One of the major decisions that were taken at the 8th National Delegates Congress of the National Democratic Congress at the weekend was the constitutional amendment that ostensibly leaves no double entente doubt as to who is the leader of the governing party. Unlike previously when the roles of Founder and Leader were vague on who ran things, that incertitude has been checked (at least in theory) by the new provision that a sitting President of the Republic who is a member of the NDC is the leader of the party; unless there is no President then the flagbearer is the leader but in the absence of either a President or flagbearer then the national chairman leads.
The constitution of the second largest political party, the New Patriotic Party, is still even more polysemous on this issue. In fact it does not even mention the title 'Leader'. An attempt by Chairman Harona Esseku some years back to propose the President as the Leader was shot down by the blunderbuss of the conservative wing of the party leadership. The NPP maintains the apologue that the national chairman is its leader even in times of a flagbearer or a President of the Republic under the party's ticket. This fiction was sufferable before the party had a taste of power in 2001. But, the past 12 months have exposed the old folly. J A Kufuor's argument in the past that the party is mobilised, motivated, funded and its structures organised around a presidential candidate (or President) and not the national chairman is more valid today than ever. There is a leadership vacuum which not even the selection of a national chairman on February 27 can cure it adequately.
The NPP constitution provides for the flagbearer to be chosen before two years to the next general elections, when the party is in opposition. In 1998, the likes of Jake Obestebi-Lamptey, John Agyekum Kufuor and Odoi Sykes managed to persuade the party leadership on this issue. Thus, within two months of the new national executives being elected into office, the party held a nation congress in Sunyani, which had JA Kufuor winning a clear majority and taking that mandate to unite the party for victory in December 2000.
On page 16 of the Daily Graphic of Friday, January 22, I wrote an article arguing for an early election of the next flagbearer of the NPP (theose points would be repeated here). As if by design, on the very next page, P.17, of the same Graphic edition, aspiring national chairman of the NPP, Stephen Ntim, was pushing a contrarian view.
He argues that too much premium is being put on the issue of who becomes flagbearer rather than on building functional party structures. "Spending cash resources, energy and time on who became the flagbearer of the party without necessarily laying adequate and functional party structures would not help the party," he stated.
Mr Ntim described the NPP as a vehicle involved in an accident and "we need to fix the vehicle before looking for a driver."
Speaking on Kumasi's Hello FM the next day and on Metro TV the following Monday, I was compelled to disagree with Mr Ntim. The bottom line, you cannot build any functional party structures on a house that is divided. Ntim, like many of the other candidates, is preaching unity. This is in itself an admission that there are factions within the party.
By the end of next month, if all goes according to the decision of the NPP national council of Friday Jan 22, the NPP would have chosen its new team of national officers. The delegates should be demanding of all the candidates what programme they have in mind for both unity and victory. The contestants for the chairmanship slot should also tell delegates when would they wish to hold congress to choose the next flagbearer. At least, Ntim has come out to say that process must be delayed; must be set aside whilse he focuses attention on building a functional party. I
n fact, the election of party officers and candidates are very much at the centre of the process of building functional party structures. We all know how the influence of potential presidential candidates are being felt at every level of the party, from polling stations to national office. How does Chairman Ntim intend to build structures for so long as he continues to delay the elections for the very office which is at the zenith of divisions, tensions and diversion in the party?
For so long as the next national chairman, whoever it may be, chooses to delay the flagbearership contest, his own actions at reorganising the party would be frustrated by suspicions and mistrust. Odoi Sykes and his team, including Dan Botwe and the late Courage Quashiga took the wise decision to elect the 2000 flagbearer barely two months after they were elected into office. What is the Ntim timetable? What is Jake's timetable? What about Charles Wereko-Brobbey and Felix Owusu-Agyepong?
The truth, which J A Kufuor would tell Ntim for free, is that, the party has no clear collective focus and programme of action when the flagbearer has not been chosen. Imagine a situation where a proposal is up for discussion on how to organise the party at Constituency B2. The chairman there supports presidential candidate A and the two vice chairpersons are for Candidate B, the constituency organiser likes Candidate C, and the Women's Organiser and Secretary are in the camp of Candidate A, with the Secretary and Nasara Club Corodinator in with Candidate C, the Assistant Secretary and all the other deputies are with Candidate C. Only the youth organiser claims to be neutral. That proposal is likely to go nowhere. On the table, it would be first considered through the lens of each officers' sectional interest: how would that benefit my candidate? Suggestions given and decisions taken would always be veiwed with suspicion and frustration.
The longer the NPP delays in choosing its flagbearer, the more creative ways of negative campaigning would be devised and unleashed; the more money candidates would spend and the deeper the divisions would get. The only winner would be its main opponents, the NDC.
The argument is that the NPP should make this choice as soon as it is constitutionally possible. This should mean 3 months after the National Delegates' Conference of Feb 27 to choose national executives of the party or 4 months after if more than five candidates file their nominations. This means nominations must be opened within the first month of the national executives being sworn in. Their first task must be to elect a leader (flagbearer), cut short the nonsense about ‘whose faction is this or that’ and get to the business of being taken seriously by the general public.
The NPP must seek to elect not only its flagbearer early but that by August, parliamentary primaries of orphan constituencies must begin. The longer the party delays in going to congress the more the divisions would be, at least, exagerated. It is that kind of exageration that has the knack of even getting some candidates to overrate their own popularity in the scheme of things. Get it out of the way as quickly as possible and give the party enough time to begin the necessary process of reconciliation.
Everyday that the NPP delays the election of its flagbearer, the divisions within the party over leadership deepens and the race gets costlier. It is dangerously diversionary, however necessary, so the trick is not to prolong it at all.
Everyday that the party’s resourceful members spend time, text messages, strategy, energy and financial resources on how to outwit each other within the party on the flagbearership race, the main opposition party's ability and capacity to oppose the ruling party suffers and Ghana's democracy and governance are the ultimate losers.
Stephen Ntim and others may continue to argue that after the constitutional amendments, the NPP must focus first on 'building up its structures' and not rushing into choosing its next presidential candidate. My answer to them is: 'what do you need to build or strengthen structures with?' Money and more money. It is usually only when donors are convinced that the party has a clear presidential candidate and that he/she is winnable candidate that they will make their wallets generous.
To build functional structures you need to motivate party activists - that work is more effectively done by a presidential candidate than by any other party functionary. Are opposition parties able to raise any decent amount of funds when they don't have a flagbearer to showcase to donors? The answer is a big 'No!'
Again, to build functional party structures the party needs to have a communications strategy, which would be fed by programmes, strategies and policies of the party. So long as the party's human capacity is divided among presidential aspirants, it is difficult to mobilise brains around the strategy table. That is why strategies for organisation and victory are often created or revised radically after the new 'boss' is nominated.
The closer the period of presidential nomination is to the next presidential election, the more Ghana's democracy is about elections and less about what happens in between elections.
