It is given that leaders are a breed of seasoned, mature and principled men and women who exhibit a certain measure of honour, dignity and personal pride as well as a great deal of level-headedness in all their dealings.
Let us be frank, there are certain standards we expect from those to whom leadership has been entrusted. Wimps, sycophants and praise-singers have one pathology in common: they are all good-for-nothing, incompetent, desperate, despicable and untrustworthy bunch who will go to every length to sell even their mothers for the sole purpose of keeping a turf that is not theirs in the first place. They do so because really they have no morals, no ethics and obviously no backbone and they know that there is no prospect of landing another job similar to what they fear they are about to lose.
When so-called leaders resort to unbridled sycophancy to keep their job as demonstrated recently by Mr. William Ampem Darko, the Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) [read here], and Mr. Ras Boateng, the CEO of the National Health Insurance Authority which administers the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) [see this], then we as Ghanaians must begin to ask ourselves whether these individuals are capable of rendering a competent service in their assigned positions in the first place or they are in it for their own selfish pursuit.
To order a programme live on air to be cancelled because somebody from the ruling party is not pleased with the opinions being expressed on air is simple unbelievable.
The GBC is not an extension of the NDC nor is it a mouthpiece of the government. So the Director-General should have sent Mr quashigah of the NDC, who phoned the DG demanding the programme to be taken off air, packing. Why should the interest of the whole nation be held to ransom by the partisan interests of a dictatorial regime? Where is the adherence to the independence of the national broadcasting service provided under the law.
Anybody with half a brain will tell you that no insurance scheme can be sustainable on a single premium. It will never work. Those who have studied actuarial science will laugh at you if you expressed such a view. That was the cheap, unreasonable, impractical populist campaign promise of the NDC and Mr. Ras Boateng should have known better to point out the futility of the idea. But to go to the extent of suggesting that he, Ras Boateng, is capable of instituting a scheme where every body pays a single premium for life, in my humble opinion, bothers on gross sycophancy and pronounced lunacy.
Mark my words, the NHIS will not survive under the NDC regime and then they will turn around and blame the previous government for implementing an unrealistic scheme.
As I write this post, reports are emerging of the harassment of businessmen in Kumasi who are perceived to be sympathetic to the NPP. The main perpetrator of this arbitrariness is one Samuel Sarpong, an NDC apparatchik, working in the Kumasi Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Another obvious sycophant trumpeting the herald of human right abuse and the trampling of our constitutional rights!
It appears to me that every minute a new breed of goons are being hatched! And like the biblical locusts, they are about to turn the nation upside down.
Nation wreckers, if you ask me!!
Showing posts with label presidency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label presidency. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
A Snoozing President, A Choatic Transition And A Nation in Need of Therapy!
There is a disturbing trend slowly evolving in the supposedly "better Ghana" under the watch, oops, the snooze of John Atta-Mills.
If the 'performance' of John Atta-Mills over the past week has any correlation with his oversung leadership credentials, then there is absolutely no hope for Ghana for the next four years.
How the chap has managed to self-induce himself into such a state of clinical comatose is beyond logic.
From the week-long demonstration he has thus far provided, it appears to me that, Atta-Mills is either clueless of what is expected of him and as a result he is incapable of dealing with the tragedy already brewing right under his nose or he is not really in charge of the affairs of state.
First. The disgraceful, highhanded, unwarranted and vexatious confiscation of vehicles from their rightful owners at the DVLA by a mufti-attired gang under the pretense that the vehicles belonged to the state.
How can a government, oops, a team that promised a clean, accountable, and respectful services to Ghanaians begin on such a shocking note of disservice.
Having bungled a simple exercise of verification of ownership of vehicles, the team in total humiliation had to return the ceased vehicles to the owners.
Why can't issues be resolved in an orderly manner? What happened to the rule by the law, or is the NDC now the law unto themselves?
Second. The Victor Smith mafia-like storming of the castle with another gang of mufti-attired hoodlums to supposedly stop members of the out-going government from looting state vehicles.
This turned out to be a complete alarmist faux pas. A really stupid action, if you ask me.
Why are these people behaving like they are taking over the country through a coup d'etat. There are procedures and rules of engagement that are supposed to be followed so that we don't appear as fools in the eyes of the world. But hey, these are not the type that follow the law!
How can they say that they are defending the interests of the state when their actions are against the jurisprudence of the state they purport to be defending.
This banana- republic mentality is so primitive!
Third. The senseless and fatal shooting of a Ghanaian-American tourist in Saltpond. An innocent human being killed like a dog. The executioners of this young man were of the very same mufti-attired brigade, who we are told 'mistook' the young man riding a motorbike for a common criminal and therefore decided to make him wet.
How can Ghana all of a sudden descend into such state of lawlessness and impunity at the very birth of the Atta-Mills presidency?
