By Abdul Razak Bawa
The title of this article when I first conceived it was, Will Akufo-Addo hand over to John Mahama, then I remembered the words of George Washington, when he said “Kings and dictators do not rule. The people do. History is in your hands, the power is in your hands, the idea of America lies in your hands.”
I am not a soothsayer, neither am I a prophet, but one thing I do know for sure is that, the New Patriotic Party, will lose the 2024 General elections. It is an outcome foretold, because the eight years of Akufo-Addo’s governance, has brought nothing but misery, untold hardship, corruption, impunity etc.
I am not that old, but I have lived through at least three transfers of power from one political party to the other.
I saw Jerry John Rawlings hand over to John Agyekum Kufuor in 2001; I witnessed John Agyekum Kufuor, hand over to John Evans Atta Mills in 2009, and finally was around when John Dramani Mahama peacefully handed over to Nana Addo Dankwa AkufoAddo in 2016.
All these periods that saw transfer of power from one political party to the other, the writings were on the wall, the people have gotten tired and have had enough of the political party in power.
What happened in 2000, 2008 and 2016 that led to the incumbent losing, cannot be compared to what is happening today. This is the first time in the history of this country, not even during military regimes, has the country sunk so low. The public confidence in politicians is one that no words can explain.
The situation now is indescribable, never before has a government stretched Ghanaians to their limit. Even the most unrepentant supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) can attest to the fact that, the economy is in the intensive care unit and instead of giving it an antidote to revive it, it is being served with poison.
President Akufo-Addo, who is in the driver’s seat and must have his hands on the pulse of the nation, unfortunately is living in a world different from ours. He lives in a fantasy world, where words, are all you need to make dreams come true. Anytime, he is reminded that, things are not looking good, he refers to it as the effusions of an opposition party.
He came to power on the mantra of fighting corruption and protecting the public purse, but less than six months to the end of his eight years tenure, corruption and dissipation of public resources, have sadly become a principle of state policy.
His appointees, family members, and friends are competing among themselves, as to who is or can be more corrupt than other. Corruption has become so competitive that, agencies of state responsible for fighting corruption, have become powerless. Indeed with them, they are no honour among thieves.
A novel creation, which many well-meaning Ghanaians hailed as the panacea to the fight against corruption, has been rendered useless.
The Office of Special Prosecutor, which had a bi-partisan endorsement in Parliament, was never meant to succeed. The first Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, had to resign because the graft that he was appointed to fight was fighting him back and strongly.
A no-nonsense man, who in his private capacity fought corruption, could not do so, when he had the backing of the State.
Martin Amidu was frustrated out of office, in one of his parting gift to Ghanaians as the SP, he described president Akufo-Addo, as the mother Serpent of Corruption. Such an enviable title for a man, who begged Ghanaians to try him.
Martin Amidu, was succeeded by Kissi Agyabeng, he was seen as a perfect replacement, although some people doubted his impartiality, because of his closeness to Akufo-Addo and the family.
He was a party man, but he proved the skeptics wrong, when he decided to go with his conscience and the dictates of the oath he took.
Both Martin and Kissi, were appointed to go after the opponent of the government, precisely members of the National Democratic Congress, unfortunately, they are not the ones in office and superintending on our resources, so little can be done about them, the real culprits are those in power.
Kissi, has been made lame duck, because he dared to go after members of this government.
Akufo-Addo’s anti-graft war has continued to receive knocks from well-meaning Ghanaians, especially from the opposition, who describe it as one-sided and directed at them.
Their position is strengthened by the red-carpet treatment given to politicians on trial or indicted for corruption, the president clears them even before investigation commences.
As I mentioned earlier, the cardinal policies that undergird the Akufo-Addo administration from inception in 2017, are corruption, reviving the economy, which is moving it from taxation to production, tackling unemployment etc.
And so far, the President, from all indications, has not kept faith with these fundamentals by demonstrating the political will towards their realisation.
Akufo-Addo, has nearly turned the educated fellows to illiterates who do not know how to read, write and speak correct English.
President Akufo-Addo, has stated time without number that, he is not handing over power to John Mahama, claiming he cannot handover to someone he defeated. What the president doesn’t want to admit is that, John Mahama, has also defeated him before.
Ghanaians, are the only ones who can decide who governs them, not the president, he has one vote, just like me and any other person in this country.
Ghana is in a turbulent time. We need a president particularly fitted for the times. His problem was more severe. In vehicular metaphor, he had just inherited a car without an engine
Character is critical to leadership. A president must be honest, reliable, and trustworthy. People are more likely to follow a leader they feel they can fully trust. Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in whom Nana Addo is pleased and wants to handover to, in order to cover the rot, he presided over, is seriously deformed in character.
We can find in three folds everything wrong with Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in Dr Bawumia.
I can’t wait for January 7, 2025, when John Mahama, will once again take the oath of office, whether Akufo-Addo likes it or not, he cannot stand in the way of the will of the people. My only concern is, whether he will be able to attend the inauguration.
Finally, to quote Joe Biden, when he addressed Americans, after he stepped down from running for another term office, he said ‘’America’s going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division.
We have to decide, do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy. … Does character in public life still matter?”
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