Tuesday,
June 26, 2012
In responding to a news report on
Ghanaweb yesterday that President Mills would return to the country on June 25 after
a successful medical check-up in the United States, one Kwakyi said:
“I will prefer Mills to Akuffo-Addo
any day! Mills is not the best of presidents Ghana has had, indeed not as
effective as any in the past. But better than this man who wants to throw Ghana
into chaos. Akuffo-Addo? No!”
This swipe at Akufo-Addo underscores
the reason why sections of the Ghanaian populace don’t support him. They
question whether Akufo-Addo will be a better leader than all those who have
ruled the country so far and not succeeded in taking it out of the woods.
The question they ask is: What is
Akufo-Addo’s success story to win their hearts? I have kept asking this
question until now that the man himself as given vent for it by stating that a
government led by him will not promote “chop-chop.”
Was this man part of Kufuor’s
government at all? Was he not the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General who
deconfiscated the assets of convicted drug barons and under whom Ghanaian
diplomatic passports vanished under suspicious circumstances? And many
questions beg answers from him!
Maybe, something about him hitherto
unknown to us may change impressions. Until then, we remain skeptical that he
will be a better leader than all those we’ve already had.
I may not wish the PPP’s Nduom to
be Ghana’s President, but there is something about his politicking that jumps
at many, including me. He is quick to point to his stature as a successful
business executive and accomplishments in terms of his performance in the
Kufuor government, drawing particular attention to policy initiatives (at the
National Development Planning Commission and the Millennium Project). He doesn’t
hide behind promise-making nor does he resort to verbal aggression.
Even Bawumia touts his work at
the Bank of Ghana, especially in helping formulate policies, one of which led
to the redenomination of the Cedi. He counts on his experiences just as the NPP
is quick to project him as an “economic guru” who will help Akufo-Addo solve
the country’s problems.
But what about Akufo-Addo himself?
We haven’t heard him refer to any particular accomplishment in public life to
warrant his desperate manouevres to become Ghana’s President. Putting aside the
issue of “entitlement,” which seems to be the motivation for his quest, what
else is there to recommend him?
Just like me, there are many
Ghanaians who want to know what exactly Akufo-Addo’s success story is so that
we can decide for ourselves where to place him even before the December 7 elections.
We want to know what exactly he has accomplished as an administrator that
recommends him to the high office of President. We also want to know what
leadership skills he has exerted anywhere to confirm that he can outdo all
others that we’ve had so far, especially the incumbent whom he has disdainfully
nicknamed “Professor Do Little.”
So far, there has been very
little to persuade some of us that he is the one to solve Ghana’s problems as
he is touting—and which his NPP followers haven’t ceased irritating us with!
Is it about his academic
accomplishments? I don’t think he is any more distinguished than the
intellectuals who have achieved the highest level of education and participated
at all levels in the governance of this country but failed to solve problems.
Is it about his claim to be a
human rights activist? Having being branded as such and, given information
about his involvement in the numerous agitations against previous military
governments (especially the Acheampong and Rawlings ones), has that activism
equipped him acquire the leadership skills needed to rule Ghana?
Or is it because of his
involvement in the activities of the Alliance For Change that culminated in a
series of street demonstrations (dubbed “Kume Preko,” “Wie Me Preko,” and “Sie
me Preko”) that achieved very little practically apart from exposing some of
them to the international community as anti-Rawlings elements?
Or will we say that he has ever
managed any enterprise successfully and, therefore, has what all the other
Presidents lack? It is all about administrative acumen and leadership skills
that will make the difference.
Is it because of his being a
private legal practitioner all these years? What level of administration has he
done in that law chamber to suggest that he has any distinguished
administrative acumen? How many accomplished lawyers haven’t already come to
notice but failed to help solve our country’s problems? Why should Akufo-Addo
think that he will make the difference?
I have it for a fact that his law
practice has been in tandem with other partners. I don’t know what monumental
case he has fought in court for anybody or institution and won resoundingly to
warrant his being projected as a successful or accomplished lawyer.
I know who the renowned lawyers
in Ghana are, and Akufo-Addo is not one of them. His father might qualify as
one of those reputable lawyers.
In politics, Akufo-Addo is known
for his activities in the ranks of the Danquah-Busia cabal. He has twice represented
his home constituency (Abuakwa South) in Parliament, but evidence from there
indicates very little appreciation for him in terms of practical
accomplishments for that area. So, at the level of MP, where does he even draw
strength from to warrant his quest for the Presidency?
I have been given to know that he
has been actively involved in politics over the past 30 years, topping it up
with his appointment as Minister of Justice and Attorney-General by Kufuor but
failing to perform creditably to warrant his being retained.
After the Tsatsu Tsikata “Fast
Track Court” fiasco, Kufuor quickly removed him from that post, giving him the
one for Foreign Affairs, a position he held until he won the nod to lead the
NPP to the 2008 elections and lost.
He is known to have contested the
NPP’s flagbearership in 1996 and 2000, losing on both occasions. For the 2008
elections, he stood above the 16 other contestants but was repudiated by the
electorate after initially garnering 49% at the polls and bubbling with high
hopes to win the run-off. It didn’t happen.
For the 2012 elections, he is
poised to brave the storm. As he campaigns for the elections, he comes across
as not really informed about issues with which to win the hearts of voters. His
“Listening” and “Restoring Hope” tours have been more erratic than expected.
What seems to be drawing
attention to him is the package of “huhudious” promises that he and his Running
Mate (Mahamudu Bawumia) are making all over the place as if they are not aware
of the danger posed by that method of politicking.
Take away these promises, and
there is nothing substantial to persuade anybody like me that Akufo-Addo is the
problem solver that the country direly needs.
Let’s not even talk about the
credibility problems that he has—be it the spate of allegations of
drug/substance use/abuse, immorality (womanizing), or concentrated arrogance—which
are making it difficult for some of us to accept him as a future President. No
joke intended here. It’s a serious matter.
So, putting everything together,
then, what is the success story that should recommend Akufo-Addo to the
electorate?
Or will the voters go for him
just because they have lost confidence in the incumbent? Or because Akufo-Addo
is articulate enough to enumerate the country and its citizens’ problems
without actually providing any concrete measures to solve them apart from the
hordes of promises that he and his Running mate have begun blurting out? What
else?
Too many—just too many nagging
questions!
We want to be told what Akufo-Addo’s
success story is so we can probe issues further to know why the electorate
should repudiate the incumbent and settle on him instead. Anybody willing to
tell us that success story? I pause for answers—and insults from those NPP
zealots to whom insults are their only reaction to issues of this sort that
feed the discourse on our national problems.
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