President John Mahama
By K. Badu
In the more democratic and enlightened societies, the bromidic word is reasoning, unlike my country of origin (Ghana), where respect has always been the norm.
As a matter of fact, in Ghana, one must always seek to discharge his/her emotional intelligence and show deference for fear of being upbraided for upsetting the frumpish, and crude majoritarian Africa culture of respect.
Obviously, it is that trite and dowdy word respect that has given the grown up people in Africa as a whole, the licence to misbehave over the years.
For, if that was not the case, how come our shameless, incompetent and corrupt leaders continue to sink the economy deeper and deeper into the mire, create, loot and share our resources and often go scot free?
Of course, you would be tagged disrespectful for criticising for instance, a president who sleeps on the job, accepts bribes and dips his hands fecklessly into the national coffers. For God sake, how could it be contumelious for calling a spade a spade?
To be quite honest, it is neither an offence to suggest that an individual has no competence to hold down a position nor slanderous to pontificate that a person is Devoid of the qualities requisite for effective conduct of an important position like the president of a nation.
For instance, whilst we can highly extol President Kufuor and his NPP government for moving Ghana from the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) status to a Lower Middle Income status in 2001, we cannot also be rebuked for censuring President Mahama and his NDC government for sending us back to the HIPC status.
Of course, there is nothing wrong to sing tuneful praises of former President Kufuor and his NPP government for quadrupling Ghana's economy to US$ 16 billion in 2008, a period of eight years.
At the same time, we must not and cannot stand accused of exhibiting risible and inborn predilection for reprobating President Mahama and his NDC government for wilfully collapsing the economy during the last seven and half years.
Indeed, there is an admissible evidence of irreversible incompetence on the part of President Mahama and his NDC government. For example, according to Dr Bawumiah, in the last seven years alone under this NDC government, Ghana’s total debt has ballooned from GH¢9.5 billion to a projected GH¢110 billion by the end of September 2016.
This means that 90% (i.e. GHC99.5 billion) of Ghana’s total debt since independence has been accumulated under this NDC government from 2009-2015 i.e. the last seven and half years.
Ironically, however, after failing to improve upon Ghana’s economy during the last seven and half years, President Mahama and his clamorous apparatchiks are cunningly taking refuge in their much publicised infrastructural projects.
Paradoxically, though, it was the same President Mahama who happily pontificated somewhere in 2008 that every government undertakes infrastructural projects and therefore it would be an exercise in mediocrity for any government to hide behind infrastructural projects in the face of economic collapse.
In that regard, it is somewhat ironic that President Mahama will then turn round and insist that governance is all about putting up infrastructural projects. How bizarre?
Little did President Mahama know that the ball he was throwing against the wall will eventually bounce towards him. Indeed, a ball has “bounce back ability”.
Isn’t it also ironic that President Mahama’s NDC party founder, J. J. Rawlings never believes in the idea of focusing primarily on infrastructural projects?
Indeed, the founder of the NDC Party doesn’t believe in infrastructural projects, hence exterminating someone who performed incredibly well in the area of social infrastructure and amenities.
History will remind us that the military ruler General Kutu Acheampong, performed a yeoman’s job in terms of infrastructural projects, yet he managed to sink the economy into the mire (as President Mahama has done) to the disgust of people like his party founder Jerry John Rawlings.
Regrettably, however, J. J. Rawlings went into conniption-fit and annihilated General Kutu Acheampong in 1979 through firing squad for focusing mainly on numerous infrastructural projects and supposedly collapsing the economy.
Let me however state categorically that President Mahama’s comeuppance won’t come in the form of barbaric firing squad used effervescently by his NDC Party founder J. J. Rawlings to settle a score with his opponents, but rather, he will be punished through the forthcoming universal adult suffrage.
Yes, President Mahama was absolutely right for suggesting that it would be an exercise in mediocrity for any president to use infrastructural projects as his/her unparalleled achievement.
Apparently, based on President Mahama’s own previous analysis on infrastructural projects, he has indeed shown an unalterable incompetence and does not deserve another term in office.
I thus beseech discerning Ghanaians to go out there and vote massively for a positive change in the forthcoming general elections.
Otherwise, someone else will elect ‘a semicircle’ of undistinguished, corrupt and incompetent representatives who will only continue to sink the nation deeper and deeper into the mire.