The facts show that party grassroots mobilisation really heats up only after a presidential candidate is nominated. Our political parties tend to lack a clear sense of focus, unity of purpose and direction when they don’t have a presidential candidate but several aspirants to contend with. They also need more time to design and promote alternative programmes to government . In this way we can deepen the substance and enhance the quality of Ghanaian political exchanges.
Wouldn’t it be great for Ghana’s democracy if by September 2010 the NPP presidential candidate is able to name his full shadow cabinet, with (as the 4th Republic Constitution demands) a touch more than half of the team coming from the legislature? The team can be reshuffled, of course, but such a refreshing approach to opposition politics would send a clear message to Ghanaians that in the NPP you have a government-in-waiting.
For more than a year and counting, President Mills has had no peer pressure, since his rivals in the 2008 elections seized to ‘lead’ their parties after December 2008 and he will continue to have asomdwe until the next ‘political campaigning season’ begins with the election of opposition flagbearers. This long vacuum of domestic peer pressure at the level of the presidency should be a matter of grave concern to all of us who are concerned by the quality of Ghana's political discourse and delivery. This creates not only a leadership vacuum at the top of the opposition political parties, but also reduces the fullness and effectiveness of the political parties to keep the President and his government in check.
In June last year, the Danquah Institute published its research findings urging political parties in opposition to consider choosing their flagbearers early (within the first 12 months after losing the last presidential election) and also to make their flagbearer the leader of the party. We pointed out, for instance, that no presidential candidate has won after less than four years exposure as presidential candidate and/or head of state in Ghana’s 4th Republic and, that, the earlier the presidential nomination process is brought to a close, the greater the opportunity of re-uniting the party and focusing on victory.
As at now, the ruling National Democratic Congress can speak of a clear leader in the President of the Republic. But, the same cannot be said about any of the opposition parties.Ghana’s democracy will be strengthened significantly if presidential candidates, who serve, effectively, as leaders of their respective parties, are elected early.
For the NPP to delay choosing its flagbearer until December 2010 would mean that for at least two years of his four-year term, President Mills would face no singular critical voice of ‘equal’ presidential material stature. This problem becomes more acute when, as has been the situation since 1993, the Executive controls a parliamentary majority. It would amount to at least two years of effective elective dictatorship in Ghana.
Democracy depends on strong institutions. But, it is also true that in order to grow and ensure strong institutions, there must constantly be strong peer pressure on the temporary custodians of power both at the legislative and executive levels. The deficit now is at the executive branch of government.
If the NPP is serious about party unity then it must be serious about not prolonging a contest that has the knack to exaggerate internal divisions and dyspathy to a level where they become a beast of a reality.
Monday, January 25, 2010
INFLATION = When Nobody Is Buying Prices Drop
End-of-year inflation was 16 percent. It has been hailed as the best signal that President Mills´ tight fiscal policy is working. It has certainly worked - spending has been tight, consumption has been tight, chop money tight, tips tight, imports have been tight, the job market has been tight and the pockets have been tight. Even serial calling has suffered. I would sum the first year of Mills in economic terms as annus anorexia.
Ghanaians may recall that the Danquah Institute disagreed with the government and CEPA and forecasted that government would not even meet its revised end-of-year inflation target of 14.5%.
We went as far as to say that a better way to gauge the impact of government´s economic policy of 2009 on the average Ghanaian is to juxtapose the annual average rate of inflation to that of salary levels. On an average, Ghanaian workers received less than 10% pay increase last year. In fact the highest level of wage increase in the public sector was 17% in 2009. Some, like health workers and teachers, got about half of that figure.
We predicted that the annual average inflation rate for 2009 would be 19.47%. The figures from the Ghana Statistical Service last week indicated that inflation averaged 19.3% last year. I am proud to say
that DI´s research work and analysis on the economy last year were arguably more on point than any other. Yet, no one can be proud of the fact that Ghanaian workers in general got poorer last year - the first time this had happened en masse since 2003, at least, when wage increases started to out-pace the rise in prices of goods and services in real terms.
Despite, all these glaring statistics on the plight of the poor in Ghana, the NDC continues to call itself `social democrats´ who are there for the poorer masses. Now they are quick to say that the task
of sorting out the masses begins with sorting out the economy: stabilising the cedi and checking inflation. The concerns of the right are now the messages of the Ghanaian left!
But, really, should we be celebrating the fact that inflation has been falling consistently from the June 2009 high of 20.74% to the December 2009 rate of 15.97%? Inflation was 18.13% in December 2008. What was remarkable about the November and December 2009 inflation rates was that they went against the usual seasonal trend of higher inflation driven by Christmas shopping. Prices go up in December because everybody spends more, forcing demand to put pressure on supply.
The fall in inflation in the second half of last year has been driven by both non-food and food inflation. Food inflation was, of course, suppressed mainly by a good harvest. But another major cause of why
prices have not been rising is the simple fact that people are simply not buying enough. There is no money to spend; the disposable income of Ghanaians suffered severe beatings in 2009.
Figures of sales and purchases of the last quarter of 2009, if made available, would support this claim. I dare the Ghana Statistical Service to come out with figures on economic activity and let Ghanaians know whether or not we have anything to celebrate – apart from the fact that we survived it.
Basic economics tell us that inflation is primarily driven by demand out-pacing supply. So where supplies are available and people are simply not buying, retailers or wholesalers have no option but to
reduce prices to become competitive; even at the risk of not meeting their running costs.
Information from the Bank of Ghana last year indicated that both business and consumption confidence were low. We ended the year with some cautious flicker of ray of optimism that the economy had turned the corner and moving forward in the right direction to a Better Ghana.
Still, the data is curiously worrying. For example, interest rate on the 90-day treasury bill was 24.70% in December 2008, when inflation was 18.13%. By December 2009, with inflation at 16%, the yield was
higher at 25.90%. The Bank of Ghana has little option but to cut down the base rate by some two percentage points and impressed on the banks to follow suit.
Earlier last year, some of us were concerned about the trend which saw investors diverting their funds into T-Bills rather than investing in the productive side of the economy. Thus, by October 2009, the amount of cash invested in T-Bills by Ghanaians other the banks was GH¢800.20 million. It had almost doubled from the December 2008 figure of GH¢446.40 million.
However, by December 2009, while the yield remained high, non-bank holdings in T-Bills had dropped to GH¢661.30m. What this means is that people simply didn´t have the money to save despite the lure of high profits.
We are happy that our local currency is holding. Of course, it has been boosted by record high prices in both gold and cocoa - our main export commodities. This is good news. But, it is also true that people are simply not importing enough - either for production or consumption. When there is a fewer demand for dollars there is no reason for the dollar to be dearer.
A look at the following figures will tell us why. Total merchandise imports amounted to $6 billion in the first nine months of 2009, compared with $7.8 billion for 2008 (a decline of 23.4%). Non-oil import for the period was $4.9 billion compared with $5.8 billion in 2008. Oil imports for the period amounted to $1.1 billion as against the near double figure of $2 billion for 2008.
