it means for Mr. Mahama

Growing up in a village called Podoe in the North Tongu District of Ghana, the foremost universal truth I grasped from our elders is that there is only good and evil in this world. And without any exception, the entire human race is subject to either one category of good or the other of evil. What I find interesting is that there are those who profit and those who lose whiles the events of life unfold. The elders say those who profit and rejoice from the death or the fall of others are wicked men!

A cursory glance at our political landscape is suggestive of the fact that Mr. Mahama gets thrilled when he muse over the death of sitting presidents taking into account the benefits that death accrued to him. The comments by former president Mahama at Nadowli whiles addressing a section of the constituents last week were rather unfortunate.

I’m sure the former president did not think through when he pointed out that by the “natural order of things”, Akufo-Addo has a shorter time to live than he does.” In a stratum of civility some statements not well thought of must be condemned with the contempt it deserves. Our democratic space is already rotten and we must not in any way encourage people who could make the rots even worse.

It is very fresh in the memory of most of us that in 2012, Mr. Mahama ascended the throne of presidency after the untimely demise of the late Prof. Attah Mills. The painful death of the gentle Prof. occurred few months to election in July 2012. Few years on, the same man is seen talking about the death of a sitting president to establish his point is unacceptable.

What my brains struggle to twig is why such irresponsible comments are coming from a man who is glorified as a communication expert. I have always said that at best Mahama is average when it comes to communication. If the hopes of the ex-president is that the sitting president would die to make his bid for presidency easy then we are not safe. Let’s not forget those who profit from the death of others are wicked men. Our society at its worst state is a blessing and politics at its best state is a necessary evil.