All these three guerrilla-style incidents are linked to the direct involvement of the 64 Battalion of the Ghana Armed Forces. Apparently, this unit is a remnant of the notorious commando structures which existed under Rawlings' brutal PNDC regime.
Now do you see where the real instructions are coming from?
The most savage actions reminiscent of the PNDC era are the reported takeover of the operation of toilets in Ashaiman by NDC functionaries, the dislodging of tenants perceived to be NPP by their NDC landlords as well as the daily beatings being meted out to NPP supporters by NDC members throughout the country.
Why is the president keeping mum whilst all these atrocities are taking place?
Now the one who cannot keep his mouth shut has started airing his displeasure whilst the snoozing one continues to snore in blissful disregard.
[They will not tolerate the poverty of inaction or perhaps the poverty of action is what he meant. ]
If the 'performance' of John Atta-Mills over the past week has any correlation with his oversung leadership credentials, then there is absolutely no hope for Ghana for the next four years.
How the chap has managed to self-induce himself into such a state of clinical comatose is beyond logic.
From the week-long demonstration he has thus far provided, it appears to me that, Atta-Mills is either clueless of what is expected of him and as a result he is incapable of dealing with the tragedy already brewing right under his nose or he is not really in charge of the affairs of state.
First. The disgraceful, highhanded, unwarranted and vexatious confiscation of vehicles from their rightful owners at the DVLA by a mufti-attired gang under the pretense that the vehicles belonged to the state.
How can a government, oops, a team that promised a clean, accountable, and respectful services to Ghanaians begin on such a shocking note of disservice.
Having bungled a simple exercise of verification of ownership of vehicles, the team in total humiliation had to return the ceased vehicles to the owners.
Why can't issues be resolved in an orderly manner? What happened to the rule by the law, or is the NDC now the law unto themselves?
Second. The Victor Smith mafia-like storming of the castle with another gang of mufti-attired hoodlums to supposedly stop members of the out-going government from looting state vehicles.
This turned out to be a complete alarmist faux pas. A really stupid action, if you ask me.
Why are these people behaving like they are taking over the country through a coup d'etat. There are procedures and rules of engagement that are supposed to be followed so that we don't appear as fools in the eyes of the world. But hey, these are not the type that follow the law!
How can they say that they are defending the interests of the state when their actions are against the jurisprudence of the state they purport to be defending.
This banana- republic mentality is so primitive!
Third. The senseless and fatal shooting of a Ghanaian-American tourist in Saltpond. An innocent human being killed like a dog. The executioners of this young man were of the very same mufti-attired brigade, who we are told 'mistook' the young man riding a motorbike for a common criminal and therefore decided to make him wet.
How can Ghana all of a sudden descend into such state of lawlessness and impunity at the very birth of the Atta-Mills presidency?
All these three guerrilla-style incidents are linked to the direct involvement of the 64 Battalion of the Ghana Armed Forces. Apparently, this unit is a remnant of the notorious commando structures which existed under Rawlings' brutal PNDC regime.
Now do you see where the real instructions are coming from?
The most savage actions reminiscent of the PNDC era are the reported takeover of the operation of toilets in Ashaiman by NDC functionaries, the dislodging of tenants perceived to be NPP by their NDC landlords as well as the daily beatings being meted out to NPP supporters by NDC members throughout the country.
Why is the president keeping mum whilst all these atrocities are taking place?
Now the one who cannot keep his mouth shut has started airing his displeasure whilst the snoozing one continues to snore in blissful disregard.
[They will not tolerate the poverty of inaction or perhaps the poverty of action is what he meant. ]
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
We Have A Nerd In The Golden Jubilee House
Today, 7 January 2009, the presidency of the Republic of Ghana has changed hands, after a solemn and colourful ceremony, from J A Kuffour(JAK) to John Atta-Mills(JAM), the quiet, charisma-bypassed technocrat with a penchant for dogged inconspicuousness.
Unlike JJ Rawlings, who loved to have the headlights exclusively focused upon himself, John Atta-Mills by comparison likes to stay behind the scenes.
An almost avowed style of embellished silence coupled with a preference for invisibility defines this former Professor of law. A style that blends quintessentially Ghanaian humility with a streak of disguised discomfort for the limelight, JAM is first and foremost a nerd.
The average Ghanaians is used to the cowboy antics of JJ and JAK’s iffy “fa ma nyame” approach to dealing with difficult situations, however the uber-scholarly disposition of JAM has not been witnessed in Ghana’s realpolitik since the days of KA Busia, K Nkrumah, JB Danquah et al.
What are we to expect from The JAM presidency?
Is JAM a big-ideas person in the mould of K Nkrumah?
So far he has not manifested the characteristic traits of such a predisposition. Is he going to be a practitioner of classical social democratic ideology? I hope he does. However, in my opinion, he does not have the luxury of time and space to do so given the constraints of the Ghanaian economy and the unrealistic expectations of the masses.