This is confirmed by lower foreign exchange purchases of $419.60m by December 2009 as compared to the higher figure of $482.50m by December 2008. The financial sector sold $414.50m foreign exchange in 2008 as compared to $405.70m by December last year.
President Mills has been able to achieve fiscal stability. But he did this by making Ghanaians poorer. The good news is that this low-demand-driven lowering of inflation should lead to interest rates falling and hopefully triggering higher economic activity. But, the signs have not been too promising - so far not so good.
Achieving partially impressive macro-economic figures on the back of mass impoverishment should not be the way for building a better Ghana. So far, the Mills of a better Ghana have been grinding slowly. We can only seek solace in the words of President Mills: "It will eventually get to its destination."
Ghanaians may recall that the Danquah Institute disagreed with the government and CEPA and forecasted that government would not even meet its revised end-of-year inflation target of 14.5%.
We went as far as to say that a better way to gauge the impact of government´s economic policy of 2009 on the average Ghanaian is to juxtapose the annual average rate of inflation to that of salary levels. On an average, Ghanaian workers received less than 10% pay increase last year. In fact the highest level of wage increase in the public sector was 17% in 2009. Some, like health workers and teachers, got about half of that figure.
We predicted that the annual average inflation rate for 2009 would be 19.47%. The figures from the Ghana Statistical Service last week indicated that inflation averaged 19.3% last year. I am proud to say
that DI´s research work and analysis on the economy last year were arguably more on point than any other. Yet, no one can be proud of the fact that Ghanaian workers in general got poorer last year - the first time this had happened en masse since 2003, at least, when wage increases started to out-pace the rise in prices of goods and services in real terms.
Despite, all these glaring statistics on the plight of the poor in Ghana, the NDC continues to call itself `social democrats´ who are there for the poorer masses. Now they are quick to say that the task
of sorting out the masses begins with sorting out the economy: stabilising the cedi and checking inflation. The concerns of the right are now the messages of the Ghanaian left!
But, really, should we be celebrating the fact that inflation has been falling consistently from the June 2009 high of 20.74% to the December 2009 rate of 15.97%? Inflation was 18.13% in December 2008. What was remarkable about the November and December 2009 inflation rates was that they went against the usual seasonal trend of higher inflation driven by Christmas shopping. Prices go up in December because everybody spends more, forcing demand to put pressure on supply.
The fall in inflation in the second half of last year has been driven by both non-food and food inflation. Food inflation was, of course, suppressed mainly by a good harvest. But another major cause of why
prices have not been rising is the simple fact that people are simply not buying enough. There is no money to spend; the disposable income of Ghanaians suffered severe beatings in 2009.
Figures of sales and purchases of the last quarter of 2009, if made available, would support this claim. I dare the Ghana Statistical Service to come out with figures on economic activity and let Ghanaians know whether or not we have anything to celebrate – apart from the fact that we survived it.
Basic economics tell us that inflation is primarily driven by demand out-pacing supply. So where supplies are available and people are simply not buying, retailers or wholesalers have no option but to
reduce prices to become competitive; even at the risk of not meeting their running costs.
Information from the Bank of Ghana last year indicated that both business and consumption confidence were low. We ended the year with some cautious flicker of ray of optimism that the economy had turned the corner and moving forward in the right direction to a Better Ghana.
Still, the data is curiously worrying. For example, interest rate on the 90-day treasury bill was 24.70% in December 2008, when inflation was 18.13%. By December 2009, with inflation at 16%, the yield was
higher at 25.90%. The Bank of Ghana has little option but to cut down the base rate by some two percentage points and impressed on the banks to follow suit.
Earlier last year, some of us were concerned about the trend which saw investors diverting their funds into T-Bills rather than investing in the productive side of the economy. Thus, by October 2009, the amount of cash invested in T-Bills by Ghanaians other the banks was GH¢800.20 million. It had almost doubled from the December 2008 figure of GH¢446.40 million.
However, by December 2009, while the yield remained high, non-bank holdings in T-Bills had dropped to GH¢661.30m. What this means is that people simply didn´t have the money to save despite the lure of high profits.
We are happy that our local currency is holding. Of course, it has been boosted by record high prices in both gold and cocoa - our main export commodities. This is good news. But, it is also true that people are simply not importing enough - either for production or consumption. When there is a fewer demand for dollars there is no reason for the dollar to be dearer.
A look at the following figures will tell us why. Total merchandise imports amounted to $6 billion in the first nine months of 2009, compared with $7.8 billion for 2008 (a decline of 23.4%). Non-oil import for the period was $4.9 billion compared with $5.8 billion in 2008. Oil imports for the period amounted to $1.1 billion as against the near double figure of $2 billion for 2008.
This is confirmed by lower foreign exchange purchases of $419.60m by December 2009 as compared to the higher figure of $482.50m by December 2008. The financial sector sold $414.50m foreign exchange in 2008 as compared to $405.70m by December last year.
President Mills has been able to achieve fiscal stability. But he did this by making Ghanaians poorer. The good news is that this low-demand-driven lowering of inflation should lead to interest rates falling and hopefully triggering higher economic activity. But, the signs have not been too promising - so far not so good.
Achieving partially impressive macro-economic figures on the back of mass impoverishment should not be the way for building a better Ghana. So far, the Mills of a better Ghana have been grinding slowly. We can only seek solace in the words of President Mills: "It will eventually get to its destination."
Thursday, January 14, 2010
MILLS THE COOL POPULIST
BY QANAWU GABBY
It is difficult to really put a finger on who President Mills is after listening to him on his 1st anniversary. Connecting the philosophy of Candidate Mills, with the actions and mixed-bag messages of President Mills is becoming rather tricky. My advice to him is to find quickly a bridge between these two ends or stand being hit for good with the hypocrisy tag.
As a report on the press conference of one year of the Better Ghana agenda goes, his performance was not top rank. In one statement he can defend a position and attack that same position!
I was intrigued by the way on his first annual anniversary of a ‘Better Ghana’, President Mills made a self-denying ordinance on not giving himself marks when a journalist asked him to rate his own performance. This time, he pointed out that it didn’t make sense for a school boy to mark himself in exams. Last year, he gave himself a modest 80% after his first 100 days. Then it made sense.
Statements like that give the impression that the President blows with the wind, he’s defined by events rather than defining events. I see him as a Cool Populist. He plays the populist card but with such humility that you are likely to take it with a gallon of sincerity.
I marvelled at the pomposity of the humble leader’s self-regard afterwards. “I'm proud of all my ministers for their wonderful performance in this first year of my administration. I sympathise with the other [political] parties. If NDC Team 'B' can perform this well, then they should wait for Team 'A' and when the Team 'A' comes, they would see what will happen,” he said, marking himself and his team high.
Here again after showing some modesty to make a point he makes a u-turn to brag to make another point. What matters to him is the point he wants to score and not how that point is scored. If it means forgoing a claimed principle then so be it.
