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Why must
President Mahama go when the NPP cannot come in?
By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Folks, it is
common knowledge that the battle cry of the NPP politicians and
their buffs is that President Mahama is incompetent and must be
voted down at Election 2016. That clarion call resonates only
with them, not with those who have eyes to see what his
government is doing to transform Ghana in line with the NDC's
manifesto. Those with a genuine desire to see Ghana developed
along the path of peace, love, and national unity see things
differently. I am one of them; so should you be too if you love
Ghana.
One of our
Facebook good friends, Musa Kukar, says it all; and I reproduce
his comments for purposes of buttressing my stance that
retaining President Mahama and his government in office spells
more good for Ghana than his political opponents can ever bring
themselves down to admit. Here is Musa Kukar's eye-opener:
"I am afraid
the NPP wants to lie to the good people of Ghana to get power.
All revenue is so low because the NPP signed a killer contract
with the oil companies. What is 7 per cent profit bring to the
national coffers? But for the coming to power of NDC that
'kululu' contract agreement wouldn't have gone up to the 10 per
cent. To worsen matters the price of crude oil is now $38 from
over $130+ NPP will never bring anything better. Did Dr. Nkrumah
not use state resources to build schools and industries? Yet
(UP) NPP sympathizers demonized his rule. But after over 50
years we now know he loved our dear nation. He was a selfless
leader unlike his opportunistic opponents who wanted to corner
our common wealth. We have seen their evil politics."
A very good
observation, good friend. Yours is a comment loaded with wisdom,
I daresay to support my stance that merely wishing President
Mahama "to go" just because he is what his opponents are not
won't solve Ghana's problems. I am poised to prove why.
There is no
perfect government anywhere in the world. What we have in Ghana
has its ups-and-downs; but evidence strongly persuades me that
it is up to the task, especially in laying the foundation for
the take-off that we should expect in future. No country ever
makes progress without a solid infrastructural base.
I am more than
happy that President Mahama has focused on this aspect of
governance and is using public funds to prove to the citizens
that providing facilities for them is a sure step toward giving
them the chance to uplift themselves. And, as he explained at
Axim, the government won't be fixated on infrastructural
development in its second term but on measures to improve
livelihood, taking advantage of the infrastructural base already
laid. What could be more re-assuring than this explanation?
Providing
infrastructure comes with a huge price, though, which
immediately manifests in the cost of living. And which the NPP
rogue politicians are highlighting as the government's failure.
Their tunnel-vision approach to politics won't let them see
anything good in a party and government that they regard as
their nemesis. But merely wishing that government out of the way
won't pave the way for them to be in power. Their kind of
pipe-dream is nauseating.
Ghanaians may
be in want of instant gratification (which infrastructural
development doesn't immediately provide---and which Akufo-Addo
and his NPP are quick to snatch at in their bitter but misplaced
bad-mouthing campaign); but if they look beyond today, they
should see what some of us have seen to assuage all doubts,
suspicions and apprehensions. Just as Nkrumah sought to do to
move Ghana beyond where his opponents could bring it after
orchestrating his overthrow, so also is the NDC administration
bent to do (starting with Jerry Rawlings and moving on with Atta
Mills and John Mahama).
I am more than
persuaded that the NPP's battle cry is vacuous and dry. It
sounds pleasing only to the ears of Akufo-Addo and his benighted
buffs, not the segment of Ghanaians who appreciate what the
government is doing. And they are in the majority to prove their
worth at Election 2016.
Crying hoarsely all over the place and
using "patapaa" to create the impression that Ghana is doomed
under President Mahama won't wash with those genuinely seeing
what is unfolding. And they are those hailing President Mahama
all over the place. The video clips on his tour of the Western
Region "to account to the people" are clearly indicative of the
affection and appreciation shown by the beneficiaries of the
projects so far undertaken by the government.
We wait to see
how those in other parts of Ghana will react to him when he
visits their communities to commiserate with them. A true leader
walks every step of the way with the people.
I have read a
news report quoting an Akufo-Addo supporter as saying that
Akufo-Addo is not for "ordinary people". The last nail in his
political coffin? In politics, any leader who moves along with
the "ordinary people" wins hearts, minds, and thumbs at the
polls because the "ordinary people" form the majority of the
voter population. Only elitists of Akufo-Addo's type consider
themselves as tin-gods to be feared. Scarecrows of his type are
political dinosaurs with no place in the 21st century politics
of our kind.
So, if the NPP
people cry that "Mahama must go" and yet do not know how to
reach out to the electorate to win their hearts, minds, and
thumbs, what will they resort to? Mayhem!! Even, designing
schemes to cheat their own people in internal elections to
choose their Parliamentary candidates and flagbearer.
Intimidation, arm-twisting, plain bullying, and murderous
intentions reign supreme therein. Scarecrows scaring each other?
Tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaa!!
Folks, we
admit that the Mahama-led administration has yet to have firm
grips on the economy to turn it around; many other sectors of
national life are yet to be controlled and problems tackled to
our satisfaction. We must admit that the going has been tough;
but the consolation is that the government hasn't been sleeping.
That is why it is asking for its tenure to be renewed at
Election 2016. I support it!!
That is why I am happy at the level of
political mobilization going on, especially by the innovative
approach dubbed "I Choose JM". I congratulate the brains behind
this move and urge them to intensify their efforts. Clearly,
video clips on their activities (the latest ones being the Kawo
Kudi and Odododiodoo sessions in Accra) are heart-warming.
Others are on course in other parts of the country. They tell me
that the NDC is indeed a grassroots machine that knows how to
mobilize support for its cause.
Flip the coin
to see how the NPP people are doing their public outreach
activities. Lectures upon lectures in narrow spaces, churning
out abstractions, and vain promises, not to talk about
depressing lies about governance. Such a stale political move
rakes in nothing but absolute rejection at the polls. The only
way for them to pursue power, then, will be recourse to the dark
chambers of the Supreme Court. Well dodged!!
Liars,
thieves, and murderers of their sort deserve no compassion. To
rub more salt into their wound, let me tell them that they are
nowhere near winning the hearts, minds and thumbs of Ghanaian
voters. Until they provide better alternatives for building
Ghana and taking it out of the woods, they will remain what they
have been all these years---disgruntled, unfulfilled nay-sayers.
Let them blow their own horns and enjoy the cacophony; but it
won’t place them in power. Merely wishing President Mahama to go
is a desire to see a vacuum in governance. But it won’t happen
because Nature itself abhors vacuum.
I shall return…
• E-mail:
mjbokor@yahoo.com
• Join me on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor to continue the conversation.
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