Friends, on December 28, 2008, just a few days from now, Ghanaians will, once again, head towards the polls, for a run-off election, to select a new President for our emerging democracy.
The run-off elections on December 28, would be watershed event in the political maturation of our growing democracy. For the first time, there will be no incumbent vying to retain the presidency. The stakes are high for all Ghanaians, to conduct our selves in the best possible light, to forestall unnecessary blood shed, and to avoid unconscionable mayhem, witnessed in other places, such as in Kenya. The populace are quite understandably, hungry for many changes, and at the same time, want to maintain the economic gains, and the new found freedoms enjoyed under the majesty of Kuffour's administration. The P/NDC has been out for power nearly eight years, despite the fact that the Rawlings P/NDC ruled Ghana for nearly 20 years. Some elements are desperate to get back into power. Desperate people, may do desperate things. Hopefully, Ghana has the requisite structure in place to deal with any such destructive elements, who may dare unleash their brand of carnage, on their fellow men and women. With the collective good will of all well-meaning Ghanaians, we may serve as a beacon of hope for the kind of transformative democracy we so desperately need to nurture in the African crucible. The two main candidates are the former Foreign Minister, and Attorney General of the Kuffour's administration, Nana Akufo-Addo, of the New Patriotic Party, NPP, and the former vice-president of the National Democratic Congress party, NDC (P/NDC). In the first article, "Mills is bad news for Ghana", published on Ghana web April 3, and in the Statesman April 4, I made a few assertions why I thought Nana Akufo-Addo was a better candidate, given his grasp on national and international affairs, keen intellectual gifts, and political skills to articulate the most difficult political issues of our days, while delineating clear goals, and vision to advance Ghana. Prof Mills, a lawyer by profession, and reportedly, national tax expert, is known to be unassuming, reflective, witty, but at times too professorial. Prof Mills carry some baggage he needs to explain. To be fair, most of Prof Mills baggage are not totally self-inflicted. To borrow from the colloquial, Prof, as he is affectionately called, is "yoked" to Rawlings, the "bastardon" of modern political chaos, in the Ghanaian Republic. Perhaps the most damaging baggage of Prof Mills, is his tetttered image to the shadow of the former president, J. J. Rawlings, who owns the dubious record of murdering three former heads of state, and eight other generals in the Ghanaian armed forces. Rawlings confidants, including Col Kojo Tsikata, were defendants in the multiple murder trials of three sitting Justices, and one retired army officer. Rawlings, and Kojo Tsikata, are arguably, more responsible for many more deaths in Ghana, than any single individual or group of people in Ghana. Some of those murdered had constitutional protection from such prosecution. Some people just simply vanished, or met their fate in very suspicious circumstances. Col Eninful and his family, as well as some of the family member/s of Major Boakye Gyan-R, the man who led the mutiny to seek Rawlings release from prison, paid the ultimate price. The irony is that, to date, a giant legal-scholar like Prof Mills, has expressed very little, about what happened to his "legal colleagues of the bench", like Justices Cecilia Korangten Addo, Justices Sarkodie, and Justice Adjapong, who were hacked, and bludgeoned, to death by Rawlings/Tsikata.
The silence of Prof Mills about the murder of the Justices, the reported unexplained deaths of Col Eninful and his family of Central Region, and the ?Gooka family of Greater Accra, just to mention a few, is unacceptable of a potential next president of the state, whose job includes security of the nation, and protection of ordinary citizens, from needless harm. If Prof Mills will not condemn the perpetrators of such carnage, I doubt he will be effective in office in dealing with the more intractable issues facing the nation, at the moment.
Prof Mills is yet to offer any rationalization for his "cling" to the P/NDC, which morphed from the distasteful AFRC. Until Prof Mills put pen to paper to offer the nation clear insight on his perspective of the above issues, A VOTE FOR MILLS IS A BETRAYAL OF JUSTICE. If Prof. Mills wants to be next President, he must first demonstrate intolerance for injustice and vile, which abundant under Rawlings regime.
Until then, in spite of his brilliant achievements in other endeavors of his life, Prof Mills is unworthy of any one's vote.
Mills is bad news for Ghana for many others reasons. Prof Mills' "trilogy" of political ideology, socio cultural beliefs, and economic philosophy, remain murky at best. Prof Mills indulgence, and perennial participations at the Socialist International Conferences across the globe, make me wonder if the distinguished Professor, may be far removed from the Ghanaian political center, in our emerging democracy. The point is, what is the extent of influence of Lennin-Marxism ideology on Prof Mills ?
Friends, the issues raised above make many Ghanaians, question what Mills presidency will do to individual liberty, privacy issues, respect for due process of the law, right to ownership, etc.
Simply put, Prof Mills is unfit to lead the nation.
