The writer
Growing up, we learnt that we grow upward, and not downward. This has been tried, tested and proven by all standards and in all spheres of life.
Similarly, to our educational system, starting from nursery to kindergarten, to lower primary, upper primary and junior high school, there is one thing in common: students compete in examinations to be promoted to the next class.
It is the same in other professions, where employees are recruited into the job from entry level, junior staff to senior staff, and pass through all ranks of the organization to topnotch management level.
Advice
As a child, my grandmother advised me to be aware that every day has its own challenges, and not a single day passes without problems. However, the solutions for one day’s problem could not be delayed for the next day’s problems, otherwise they become obsolete and belated.
Yes, grandma, we miss you, and I know you are excited wherever you are to hear me remember the unsolicited counsel you offered us, your grandchildren.
As you always said, greedy people never get satisfied, and even in the grave, they would want to occupy larger spaces than others.
I remember you once telling me that what you could see afar sitting, even if I climbed the tallest iroko tree, I could not see it.
John Mahama
Was it the case that grandma foresaw that former President John Dramani Mahama would stage a comeback to run for presidency with the aim to promise heaven for the sake of grabbing power?
Mr. Mahama, born in 1958, became vice-president of Ghana in 2009 and president in 2013, following the demise of former President John Evans Atta Mills, until he lost power in 2016.
In 1996, he was elected to Parliament on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and he was re-elected in 2000 and 2004. While in Parliament, he held several positions, including Minister of Communications, 1998–2001, before being chosen as the vice-presidential candidate on the NDC ticket in 2008 by John Evans Atta Mills.
Presented as the NDC candidate for 2012 election, Mr. Mahama won, and became the President from 2013 to 2017, after which he lost the 2016 election massively to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
During his tenure, Ghanaians faced a worsening economic situation in the country. The country suffered power shortages for several years. This was the hallmark and legacy of his administration, leading some Ghanaians to give him the nickname ‘Mr. Dumsor’, to wit Mr “off and on”.
He staged a comeback after his defeat in 2016, and lost to his main contender, President Akufo-Addo, in 2020, scoring some 47 percent of the vote while President Akufo-Addo had in excess of 51 percent.
Mr. Mahama, however, challenged the results at the Supreme Court, alleging that irregularities affected the outcome of the election, and requesting that it should be rerun.
Sometime in March 2021, the court rejected his petition, citing lack of evidence to support his claims.
Today, he is desperately promising the citizenry heaven and gold to accomplish a mission of coming back to power in 2024.
Mr Mahama canceled teacher-trainees’ allowance, and froze employment in the public sector. His tenure offered no hope for the youth of Ghana, and his unlikely comeback will spell doom for Ghanaians.
He is noted for saying ‘Ghanaians have short memories’. It appears he wants to come and test the retentive memory of the Ghanaian.
Maybe, with the short memories he claims we have, we have soon forgotten his ‘dead goat’ syndrome, and will not remember how he subjected the citizenry to untold hardships.
Many wonders how a dead goat arises after being slain by the sharp knife of scavengers.
Article 71
Unfortunately, while his internal political contenders have based their campaign on issues, and proffering solutions, Mr Mahama would rather prefer to repeal Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution to strike out payment of ex-gratia.
Let this be a caution to Ghanaians never to make a little mistake in their life to elect a conman to the helm of affairs of the country.
In 2015, Mr Mahama claimed his government had canceled the payment of ex-gratia to Article 71 office holders. Yet, by the time he was leaving office, he left with a ‘huge’ ex gratia paid to him.
We all witnessed how a former member of the Council of State returned his ex-gratia, only to reignite the spirit of the former president, who is guilty of receiving ex-gratia, to advocate against Article 71 of the Constitution.
Granted my northern brother knew Ghana’s problem was the payment of emoluments to office holders under Article 71, what happened to the Professor Fiadzo’s Constitutional Review, report after late President John Evans Atta-Mills had issued a white paper on the report?
Internal contest
Whereas the Duffuors and Bonsus of the NDC have chosen to ponder on the weak leadership and systems of the party, and proposing measures to address the challenges, Mr Mahama simply does not care about the state of his party.
His opponents in the internal contest are coming up with sound youth policies, and campaigning on equity and accountability. Same would have been expected of a former president deemed the presumptive leader of the NDC. Unfortunately, that does not seem to bother him.
This is happening at a time the Elephant family is seemingly appealing to the general public to build confidence in government as it finds solutions to the current economic challenges.
It is evident that the current economic downturn has been occasioned by external factors, and government has not shied away from accepting this basic fact.
Government has admitted that the twin problem of Covid-19 and the Rusian-Ukraine war has affected the imports and exports of the country. However, government has demonstrated commitment to tackling the challenges head-on.
It remains to be seen what the message of Mr Mahama would be when the current challenges are solved.
And before I end, grandma, let me also inform you that the governing family is also lacing its booth to present a new face to challenge Mr Mahama in the 2024 general elections. The showdown in 2024 will be an interesting contest to watch. If this was what you saw, I must say I am also seeing it now.
Meanwhile, people are asking what the title of Mr Mahama would be after he had risen to become former Vice-President and former President, in the unlikely event that he wins the 2024 general elections. Grandma, we are still pondering over this.
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