This is Embarrassing, Mr. President

It is pathetic, disheartening, worrying, and disgraceful for the current Mills administration to subject President Kufour to public ridicule. Ever since the current administration attained power, they have disingenuously tried every possible means to tarnish and dent the meritorious reputation of our immediate past president. These recent developments which I strongly believe are calculated attempts to paint the president and the prior administration black will never augur well for the development of the country. These are the very things which divide us and foment tribal bigotry and hatred. It is time we understood that we are a united and not a divided people and that the things which unite us are stronger and mightier than those that divide us. Our political ideologies, religious affiliations, tribal orientations, ethnicity, among others just define us as unique people within a unique and broader culture. If our motive of being in government is not to ensure the wellbeing of all of Ghana, but to cater for our “friends and sympathizers” and punish and intimidate our nonexistent and imaginary “enemies”- fellas who belong to the other divide, then we are definitely not living the vision of our fallen heroes.

The era where perceived political enemies were hounded, intimidated, and harassed by law enforcement agencies under the directives of governments should be left to the anachronistic times; we are in a different century where consensus building, mutual respect, tolerance of opposing viewpoints, and intellectual discourses are the building blocks of nation building. We got to move forward, we got to transcend beyond our parochial interests, and pay undivided attention to our developmental efforts. We should major on the majors and not on the minors. The Obama administration is not making capital out of the mess caused by the Bush administration. Their major preoccupation is to bring their ailing economy back on its feet again. When are we going to learn as a nation? What is the direction of our learning curve? You should not be a brain surgeon to figure out the answer.

The brouhaha that has greeted the former President’s retirement benefits, the replacement of his cars, and the location of his office premises is petty and unnecessary. If the agenda of this administration is to embarrass President Kufour, or to settle political scores, then I think Ghanaians erred in voting the NDC to power. We should learn to treat our former presidents, who have put their lives on the line for our protection and prosperity with dignity and respect. How can President Mills allow this injustice and ridicule to be meted out to a president who has done so much for the country in the past 8 years? You might not like the man, but his records are there for all to see. Some of us did articles on some of the things we thought were not right during his reign, but cannot explain away his tremendous and cosmic contributions in our developmental efforts. If the introduction of the national health care scheme, the capitation grant, school feeding program, national youth employment program, free maternity care, Metro mass transportation, the spread of financial and other institutions in the country, the stability of the economy, building of two stadiums and other infrastructure, inter alia are not enough for the government to accord President Kufour with the dignity and respect he deserves, then our democracy is obviously in suspect.

All the furor about President Kufour is not what was promised us by the then candidate Mills. President Mills, you promised to transform our lives and to protect us (Ex-President Kufour included), you promised to improve our falling standard of education, you promised to face-lift our gloomy economy, you promised to zap the surge in crime and other social ills which appear to be getting out of hand. These promises are the reasons why the good people of our motherland voted you to the presidency and not to unjustifiably keep silent as some disgruntled and eccentric individuals try desperately to tear down the reputation of President Kufour, your predecessor. Instead of keeping mute or allowing miscreants such as the Ga Adangbe Youth to intimidate, harass, and embarrass the former President, it would be appropriate if you weighed in to put these needless matters, especially the one concerning his office premises to rest.

Discerning people of our beloved nation reckon that the attention, drive, and energy of the Mills’ Administration should be directed at arresting the economy from collapsing. At a time that inflation is 20.3%, the cedi depreciating hugely against the major currencies, unemployment rate soaring, motor accidents reaching unprecedented highs just within 3 months of the inauguration of this administration, I cannot get it why their energy is geared towards making life for the ex-president uncomfortable. Please can you explain why?

President Mills, posterity is not going to judge you by the number of cars your administration seized from the previous administration, neither by whether you evicted President Kufour from his office or not, but rather about how the lots of the ordinary folks on the street were improved. You should not go down in history as the president who was never in charge and was manipulated and influenced by elements in his party who had hidden motives to pursue. Be in charge, stand out, and be counted, Mr. President!!!!!!! God bless Ghana!!!

By Kingsley Nyarko, PhD, Educational Psychologist, IAF- Munich