As a social democrat, it was not surprising that when asked to name one item of major achievement of the year he mentioned but 4 social interventions: school feeding, capitation grant, free text books and free school uniforms. President Kufuor would certainly have recognised the first three items!
The associate professor gave Ghanaians a lecture detailing, as Simon Heffer would put it, some (but not all) of the attributes of contemporary politics and politicians that we find so distasteful. These included the adversarial nature of our democracy and the inability of those who participate in it to admit error.
The president said Muntaka did not resign because of corruption, “there wasn’t corruption, it was because of indiscretion on his part.”
Just a couple of weeks earlier, this same head of state scored high remarks with an international publicity stunt. ‘Ghana’s President John Atta Mills Rejects Christmas Gifts.’ The news item carried by Reuters, BBC, CNN, etc, was another showmanship on how seriously Ghana’s President intends to fight corruption.
It reminded one of the Graphic headline last year that the President had given his political appointees one week to declare their assets. A year later only a fraction of them had heeded to the declaration. The impression this gives is that things are said and done more for their publicity effect than their substantial impact on the agenda for bettering Ghana. This may not be fair, though. But in politics perception travels further than substance, as NDC may know so well.
The news item on hampers went like this: “Ghanaian President John Atta Mills is refusing to accept Christmas presents this year because he fears they may be intended to corrupt him. Sending hampers of food and gifts to people in authority is a Christmas tradition in the African country.
“But Mr Atta Mills's spokesman said the president felt it was better not to accept them in case the givers were seeking something in return. Mr Atta Mills was elected in 2008 on a promise to fight corruption.
‘“Some people bring the gifts and their motives are genuine,’ presidential spokesman Mahama Ayariga told the BBC's Focus on Africa.”
The President who would not even accept a traditional Christmas gift because of the fear of being corrupted is prepared to dismiss a case of corruption not tested in court as an act of indiscretion.
Sport Minister Muntaka was accused of corruption at a time that former government officials were visiting the offices of BNI like a diarrhoea patient visits the loo. But, Mills directed
National Security to handle Muntaka’s case – not the BNI specific.
In areas where the whistleblower had alleged that specific amounts of government cash was taken by the Sport Minister and the Minister denied, the investigation concluded that “the allegation could not be proved.” Instead, the whistleblower became a victim of persecution.
Even though the letter that sacked Ken Attafuah as head of the National Identification Authority stated he was being fired on the instructions of the President of the Republic, when the question was put to President Mills by a journalist his response was that he was not familiar with that particular case. “There is only one President”, he told Ghanaians fondly last year.
As a lawyer “if somebody makes an allegation against another person and is not able to give credible evidence…I have no option but to give the benefit of the doubt to the person who is being accused.”
Well, President Kufuor was also a lawyer when he called for evidence but Candidate Mills did not forgive him. “I would not hide behind evidence to shield corruption,” he said in 2008.
“So it was not a case of corruption, corruption could not be established. We felt that the young man was being indiscreet and that is why he felt that it was right for him to resign and he said so in his statement. In any case let me add this, we’ve been in this country for some time, you have reported on many cases [of corruption], since when have ministers, given these facts, had the courage to tender in their resignations? How many can you cite?”
Well, the truth is Muntaka’s was the first time in Ghana’s history that a Minister was accused of using state money to buy chinchinga (kebab) and pampers. But, it was not the first time Ministers were forced by circumstances of ‘indiscretion’ to resign.
President Mills reiterated his earlier stance that Muntaka should be commended for resigning his post for after all; “are we saying that this is the first time that ministers of state have gone abroad with girl friends, this is the first time that ministers of state have infringed the law, have spent state money on themselves?”
When a candidate campaigns on the ticket of morality and promises to better Ghana, the last thing we expect of him is to say: “I wish you asked me this question 8 years ago. This is not the first time that ministers have gone abroad with their girlfriends.”
What President Mills showed at the press conference was the type of intolerant temperament that an Akufo-Addo or Kufuor would have been accused of arrogance had they done so.
It was a farcical week. The President did not have to sack the Ashanti Regional Minister who incited his party supporters to assault those who criticise their President. But after acknowledging his Minister’s apology the President should have publicly rebuked the Minister and sent a clear ‘fatherly’ message to the country that people in responsible places should be mindful of what they say. That is the mark of a principled leadership committed to making Ghana better.
We must expect that with a new government successes of the past can be built upon, failures of days gone by can be learned from, new ideas can be tested, new solutions implemented and the nation continue to move forward in an ever constant course.
The route now remains uncertain. But, we must not lose hope.
It is difficult to really put a finger on who President Mills is after listening to him on his 1st anniversary. Connecting the philosophy of Candidate Mills, with the actions and mixed-bag messages of President Mills is becoming rather tricky. My advice to him is to find quickly a bridge between these two ends or stand being hit for good with the hypocrisy tag.
As a report on the press conference of one year of the Better Ghana agenda goes, his performance was not top rank. In one statement he can defend a position and attack that same position!
I was intrigued by the way on his first annual anniversary of a ‘Better Ghana’, President Mills made a self-denying ordinance on not giving himself marks when a journalist asked him to rate his own performance. This time, he pointed out that it didn’t make sense for a school boy to mark himself in exams. Last year, he gave himself a modest 80% after his first 100 days. Then it made sense.
Statements like that give the impression that the President blows with the wind, he’s defined by events rather than defining events. I see him as a Cool Populist. He plays the populist card but with such humility that you are likely to take it with a gallon of sincerity.
I marvelled at the pomposity of the humble leader’s self-regard afterwards. “I'm proud of all my ministers for their wonderful performance in this first year of my administration. I sympathise with the other [political] parties. If NDC Team 'B' can perform this well, then they should wait for Team 'A' and when the Team 'A' comes, they would see what will happen,” he said, marking himself and his team high.
Here again after showing some modesty to make a point he makes a u-turn to brag to make another point. What matters to him is the point he wants to score and not how that point is scored. If it means forgoing a claimed principle then so be it.
As a social democrat, it was not surprising that when asked to name one item of major achievement of the year he mentioned but 4 social interventions: school feeding, capitation grant, free text books and free school uniforms. President Kufuor would certainly have recognised the first three items!
The associate professor gave Ghanaians a lecture detailing, as Simon Heffer would put it, some (but not all) of the attributes of contemporary politics and politicians that we find so distasteful. These included the adversarial nature of our democracy and the inability of those who participate in it to admit error.
The president said Muntaka did not resign because of corruption, “there wasn’t corruption, it was because of indiscretion on his part.”
Just a couple of weeks earlier, this same head of state scored high remarks with an international publicity stunt. ‘Ghana’s President John Atta Mills Rejects Christmas Gifts.’ The news item carried by Reuters, BBC, CNN, etc, was another showmanship on how seriously Ghana’s President intends to fight corruption.