Yaw Bannor, kumasiabrantea@hotmail,com
Friends, on December 28, 2008, just a few days from now, Ghanaians will, once again, head towards the polls, for a run-off election, to select a new President for our emerging democracy.
The run-off elections on December 28, would be watershed event in the political maturation of our growing democracy. For the first time, there will be no incumbent vying to retain the presidency. The stakes are high for all Ghanaians, to conduct our selves in the best possible light, to forestall unnecessary blood shed, and to avoid unconscionable mayhem, witnessed in other places, such as in Kenya. The populace are quite understandably, hungry for many changes, and at the same time, want to maintain the economic gains, and the new found freedoms enjoyed under the majesty of Kuffour's administration. The P/NDC has been out for power nearly eight years, despite the fact that the Rawlings P/NDC ruled Ghana for nearly 20 years. Some elements are desperate to get back into power. Desperate people, may do desperate things. Hopefully, Ghana has the requisite structure in place to deal with any such destructive elements, who may dare unleash their brand of carnage, on their fellow men and women. With the collective good will of all well-meaning Ghanaians, we may serve as a beacon of hope for the kind of transformative democracy we so desperately need to nurture in the African crucible. The two main candidates are the former Foreign Minister, and Attorney General of the Kuffour's administration, Nana Akufo-Addo, of the New Patriotic Party, NPP, and the former vice-president of the National Democratic Congress party, NDC (P/NDC). In the first article, "Mills is bad news for Ghana", published on Ghana web April 3, and in the Statesman April 4, I made a few assertions why I thought Nana Akufo-Addo was a better candidate, given his grasp on national and international affairs, keen intellectual gifts, and political skills to articulate the most difficult political issues of our days, while delineating clear goals, and vision to advance Ghana. Prof Mills, a lawyer by profession, and reportedly, national tax expert, is known to be unassuming, reflective, witty, but at times too professorial. Prof Mills carry some baggage he needs to explain. To be fair, most of Prof Mills baggage are not totally self-inflicted. To borrow from the colloquial, Prof, as he is affectionately called, is "yoked" to Rawlings, the "bastardon" of modern political chaos, in the Ghanaian Republic. Perhaps the most damaging baggage of Prof Mills, is his tetttered image to the shadow of the former president, J. J. Rawlings, who owns the dubious record of murdering three former heads of state, and eight other generals in the Ghanaian armed forces. Rawlings confidants, including Col Kojo Tsikata, were defendants in the multiple murder trials of three sitting Justices, and one retired army officer. Rawlings, and Kojo Tsikata, are arguably, more responsible for many more deaths in Ghana, than any single individual or group of people in Ghana. Some of those murdered had constitutional protection from such prosecution. Some people just simply vanished, or met their fate in very suspicious circumstances. Col Eninful and his family, as well as some of the family member/s of Major Boakye Gyan-R, the man who led the mutiny to seek Rawlings release from prison, paid the ultimate price. The irony is that, to date, a giant legal-scholar like Prof Mills, has expressed very little, about what happened to his "legal colleagues of the bench", like Justices Cecilia Korangten Addo, Justices Sarkodie, and Justice Adjapong, who were hacked, and bludgeoned, to death by Rawlings/Tsikata.
The silence of Prof Mills about the murder of the Justices, the reported unexplained deaths of Col Eninful and his family of Central Region, and the ?Gooka family of Greater Accra, just to mention a few, is unacceptable of a potential next president of the state, whose job includes security of the nation, and protection of ordinary citizens, from needless harm. If Prof Mills will not condemn the perpetrators of such carnage, I doubt he will be effective in office in dealing with the more intractable issues facing the nation, at the moment.
Prof Mills is yet to offer any rationalization for his "cling" to the P/NDC, which morphed from the distasteful AFRC. Until Prof Mills put pen to paper to offer the nation clear insight on his perspective of the above issues, A VOTE FOR MILLS IS A BETRAYAL OF JUSTICE. If Prof. Mills wants to be next President, he must first demonstrate intolerance for injustice and vile, which abundant under Rawlings regime.
Until then, in spite of his brilliant achievements in other endeavors of his life, Prof Mills is unworthy of any one's vote.
Mills is bad news for Ghana for many others reasons. Prof Mills' "trilogy" of political ideology, socio cultural beliefs, and economic philosophy, remain murky at best. Prof Mills indulgence, and perennial participations at the Socialist International Conferences across the globe, make me wonder if the distinguished Professor, may be far removed from the Ghanaian political center, in our emerging democracy. The point is, what is the extent of influence of Lennin-Marxism ideology on Prof Mills ?
Friends, the issues raised above make many Ghanaians, question what Mills presidency will do to individual liberty, privacy issues, respect for due process of the law, right to ownership, etc.
Simply put, Prof Mills is unfit to lead the nation.
Yaw Bannor, kumasiabrantea@hotmail,com
