Last week, the Presidency announced that President John Evans Atta-Mills, after over a year and a half in office will take a short leave. He is expected to spend part of the leave in the United States of America with his relations and part in Ghana. Obviously, having announced his intention to go for a second four-year term, he definitely will use the leave period to reflect on his performance so far and plan how to improve upon it to make his bid for a second term a done deal. Truth be told, the ground is not very fertile for Mills and the NDC and if they must win the 2012 elections, a lot more has to be done to convince Ghanaians beyond any reasonable doubt that they deserve a second term. The Daily Post has managed to summarize and assemble into ten points what President Mills must do to win the 2012 elections. Some of the points would definitely not go down well with some people within the NDC but it is not our business to make them happy. Our goal here is to make the ten points available for the public’s perusal so here we go.
1. UNITING WITH RAWLINGS: The Rawlings factor in Ghana’s body politic today cannot be wished away. Mills in particular will need the Former President to win the 2012 elections. Pretending that there is no problem between them is like trying to hide a toothache. The seemingly disunity between them does not augur well for Mills’ second term bid. It is up to Mills to find ways of bridging the gap between him and Rawlings for electoral victory in 2012. The advice of the likes of Ato Ahwoi and Kwesi Pratt will not help him. Definitely, President Mills himself is smart to know that without Rawlings, he would go nowhere.
2. THE KONADU FACTOR:Realising that the Clintons are huge in the Democratic Party in the USA, President Obama, in spite of the acrimonious primaries against Hillary Clinton, appointed her Secretary of State immediately he was sworn into office. With this move, Obama, with one stroke, united the democrats and removed any opposition for a second term bid. On hindsight, President Mills should have done same, appointing Mrs. Rawlings Ghana’s Foreign Minister. It would unite the NDC, remove and put paid to any ambition by Mrs. Rawlings to contest Mills for the 2012 NDC Flag bearer slot. It is not late for Mills to do so now.
3. YA NA’s KILLERS:There is no gain-saying that the hunger for justice in the matter of the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II is what has turned Tamale, once the waterloo of the NDC, into one of its safe zones. The inability of the Mills government so far to successfully arrest and prosecute the killers of the late chief will spell disaster for Mills in 2012. He must not wait till election year to deliver justice; it will be seen as an attempt to score cheap political points. Let the Mills government successfully establish the guilt of whoever are the killers of the late Ya Na and prosecute them successfully, quickly and he has Dagbon in his pocket.
4. FOOT SOLDIERS:If there is one thing that the Mills government has handled and continues to handle very badly, then it is the issue of foot-soldiers. Telling the police to arrest and prosecute those who close down such government agencies as NYEP and NHIS offices is not the way to go. The agitation of the foot-soldiers is indications that there is communication break down in the party. The way to go is to reach out to the foot-soldiers, talk to them, assuage their anger, identify their areas of concern and work hand-in-hand with them to solve it. That is the way to go. If Mills is able to do this, 2012 is a done deal.
PUNISHING CORRUPT PAST OFFICIALS
5. It cannot be said that the NPP government did nothing during its eight years in office. If for nothing at all, they implemented the NYEP, LEAP, NHIS, School Feeding programme and sourced a loan to provide free medical care for pregnant women. However, Ghanaians kicked them out of office because they were corrupt and arrogant. Corruption was therefore one of the key reasons that led Ghanaians to kick the NPP out of government and bring Mills in. It therefore stands to reason that one of the key things they expect from him is the investigation, prosecution and punishment of former government officials who are found guilty of corruption. Eighteen months on and it does not seem that the Mills government will punish the corrupt NPP officials. Those who squandered the Petroleum Recovery Levy, the US$750 million Eurobond, the Ghana@50 monies, collapsed Ghana Airways, stole to put up the Hotel Kufuor and many more are still walking free and making noise. They even have the effrontery to describe the President as a gangster! President Mills may have defrayed part of the TOR debt, provide free school uniforms for needy school children, initiatedthe Youth in Agriculture programme and implemented many more pro-poor programmes but if he does not successfully investigate, prosecute and punish the thieves who left Ghana broke before he assumed office, he will not get the nod in 2012.
6. UTILITY BILLS:The recent astronomical hikes in utility bills do not augur well for Mills bid for a second four-year term. The NPP, as part of their campaign for the 2012 elections are ready with the campaign jingles played by the NDC in 2008 in which he was heard asking children whether their parents are able to pay the utility bills under the NPP government. Everyone is complaining about the hikes and it is in his interest that they be reduced. If Mills can turn this around, he still will be the man to beat come the 2012 elections.
7. NPP MOLES IN GOVT:Unfortunately, the Mills government has been unable to remove from key positions certain NPP apparatchiks who, no doubt, do not share in the BETTER GHANA agenda. These people are sabotaging the Mills government and infuriating NDC foot-soldiers. They must be removed immediately. Take the case of the Area Manager of the Ghana Water & Sewerage Company,GWSC, in Kintampo: he is an NPP Polling Station Chairman. And an Alan Kyeremanten. Since Mills came to power, this man has been using GWSC pick-ups to carry out party activities of the NPP. How do we expect NDC foot soldiers who see this to feel? Mills must take a second look at some of the pro-NPP people in government. They are sabotaging him and will make sure he loses the 2012 elections.
8. RESOURCING THE PRO-NDC PRESS:Show me anyone in the Mills government who believes the pro-NDC press did not contribute to the Mills 2008 victory and we would show you a person who hid under his bed until the election was fought and won. The pro-NDC press were able to beat the better resourced pro-NPP press to it with little or no help from the NDC. Can Mills imagine the help they will be to him if they receive even half the resources and encouragement the pro-NPP press received from the Kufuor government? Publishers and editors of the Ghanaian Lens, Crystal Clear Lens, Palaver, Democrat, Informer, Catalyst and Daily Post continue to squeeze water out of stone to keep the NDC’s presence in the media. Workers at Radio Gold and Meridian FM have nothing to show for their dedication to the Mills government. Mills may have been counting on others within the government or the party to take of the pro-NDC press but the truth is that they haven’t. Let him take charge of this issue himself, as insignificant as it may seem and he will be surprised by the results
CREEPING ARROGANCE AMONG SOME GOVT OFFICIALS
9. Ghanaians distaste arrogance. The reason why in the eighties and nineties, they would keep vigil to watch Azumah fight is the humility he exudes. One of the causes of the downfall of the NPP is the arrogance exhibited by the likes of Asamoah Boateng, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, Kwadwo Mpiani, Oboshie Sai Cofie and Akufo Addo. Gradually, similar arrogance is creeping into the NDC. Some of Mills’ officials are becoming tin-gods. The President must kick out any of his officials who display arrogance so his image as a humble person would not be corrupted. A humble Mills is a step ahead of the competition in the 2012 elections.
REACHING OUT TO HIS FINANCIERS
10 President Mills should ask himself whether he has done good to the men and women who sank huge sums of money into his 2008 campaign. These people took the biggest gamble ever by sinking their hard earned money into his campaign. Daily Post’s investigations reveal that many of them are not happy at the current state of affairs because since the party came to power, they have not been rewarded. Let Mills return to these people, give them the huge contracts they need to recoup the monies they sank into his election and he would find more willing hands to help him breast the tape ahead of the other competitors come the 2012 elections.