It reminded one of the Graphic headline last year that the President had given his political appointees one week to declare their assets. A year later only a fraction of them had heeded to the declaration. The impression this gives is that things are said and done more for their publicity effect than their substantial impact on the agenda for bettering Ghana. This may not be fair, though. But in politics perception travels further than substance, as NDC may know so well.
The news item on hampers went like this: “Ghanaian President John Atta Mills is refusing to accept Christmas presents this year because he fears they may be intended to corrupt him. Sending hampers of food and gifts to people in authority is a Christmas tradition in the African country.
“But Mr Atta Mills's spokesman said the president felt it was better not to accept them in case the givers were seeking something in return. Mr Atta Mills was elected in 2008 on a promise to fight corruption.
‘“Some people bring the gifts and their motives are genuine,’ presidential spokesman Mahama Ayariga told the BBC's Focus on Africa.”
The President who would not even accept a traditional Christmas gift because of the fear of being corrupted is prepared to dismiss a case of corruption not tested in court as an act of indiscretion.
Sport Minister Muntaka was accused of corruption at a time that former government officials were visiting the offices of BNI like a diarrhoea patient visits the loo. But, Mills directed
National Security to handle Muntaka’s case – not the BNI specific.
In areas where the whistleblower had alleged that specific amounts of government cash was taken by the Sport Minister and the Minister denied, the investigation concluded that “the allegation could not be proved.” Instead, the whistleblower became a victim of persecution.
Even though the letter that sacked Ken Attafuah as head of the National Identification Authority stated he was being fired on the instructions of the President of the Republic, when the question was put to President Mills by a journalist his response was that he was not familiar with that particular case. “There is only one President”, he told Ghanaians fondly last year.
As a lawyer “if somebody makes an allegation against another person and is not able to give credible evidence…I have no option but to give the benefit of the doubt to the person who is being accused.”
Well, President Kufuor was also a lawyer when he called for evidence but Candidate Mills did not forgive him. “I would not hide behind evidence to shield corruption,” he said in 2008.
“So it was not a case of corruption, corruption could not be established. We felt that the young man was being indiscreet and that is why he felt that it was right for him to resign and he said so in his statement. In any case let me add this, we’ve been in this country for some time, you have reported on many cases [of corruption], since when have ministers, given these facts, had the courage to tender in their resignations? How many can you cite?”
Well, the truth is Muntaka’s was the first time in Ghana’s history that a Minister was accused of using state money to buy chinchinga (kebab) and pampers. But, it was not the first time Ministers were forced by circumstances of ‘indiscretion’ to resign.
President Mills reiterated his earlier stance that Muntaka should be commended for resigning his post for after all; “are we saying that this is the first time that ministers of state have gone abroad with girl friends, this is the first time that ministers of state have infringed the law, have spent state money on themselves?”
When a candidate campaigns on the ticket of morality and promises to better Ghana, the last thing we expect of him is to say: “I wish you asked me this question 8 years ago. This is not the first time that ministers have gone abroad with their girlfriends.”
What President Mills showed at the press conference was the type of intolerant temperament that an Akufo-Addo or Kufuor would have been accused of arrogance had they done so.
It was a farcical week. The President did not have to sack the Ashanti Regional Minister who incited his party supporters to assault those who criticise their President. But after acknowledging his Minister’s apology the President should have publicly rebuked the Minister and sent a clear ‘fatherly’ message to the country that people in responsible places should be mindful of what they say. That is the mark of a principled leadership committed to making Ghana better.
We must expect that with a new government successes of the past can be built upon, failures of days gone by can be learned from, new ideas can be tested, new solutions implemented and the nation continue to move forward in an ever constant course.
The route now remains uncertain. But, we must not lose hope.
MILLS THE COOL POPULIST
BY QANAWU GABBY
It is difficult to really put a finger on who President Mills is after listening to him on his 1st anniversary. Connecting the philosophy of Candidate Mills, with the actions and mixed-bag messages of President Mills is becoming rather tricky. My advice to him is to find quickly a bridge between these two ends or stand being hit for good with the hypocrisy tag.
As a report on the press conference of one year of the Better Ghana agenda goes, his performance was not top rank. In one statement he can defend a position and attack that same position!
I was intrigued by the way on his first annual anniversary of a ‘Better Ghana’, President Mills made a self-denying ordinance on not giving himself marks when a journalist asked him to rate his own performance. This time, he pointed out that it didn’t make sense for a school boy to mark himself in exams. Last year, he gave himself a modest 80% after his first 100 days. Then it made sense.
Statements like that give the impression that the President blows with the wind, he’s defined by events rather than defining events. I see him as a Cool Populist. He plays the populist card but with such humility that you are likely to take it with a gallon of sincerity.
I marvelled at the pomposity of the humble leader’s self-regard afterwards. “I'm proud of all my ministers for their wonderful performance in this first year of my administration. I sympathise with the other [political] parties. If NDC Team 'B' can perform this well, then they should wait for Team 'A' and when the Team 'A' comes, they would see what will happen,” he said, marking himself and his team high.
Here again after showing some modesty to make a point he makes a u-turn to brag to make another point. What matters to him is the point he wants to score and not how that point is scored. If it means forgoing a claimed principle then so be it.
As a social democrat, it was not surprising that when asked to name one item of major achievement of the year he mentioned but 4 social interventions: school feeding, capitation grant, free text books and free school uniforms. President Kufuor would certainly have recognised the first three items!
The associate professor gave Ghanaians a lecture detailing, as Simon Heffer would put it, some (but not all) of the attributes of contemporary politics and politicians that we find so distasteful. These included the adversarial nature of our democracy and the inability of those who participate in it to admit error.
The president said Muntaka did not resign because of corruption, “there wasn’t corruption, it was because of indiscretion on his part.”
Just a couple of weeks earlier, this same head of state scored high remarks with an international publicity stunt. ‘Ghana’s President John Atta Mills Rejects Christmas Gifts.’ The news item carried by Reuters, BBC, CNN, etc, was another showmanship on how seriously Ghana’s President intends to fight corruption.
It reminded one of the Graphic headline last year that the President had given his political appointees one week to declare their assets. A year later only a fraction of them had heeded to the declaration. The impression this gives is that things are said and done more for their publicity effect than their substantial impact on the agenda for bettering Ghana. This may not be fair, though. But in politics perception travels further than substance, as NDC may know so well.
The news item on hampers went like this: “Ghanaian President John Atta Mills is refusing to accept Christmas presents this year because he fears they may be intended to corrupt him. Sending hampers of food and gifts to people in authority is a Christmas tradition in the African country.
“But Mr Atta Mills's spokesman said the president felt it was better not to accept them in case the givers were seeking something in return. Mr Atta Mills was elected in 2008 on a promise to fight corruption.
‘“Some people bring the gifts and their motives are genuine,’ presidential spokesman Mahama Ayariga told the BBC's Focus on Africa.”