Will he be able to bring about the socio-economic transformation of Ghana that he promised? A transformational leader he certainly is not, but if he is able to bring about some measure of positive change without destroying the foundations set by the outgoing administration I will be pleasantly surprised.
The restless wannabes in the NDC will try their damnedest to ride roughshod over everything JAK and the NPP stood for in the past eight years. Generalissimo is already waiting in the wings for the red carpet to be rolled out for him. Hopefully the true democrats within the JAM government will stand their ground from day one. The task ahead is to better the lot of Ghanaians and not the building of a platform to dramatise the hatred of JAK and the NPP.
To The Nerd-in-Chief Himself
The JAM presidency, I presume, will be characterised by a great deal of pragmatic equipoising. However as Ghanaians are not particularly known for tolerance for long-term economic policies, any attempt to employ long-tenured economic models, will be misconstrued as non-performance and the government may risk being voted out of office in the next election.
There is another lesson in the political history of Ghana that JAM needs to learn fast. And that is: every time a government had tried to implement an economic program that called for any measure of sacrifice on the part of the masses, they were voted out of office in the next election. We are allergic to all forms of sacrifice. The secret is that you must do the hard stuff whilst we enjoy the fruits of your labour with reckless abandon.
Mr president, don’t count on Ghanaians to tarry for you if you intend going for a long furlough on the mountain to workout the blueprints for our economic salvation.
We are simply a myopic and impatient bunch.
Whatever your plans, keep one thing in mind: the manna must start falling now!
Last lesson, JAM. Your tendency of overly relying on your NDC pals to take the initiative while you sneak out to cool off, as you did during the campaigns, could lead to a lapse of presidential oversight in your administration.
Hopefully you will stay at the helm of government now that you are the Head of state, Commander-in-Chief as well as Head of government.
In the final analysis, Ghanaians will be the arbiters of the JAM presidency in 2012.
I wish JAM, his government and Ghana the best of luck.
Bon Voyage Mr president!!!
Unlike JJ Rawlings, who loved to have the headlights exclusively focused upon himself, John Atta-Mills by comparison likes to stay behind the scenes.
An almost avowed style of embellished silence coupled with a preference for invisibility defines this former Professor of law. A style that blends quintessentially Ghanaian humility with a streak of disguised discomfort for the limelight, JAM is first and foremost a nerd.
The average Ghanaians is used to the cowboy antics of JJ and JAK’s iffy “fa ma nyame” approach to dealing with difficult situations, however the uber-scholarly disposition of JAM has not been witnessed in Ghana’s realpolitik since the days of KA Busia, K Nkrumah, JB Danquah et al.
What are we to expect from The JAM presidency?
Is JAM a big-ideas person in the mould of K Nkrumah?
So far he has not manifested the characteristic traits of such a predisposition. Is he going to be a practitioner of classical social democratic ideology? I hope he does. However, in my opinion, he does not have the luxury of time and space to do so given the constraints of the Ghanaian economy and the unrealistic expectations of the masses.
Will he be able to bring about the socio-economic transformation of Ghana that he promised? A transformational leader he certainly is not, but if he is able to bring about some measure of positive change without destroying the foundations set by the outgoing administration I will be pleasantly surprised.
The restless wannabes in the NDC will try their damnedest to ride roughshod over everything JAK and the NPP stood for in the past eight years. Generalissimo is already waiting in the wings for the red carpet to be rolled out for him. Hopefully the true democrats within the JAM government will stand their ground from day one. The task ahead is to better the lot of Ghanaians and not the building of a platform to dramatise the hatred of JAK and the NPP.
To The Nerd-in-Chief Himself
The JAM presidency, I presume, will be characterised by a great deal of pragmatic equipoising. However as Ghanaians are not particularly known for tolerance for long-term economic policies, any attempt to employ long-tenured economic models, will be misconstrued as non-performance and the government may risk being voted out of office in the next election.
There is another lesson in the political history of Ghana that JAM needs to learn fast. And that is: every time a government had tried to implement an economic program that called for any measure of sacrifice on the part of the masses, they were voted out of office in the next election. We are allergic to all forms of sacrifice. The secret is that you must do the hard stuff whilst we enjoy the fruits of your labour with reckless abandon.
Mr president, don’t count on Ghanaians to tarry for you if you intend going for a long furlough on the mountain to workout the blueprints for our economic salvation.
We are simply a myopic and impatient bunch.
Whatever your plans, keep one thing in mind: the manna must start falling now!
Last lesson, JAM. Your tendency of overly relying on your NDC pals to take the initiative while you sneak out to cool off, as you did during the campaigns, could lead to a lapse of presidential oversight in your administration.
Hopefully you will stay at the helm of government now that you are the Head of state, Commander-in-Chief as well as Head of government.
In the final analysis, Ghanaians will be the arbiters of the JAM presidency in 2012.
I wish JAM, his government and Ghana the best of luck.
Bon Voyage Mr president!!!
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