Open petition to the president of the republic of Ghana

AN OPEN PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA FROM THE PATRIOTIC ACTION FOR NATIONAL INTEREST (PANI)

His Excellency John Dramani Mahama

President, Republic of Ghana

Dear President Mahama,

WITH ALL HUMILITY,

We the citizens of Ghana, in exercise of our sovereignty as a citizenry under Article 1(1) of the 1992 Constitution, and in further exercise of our natural and inalienable right to demand responsible governance, that shall serve as security for ourselves, and to propel our democracy to the level where posterity would judge us favourably; and in solemn declaration and affirmation of our commitment to;

Justice, Probity and Accountability ; The Principle that all powers of Government spring from the Sovereign Will of the People; The Rule of Law; Court of Public Opinion; do humbly petition your High Office as follows:

THE GROUP

THE PATRIOTIC ACTION FOR NATIONAL INTEREST (PANI) is a non-partisan civil society group made up of ordinary Ghanaians who go through normal life in Ghana. It is our strong believe that every Ghanaian has the right to be happy.

And we maintain that our collective happiness as a citizenry is firmly tied to responsible governance. In line with this, we are of the view that in exercise of our rights, we as a people must make demands for responsible governance regardless of the political party entrusted with state power.

It is our intent to make this demand for responsible governance legitimately, by exploring all possible avenues backed us by law, morality, common sense and natural principles. It is for this reason that we, the undersigned, together with other patriotic Ghanaians have put together this petition for your kind consideration. We have no shred of doubt that this petition will receive the urgent attention it deserves because we trust that your government is a listening one, just as you listen to the call for the relieve of the CHRAG boss and did so.

Furthermore, in other for you to be seen as a democrat and a president for all; not one who is discriminatory and who only seeks the wellbeing of his party supporters, we hold the conviction that you will find sustainable solutions to the concerns stated in this petition.

THE CONCERNS

Your Excellency, our prime concern: Mr. Kofi Purthophy can't continue to be at post at NADMO while he chairs the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Its gives room for people to wonder if the ruling government is experiencing a deficiency in skilled personnel to govern.

Though the constitution is not explicit on how to manage peculiar cases as is Mr. Kofi Purthophy's, there is a widely held view that his elected position as chairman of the ruling party makes his continuous stay at NADMO untenable.

Your Excellency, not only is there enough empirical evidence, as we have come to find, supporting the fact that there is a substantial multi-party agreement in judgment on this particular issue, but also that a lot of the good people of Ghana, who entrusted into your hands, the executive powers of the state, want Mr. Kofi Purthophy gone from NADMO.

Moreover, we all know how polarized the nation is and having the national chairman of the ruling party hanging on to a civil post like the National Coordinator of NADMO does not ease the situation. The fear arises that human as he is, his biasness will not permit him to execute his duties very well. Again, both positions are full time jobs; one will need all seriousness to attend to the demands of either.

Mr. President, we want to ask you to set up a Committee of Inquiry to investigate the allegations made by Former NDC Chairman, Dr Kwabena Adjei, who sought re-election in the recent NDC elections. He observed that the party's internal election was characterized by "exploitation and monetization" and he pointed squarely at Mr. Purthophy. Besides finding the truth to this allegation, such an act will play favourably into your campaign to fight corruption.

Your Excellency, the government itself has been implicated in the practise of the politicization of issues and appears bound on an agenda of political equalization. A clear example of this being the repeated reference by government officials to the blunders of previous governments instead of demonstrating a firm resolve to deal with challenges at hand.

Take for example the immediate past Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, who is on record as having stated unequivocally that most, if not all, Black Starts supporters then to be sent to the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, in 2014, would be sympathizers and supporters of the NDC, the party you lead.

While we appreciate that you belong to one political party, we believe that once elected to the High Office of President, you are to serve the people of this country regardless of their political affiliation. We maintain that the over-politicization of issues is further entrenching already existing divisions amongst Ghanaians.

We can assure you of our support as we all seek the betterment of our people to make Ghana a glorious place for us all.

Thank you and God bless our homeland Ghana.

SIGNED BY THE GOOD PEOPLE OF GHANA