The President who would not even accept a traditional Christmas gift because of the fear of being corrupted is prepared to dismiss a case of corruption not tested in court as an act of indiscretion.
Sport Minister Muntaka was accused of corruption at a time that former government officials were visiting the offices of BNI like a diarrhoea patient visits the loo. But, Mills directed
National Security to handle Muntaka’s case – not the BNI specific.
In areas where the whistleblower had alleged that specific amounts of government cash was taken by the Sport Minister and the Minister denied, the investigation concluded that “the allegation could not be proved.” Instead, the whistleblower became a victim of persecution.
Even though the letter that sacked Ken Attafuah as head of the National Identification Authority stated he was being fired on the instructions of the President of the Republic, when the question was put to President Mills by a journalist his response was that he was not familiar with that particular case. “There is only one President”, he told Ghanaians fondly last year.
As a lawyer “if somebody makes an allegation against another person and is not able to give credible evidence…I have no option but to give the benefit of the doubt to the person who is being accused.”
Well, President Kufuor was also a lawyer when he called for evidence but Candidate Mills did not forgive him. “I would not hide behind evidence to shield corruption,” he said in 2008.
“So it was not a case of corruption, corruption could not be established. We felt that the young man was being indiscreet and that is why he felt that it was right for him to resign and he said so in his statement. In any case let me add this, we’ve been in this country for some time, you have reported on many cases [of corruption], since when have ministers, given these facts, had the courage to tender in their resignations? How many can you cite?”
Well, the truth is Muntaka’s was the first time in Ghana’s history that a Minister was accused of using state money to buy chinchinga (kebab) and pampers. But, it was not the first time Ministers were forced by circumstances of ‘indiscretion’ to resign.
President Mills reiterated his earlier stance that Muntaka should be commended for resigning his post for after all; “are we saying that this is the first time that ministers of state have gone abroad with girl friends, this is the first time that ministers of state have infringed the law, have spent state money on themselves?”
When a candidate campaigns on the ticket of morality and promises to better Ghana, the last thing we expect of him is to say: “I wish you asked me this question 8 years ago. This is not the first time that ministers have gone abroad with their girlfriends.”
What President Mills showed at the press conference was the type of intolerant temperament that an Akufo-Addo or Kufuor would have been accused of arrogance had they done so.
It was a farcical week. The President did not have to sack the Ashanti Regional Minister who incited his party supporters to assault those who criticise their President. But after acknowledging his Minister’s apology the President should have publicly rebuked the Minister and sent a clear ‘fatherly’ message to the country that people in responsible places should be mindful of what they say. That is the mark of a principled leadership committed to making Ghana better.
We must expect that with a new government successes of the past can be built upon, failures of days gone by can be learned from, new ideas can be tested, new solutions implemented and the nation continue to move forward in an ever constant course.
The route now remains uncertain. But, we must not lose hope.
It is difficult to really put a finger on who President Mills is after listening to him on his 1st anniversary. Connecting the philosophy of Candidate Mills, with the actions and mixed-bag messages of President Mills is becoming rather tricky. My advice to him is to find quickly a bridge between these two ends or stand being hit for good with the hypocrisy tag.
As a report on the press conference of one year of the Better Ghana agenda goes, his performance was not top rank. In one statement he can defend a position and attack that same position!
I was intrigued by the way on his first annual anniversary of a ‘Better Ghana’, President Mills made a self-denying ordinance on not giving himself marks when a journalist asked him to rate his own performance. This time, he pointed out that it didn’t make sense for a school boy to mark himself in exams. Last year, he gave himself a modest 80% after his first 100 days. Then it made sense.
Statements like that give the impression that the President blows with the wind, he’s defined by events rather than defining events. I see him as a Cool Populist. He plays the populist card but with such humility that you are likely to take it with a gallon of sincerity.
I marvelled at the pomposity of the humble leader’s self-regard afterwards. “I'm proud of all my ministers for their wonderful performance in this first year of my administration. I sympathise with the other [political] parties. If NDC Team 'B' can perform this well, then they should wait for Team 'A' and when the Team 'A' comes, they would see what will happen,” he said, marking himself and his team high.
Here again after showing some modesty to make a point he makes a u-turn to brag to make another point. What matters to him is the point he wants to score and not how that point is scored. If it means forgoing a claimed principle then so be it.
As a social democrat, it was not surprising that when asked to name one item of major achievement of the year he mentioned but 4 social interventions: school feeding, capitation grant, free text books and free school uniforms. President Kufuor would certainly have recognised the first three items!
The associate professor gave Ghanaians a lecture detailing, as Simon Heffer would put it, some (but not all) of the attributes of contemporary politics and politicians that we find so distasteful. These included the adversarial nature of our democracy and the inability of those who participate in it to admit error.
The president said Muntaka did not resign because of corruption, “there wasn’t corruption, it was because of indiscretion on his part.”
Just a couple of weeks earlier, this same head of state scored high remarks with an international publicity stunt. ‘Ghana’s President John Atta Mills Rejects Christmas Gifts.’ The news item carried by Reuters, BBC, CNN, etc, was another showmanship on how seriously Ghana’s President intends to fight corruption.
It reminded one of the Graphic headline last year that the President had given his political appointees one week to declare their assets. A year later only a fraction of them had heeded to the declaration. The impression this gives is that things are said and done more for their publicity effect than their substantial impact on the agenda for bettering Ghana. This may not be fair, though. But in politics perception travels further than substance, as NDC may know so well.
The news item on hampers went like this: “Ghanaian President John Atta Mills is refusing to accept Christmas presents this year because he fears they may be intended to corrupt him. Sending hampers of food and gifts to people in authority is a Christmas tradition in the African country.
“But Mr Atta Mills's spokesman said the president felt it was better not to accept them in case the givers were seeking something in return. Mr Atta Mills was elected in 2008 on a promise to fight corruption.
‘“Some people bring the gifts and their motives are genuine,’ presidential spokesman Mahama Ayariga told the BBC's Focus on Africa.”
The President who would not even accept a traditional Christmas gift because of the fear of being corrupted is prepared to dismiss a case of corruption not tested in court as an act of indiscretion.
Sport Minister Muntaka was accused of corruption at a time that former government officials were visiting the offices of BNI like a diarrhoea patient visits the loo. But, Mills directed
National Security to handle Muntaka’s case – not the BNI specific.
In areas where the whistleblower had alleged that specific amounts of government cash was taken by the Sport Minister and the Minister denied, the investigation concluded that “the allegation could not be proved.” Instead, the whistleblower became a victim of persecution.
Even though the letter that sacked Ken Attafuah as head of the National Identification Authority stated he was being fired on the instructions of the President of the Republic, when the question was put to President Mills by a journalist his response was that he was not familiar with that particular case. “There is only one President”, he told Ghanaians fondly last year.
As a lawyer “if somebody makes an allegation against another person and is not able to give credible evidence…I have no option but to give the benefit of the doubt to the person who is being accused.”
