If there is one President that ever lived on the African continent who has demonstrated a strong commitment to an accountable government, it is President J.A. Kufuor of Ghana .
Immediately after the assumption of office, he introduced the People’s Assembly concept- a legacy he will forever be remembered for. Instead of always getting to know of how his government perceived him through the press, he instituted this annual event of the presidency which had hitherto being monsterised moving to the very people that elected him to know at first hand how his people think he has fared, what they expected from him, and how they think he should carry it out.
Much more encouraging is that, questions posed at the Peoples Assembly is followed up after such programmes and those that have been acted on are tabulated, documented and showcased at the next event. Questions are sorted out into the various ministries and dispatched from the Ministry of Information and National Orientation to the various sector ministers for appropriate action.
Another remarkable thing about this monumental legacy of President Kufuor and the NPP Government is that the venue for the event is of late being rotated yearly from one region to the other. The programme which started from Accra , has since its inception being hosted also in Cape Coast and recently, Sunyani.
Gone are the days when the presidency was mystified. People can now, at least once a year have the opportunity to interact with the President and his lieutenants. In a country that has seen the press oppressed for decades, it is refreshing that we have a government that is committed to freedom of speech. At least the culture of silence is over. This is evidenced by the repeal of the criminal libel and seditious laws, the novelty Peoples Assembly, the novelty Regional Meet-The-Press Encounters, to mention but a few.
President Kufuor and his NPP government need to be lauded over the numerous strides made in opening their doors to the general public. The Castle is no more a no go area for press men from certain quarters as Castle briefings are also periodically organised of which accreditation is opened to media houses from all sides of the divide including those that are overly critical of the government. Shit-bombings of press houses and harassments and imprisonments of perceived opposition journalists are history.
If there was one thing that the recently held People’s Assembly at Sunyani brought out, it was the tolerance and maturity levels of President Kufuor and Honourable Kwamena Bartels. The matured manner with which the President answered questions from two deviants who chose to use invectives and foul language on the sitting President goes to prove how different he is from one who would not open his doors to journalists he and his establishment perceived as opponents of his regime, let alone the general public. In any case, would a President who could supervise identification hair cuts and shit-bombings of press houses have had the guts to control himself from throwing his fists and offering boom answers?
The sober manner with which Honourable Kwamena Bartels appealed to the NPP sympathizers present not to touch or harm the two social outcasts who could publicly and rudely insult and use abusive language on a President should be commended. It is very worrying and unfair that he should at the end of the day be accused of rather ordering the harassment of the two misfits.
As is normal with any human endeavour, there might have been one or two hitches here and there. We should however, not allow these few isolated and often times orchestrated incidents to cloud the novelty and essence of these praise worthy and good governance initiatives. Kudos to Honourable Bartels and his team of organisers for a successful and improved people’s forum.
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