The Independence Arch

So, in the evening of July 24, 2012, John Dramani Mahama was sworn in as President of Ghana to complete the term of Prof. Atta Mills according to constitutional provisions. This was barely five months until Elec­tion 2012.

John Mahama was declared elected president by the Electoral Commis­sion in that election, but Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP would have none of it and marched to the Supreme Court to contest the results. Governance almost stalled for the next eight months till the Supreme Court ruled John Mahama as duly elected.

In my estimation, Akufo-Addo lost the election and, I believe, he and his party knew it. The recourse to the Court was a needless waste of time even if some of us got educated on some legal jargon and expressions.

To me, these were just ego trips to court public sympathy for the bruises inflicted by their electoral loss, nothing more.

After his victory in 2012, John Maha­ma embarked on a massive infrastruc­ture development in health facilities, the energy sector, schools, roads, the airport, housing, markets and others as if to compensate for the eight lost months of litigation at the Supreme Court. But the opposition did not let up. Mahama’s administration was ac­cused of corruption by the opposition.

Issues like the purchase of an aircraft from Brazil, GYEDA and a gift of a Ford vehicle to the President were played in the media space as acts of corrup­tion. There was this laughable one of a flock of Guinea fowls flying from farms in the North across our frontier into Burkina Faso. One thing I know from people close to Mahama was that he caused rumours of corruption against his appointees investigated. Indeed, an appointee was imprisoned as a result.

One positive act of Mahama’s ad­ministration was the setting up of the Heritage Fund in which millions of dollars from a percentage of the oil sector was deposited for the future. Teacher education was increased with the withdrawal of trainee allowances and replaced with a students loan regime to enable more teachers to be trained. This was met with opposition from the NPP which promised to reverse it if they regained power.

Our Presidents come to office with certain personal traits. Unlike President Atta Mills, who was a stickler for punctuality, John Mahama hardly is on time for any public event. Nana Addo is also noted for being very punctual with his time. Noted for his reliance on his fan base, President Rawlings would rather be late so as to receive adula­tion from his fans. Presi­dent Kufuor was respect­ed in this regard.

Election 2016 was quite as toxic as the previous ones before it. Accu­sations and counter accusations of corruption were thrown into the fray from every angle imaginable. Nana Addo had mouthwatering promises the electorate were hardput to ignore. He would reduce the cost of buying fuel. One village, one dam. A million dollars for each constituency each year. Free Senior High School education and many more.

Any dispassionate observer of the political scene was clear in their minds that it would take more than his massive development agenda to retain John Mahama as President. Of course, Mahama campaigned on this record of achievement.Truth be told, Mahama did everything but appeal to the grass­roots. He seemed to keep a distance from the ordinary people.

As it turned out, Nana Addo Dank­wa Akufo-Addo was elected president and was sworn in on January 7, 2017. Almost every project initiated by the Mahama administration that was yet to be completed was abandoned. What came to be known as E-Block Senior High School buildings were left to rot. An affordable housing project at Saglemi was left to deteriorate.

In order to be seen to fulfill his cam­paign promises, Akufo-Addo began to implement the Free SHS programme, very much against advice from stake­holders and professionals to go gradually with its implementation.

Dugouts were presented as dams, many existing businesses were touted as his one district one factory project, but not even one constituen­cy saw the million dollars. Fuel prices rather kept rising at the pumps to the chagrin of his own supporters. Com­parisons started as to whether Mahama was a better leader.

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia became the poster boy of the gov­ernment, touting the administration’s economic management. The very statements he made about govern­ment economic policy while he was in opposition stared him in the face at every turn.

Teacher trainee allowances were re­stored, but admissions were drastically curtailed as were nursing trainees. SHS and basic school timetables were so jumbled up that guardians did not know when their wards would be in or out of school.

Nana Addo appointed the highest number of Ministers in the country’s political history. Issues of massive corrupt practices surfaced against his administration as well. Family, friends and cronies became beneficiaries of political patronage.

Then COVID 19 was upon the world. Purported to have originated in China, the virus took the world by storm, in­fecting millions on a killing spree. As at the beginning of this week, Ghana has recorded only 1,462 deaths with only 34 active cases. It must be admitted that Ghana under Akufo-Addo man­aged the pandemic better than many other nations of the world. However, COVID and the war in Ukraine have become the excuses government spokespersons give for the economic dilemma the country is in today.

Ghanaians went to the polls on De­cember 7, 2020, to elect a new gov­ernment. John Mahama was once again the flagbearer of the NDC. His record was pitted against Nana Addo’s. For the first time since 1992 Ghana’s Electoral Commission could not make up their minds on the true figures to announce for the presidential poll. Eventually, they announced Nana Addo as winner though the NDC almost won more seats in Parliament.

Methinks this was why John Mahama also headed for the Supreme Court. My information has been that there were people close to Mahama who worked against him. Their beef was that John had lost touch with the base of the Party. He was running the campaign like a celebrity superstar, they said. So they botched the setting up of a cred­ible collation centre. My astrological predictions for Election 2020 was pub­lished in this column on December 4, 2020. Another concern for these peo­ple, which has been expressed by many media friends is what they describe as Mahama’s rabid desire to keep Mr. Stan Dogbe as his closest confidant. My information is that Mahama is aware of this concern but seems unwilling to do anything about it.

Many journalists feel that Stan denied them access to Mahama. Many big shots in the Party are worried about this and fear the Stan Dogbe factor could affect the electoral fortunes of the former President.

Now, my take: Ghana is not in a dilemma; Ghana is the dilemma.

Nothing seems to be working in the land. Food prices have hit the roof. The dollar is difficult for our currency to match. Government refused to heed advice to go to the IMF. It refused to even review the Free SHS programme. A tin of mackerel is fed a soup for a dozen students.

Today, Ghana is with the IMF. We are ready to review the Free SHS programme. If this country were not a dilemma, why do we elect people who are impervious to sound advice? Why do we elect people who listen only to themselves? Over 80 members of Par­liament demand the President should expel the Minister of Finance, but get ignored.

By Dr. Akofa K. Segbefia

Writer’s email address: akofa45@yahoo.com