Well, President Kufuor was also a lawyer when he called for evidence but Candidate Mills did not forgive him. “I would not hide behind evidence to shield corruption,” he said in 2008.
“So it was not a case of corruption, corruption could not be established. We felt that the young man was being indiscreet and that is why he felt that it was right for him to resign and he said so in his statement. In any case let me add this, we’ve been in this country for some time, you have reported on many cases [of corruption], since when have ministers, given these facts, had the courage to tender in their resignations? How many can you cite?”
Well, the truth is Muntaka’s was the first time in Ghana’s history that a Minister was accused of using state money to buy chinchinga (kebab) and pampers. But, it was not the first time Ministers were forced by circumstances of ‘indiscretion’ to resign.
President Mills reiterated his earlier stance that Muntaka should be commended for resigning his post for after all; “are we saying that this is the first time that ministers of state have gone abroad with girl friends, this is the first time that ministers of state have infringed the law, have spent state money on themselves?”
When a candidate campaigns on the ticket of morality and promises to better Ghana, the last thing we expect of him is to say: “I wish you asked me this question 8 years ago. This is not the first time that ministers have gone abroad with their girlfriends.”
What President Mills showed at the press conference was the type of intolerant temperament that an Akufo-Addo or Kufuor would have been accused of arrogance had they done so.
It was a farcical week. The President did not have to sack the Ashanti Regional Minister who incited his party supporters to assault those who criticise their President. But after acknowledging his Minister’s apology the President should have publicly rebuked the Minister and sent a clear ‘fatherly’ message to the country that people in responsible places should be mindful of what they say. That is the mark of a principled leadership committed to making Ghana better.
We must expect that with a new government successes of the past can be built upon, failures of days gone by can be learned from, new ideas can be tested, new solutions implemented and the nation continue to move forward in an ever constant course.
The route now remains uncertain. But, we must not lose hope.
MILLS THE COOL POPULIST
BY QANAWU GABBY
It is difficult to really put a finger on who President Mills is after listening to him on his 1st anniversary. Connecting the philosophy of Candidate Mills, with the actions and mixed-bag messages of President Mills is becoming rather tricky. My advice to him is to find quickly a bridge between these two ends or stand being hit for good with the hypocrisy tag.
As a report on the press conference of one year of the Better Ghana agenda goes, his performance was not top rank. In one statement he can defend a position and attack that same position!
I was intrigued by the way on his first annual anniversary of a ‘Better Ghana’, President Mills made a self-denying ordinance on not giving himself marks when a journalist asked him to rate his own performance. This time, he pointed out that it didn’t make sense for a school boy to mark himself in exams. Last year, he gave himself a modest 80% after his first 100 days. Then it made sense.
Statements like that give the impression that the President blows with the wind, he’s defined by events rather than defining events. I see him as a Cool Populist. He plays the populist card but with such humility that you are likely to take it with a gallon of sincerity.
I marvelled at the pomposity of the humble leader’s self-regard afterwards. “I'm proud of all my ministers for their wonderful performance in this first year of my administration. I sympathise with the other [political] parties. If NDC Team 'B' can perform this well, then they should wait for Team 'A' and when the Team 'A' comes, they would see what will happen,” he said, marking himself and his team high.
Here again after showing some modesty to make a point he makes a u-turn to brag to make another point. What matters to him is the point he wants to score and not how that point is scored. If it means forgoing a claimed principle then so be it.
As a social democrat, it was not surprising that when asked to name one item of major achievement of the year he mentioned but 4 social interventions: school feeding, capitation grant, free text books and free school uniforms. President Kufuor would certainly have recognised the first three items!
The associate professor gave Ghanaians a lecture detailing, as Simon Heffer would put it, some (but not all) of the attributes of contemporary politics and politicians that we find so distasteful. These included the adversarial nature of our democracy and the inability of those who participate in it to admit error.
The president said Muntaka did not resign because of corruption, “there wasn’t corruption, it was because of indiscretion on his part.”
Just a couple of weeks earlier, this same head of state scored high remarks with an international publicity stunt. ‘Ghana’s President John Atta Mills Rejects Christmas Gifts.’ The news item carried by Reuters, BBC, CNN, etc, was another showmanship on how seriously Ghana’s President intends to fight corruption.
It reminded one of the Graphic headline last year that the President had given his political appointees one week to declare their assets. A year later only a fraction of them had heeded to the declaration. The impression this gives is that things are said and done more for their publicity effect than their substantial impact on the agenda for bettering Ghana. This may not be fair, though. But in politics perception travels further than substance, as NDC may know so well.
The news item on hampers went like this: “Ghanaian President John Atta Mills is refusing to accept Christmas presents this year because he fears they may be intended to corrupt him. Sending hampers of food and gifts to people in authority is a Christmas tradition in the African country.
“But Mr Atta Mills's spokesman said the president felt it was better not to accept them in case the givers were seeking something in return. Mr Atta Mills was elected in 2008 on a promise to fight corruption.
‘“Some people bring the gifts and their motives are genuine,’ presidential spokesman Mahama Ayariga told the BBC's Focus on Africa.”
The President who would not even accept a traditional Christmas gift because of the fear of being corrupted is prepared to dismiss a case of corruption not tested in court as an act of indiscretion.
Sport Minister Muntaka was accused of corruption at a time that former government officials were visiting the offices of BNI like a diarrhoea patient visits the loo. But, Mills directed
National Security to handle Muntaka’s case – not the BNI specific.
In areas where the whistleblower had alleged that specific amounts of government cash was taken by the Sport Minister and the Minister denied, the investigation concluded that “the allegation could not be proved.” Instead, the whistleblower became a victim of persecution.
Even though the letter that sacked Ken Attafuah as head of the National Identification Authority stated he was being fired on the instructions of the President of the Republic, when the question was put to President Mills by a journalist his response was that he was not familiar with that particular case. “There is only one President”, he told Ghanaians fondly last year.
As a lawyer “if somebody makes an allegation against another person and is not able to give credible evidence…I have no option but to give the benefit of the doubt to the person who is being accused.”
Well, President Kufuor was also a lawyer when he called for evidence but Candidate Mills did not forgive him. “I would not hide behind evidence to shield corruption,” he said in 2008.
“So it was not a case of corruption, corruption could not be established. We felt that the young man was being indiscreet and that is why he felt that it was right for him to resign and he said so in his statement. In any case let me add this, we’ve been in this country for some time, you have reported on many cases [of corruption], since when have ministers, given these facts, had the courage to tender in their resignations? How many can you cite?”
Well, the truth is Muntaka’s was the first time in Ghana’s history that a Minister was accused of using state money to buy chinchinga (kebab) and pampers. But, it was not the first time Ministers were forced by circumstances of ‘indiscretion’ to resign.
President Mills reiterated his earlier stance that Muntaka should be commended for resigning his post for after all; “are we saying that this is the first time that ministers of state have gone abroad with girl friends, this is the first time that ministers of state have infringed the law, have spent state money on themselves?”
When a candidate campaigns on the ticket of morality and promises to better Ghana, the last thing we expect of him is to say: “I wish you asked me this question 8 years ago. This is not the first time that ministers have gone abroad with their girlfriends.”
What President Mills showed at the press conference was the type of intolerant temperament that an Akufo-Addo or Kufuor would have been accused of arrogance had they done so.
It was a farcical week. The President did not have to sack the Ashanti Regional Minister who incited his party supporters to assault those who criticise their President. But after acknowledging his Minister’s apology the President should have publicly rebuked the Minister and sent a clear ‘fatherly’ message to the country that people in responsible places should be mindful of what they say. That is the mark of a principled leadership committed to making Ghana better.
We must expect that with a new government successes of the past can be built upon, failures of days gone by can be learned from, new ideas can be tested, new solutions implemented and the nation continue to move forward in an ever constant course.
The route now remains uncertain. But, we must not lose hope.
It is difficult to really put a finger on who President Mills is after listening to him on his 1st anniversary. Connecting the philosophy of Candidate Mills, with the actions and mixed-bag messages of President Mills is becoming rather tricky. My advice to him is to find quickly a bridge between these two ends or stand being hit for good with the hypocrisy tag.
As a report on the press conference of one year of the Better Ghana agenda goes, his performance was not top rank. In one statement he can defend a position and attack that same position!
I was intrigued by the way on his first annual anniversary of a ‘Better Ghana’, President Mills made a self-denying ordinance on not giving himself marks when a journalist asked him to rate his own performance. This time, he pointed out that it didn’t make sense for a school boy to mark himself in exams. Last year, he gave himself a modest 80% after his first 100 days. Then it made sense.
Statements like that give the impression that the President blows with the wind, he’s defined by events rather than defining events. I see him as a Cool Populist. He plays the populist card but with such humility that you are likely to take it with a gallon of sincerity.
I marvelled at the pomposity of the humble leader’s self-regard afterwards. “I'm proud of all my ministers for their wonderful performance in this first year of my administration. I sympathise with the other [political] parties. If NDC Team 'B' can perform this well, then they should wait for Team 'A' and when the Team 'A' comes, they would see what will happen,” he said, marking himself and his team high.
Here again after showing some modesty to make a point he makes a u-turn to brag to make another point. What matters to him is the point he wants to score and not how that point is scored. If it means forgoing a claimed principle then so be it.
As a social democrat, it was not surprising that when asked to name one item of major achievement of the year he mentioned but 4 social interventions: school feeding, capitation grant, free text books and free school uniforms. President Kufuor would certainly have recognised the first three items!
The associate professor gave Ghanaians a lecture detailing, as Simon Heffer would put it, some (but not all) of the attributes of contemporary politics and politicians that we find so distasteful. These included the adversarial nature of our democracy and the inability of those who participate in it to admit error.
The president said Muntaka did not resign because of corruption, “there wasn’t corruption, it was because of indiscretion on his part.”
Just a couple of weeks earlier, this same head of state scored high remarks with an international publicity stunt. ‘Ghana’s President John Atta Mills Rejects Christmas Gifts.’ The news item carried by Reuters, BBC, CNN, etc, was another showmanship on how seriously Ghana’s President intends to fight corruption.
It reminded one of the Graphic headline last year that the President had given his political appointees one week to declare their assets. A year later only a fraction of them had heeded to the declaration. The impression this gives is that things are said and done more for their publicity effect than their substantial impact on the agenda for bettering Ghana. This may not be fair, though. But in politics perception travels further than substance, as NDC may know so well.
The news item on hampers went like this: “Ghanaian President John Atta Mills is refusing to accept Christmas presents this year because he fears they may be intended to corrupt him. Sending hampers of food and gifts to people in authority is a Christmas tradition in the African country.
“But Mr Atta Mills's spokesman said the president felt it was better not to accept them in case the givers were seeking something in return. Mr Atta Mills was elected in 2008 on a promise to fight corruption.
‘“Some people bring the gifts and their motives are genuine,’ presidential spokesman Mahama Ayariga told the BBC's Focus on Africa.”
The President who would not even accept a traditional Christmas gift because of the fear of being corrupted is prepared to dismiss a case of corruption not tested in court as an act of indiscretion.
Sport Minister Muntaka was accused of corruption at a time that former government officials were visiting the offices of BNI like a diarrhoea patient visits the loo. But, Mills directed
National Security to handle Muntaka’s case – not the BNI specific.
In areas where the whistleblower had alleged that specific amounts of government cash was taken by the Sport Minister and the Minister denied, the investigation concluded that “the allegation could not be proved.” Instead, the whistleblower became a victim of persecution.
Even though the letter that sacked Ken Attafuah as head of the National Identification Authority stated he was being fired on the instructions of the President of the Republic, when the question was put to President Mills by a journalist his response was that he was not familiar with that particular case. “There is only one President”, he told Ghanaians fondly last year.
As a lawyer “if somebody makes an allegation against another person and is not able to give credible evidence…I have no option but to give the benefit of the doubt to the person who is being accused.”
Well, President Kufuor was also a lawyer when he called for evidence but Candidate Mills did not forgive him. “I would not hide behind evidence to shield corruption,” he said in 2008.
“So it was not a case of corruption, corruption could not be established. We felt that the young man was being indiscreet and that is why he felt that it was right for him to resign and he said so in his statement. In any case let me add this, we’ve been in this country for some time, you have reported on many cases [of corruption], since when have ministers, given these facts, had the courage to tender in their resignations? How many can you cite?”
Well, the truth is Muntaka’s was the first time in Ghana’s history that a Minister was accused of using state money to buy chinchinga (kebab) and pampers. But, it was not the first time Ministers were forced by circumstances of ‘indiscretion’ to resign.
President Mills reiterated his earlier stance that Muntaka should be commended for resigning his post for after all; “are we saying that this is the first time that ministers of state have gone abroad with girl friends, this is the first time that ministers of state have infringed the law, have spent state money on themselves?”
When a candidate campaigns on the ticket of morality and promises to better Ghana, the last thing we expect of him is to say: “I wish you asked me this question 8 years ago. This is not the first time that ministers have gone abroad with their girlfriends.”
What President Mills showed at the press conference was the type of intolerant temperament that an Akufo-Addo or Kufuor would have been accused of arrogance had they done so.
It was a farcical week. The President did not have to sack the Ashanti Regional Minister who incited his party supporters to assault those who criticise their President. But after acknowledging his Minister’s apology the President should have publicly rebuked the Minister and sent a clear ‘fatherly’ message to the country that people in responsible places should be mindful of what they say. That is the mark of a principled leadership committed to making Ghana better.
We must expect that with a new government successes of the past can be built upon, failures of days gone by can be learned from, new ideas can be tested, new solutions implemented and the nation continue to move forward in an ever constant course.
The route now remains uncertain. But, we must not lose hope.
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