Features
John Mahama’s claim to fame
Certain things or happenings and events we come across in life may be taken for granted but when carefully examined,they reveal useful lessons that may be needed to guide us in critical political decision making to make or unmake our beloved country.
There is a friend of mine who told me about eight candidates who were contesting presidential election in Nigeria. During an interview, one of them was asked that Nigeria was a big country with a large population and many problems,so should indicate how he would address the challenges in that country.
In his answer, he had this to say: “In Nigeria, anybody with two or more wives can understand the problems of that country. I have five wives and I cater for them well. They are all very happy and they do not fight among themselves. Each of them is well catered for so in the same way if I become president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I will be able to diagnose and solve its problems without any difficulty.”
INTERESTING ANSWER
The answer given above is interesting and can be compared with other presidential candidates on the continent of Africa. People should, therefore, be able to decide which of the candidates in Ghana should be taken serious in the next elections in 2024.
A startling revelation has come from former President John Dramani Mahama to the effect that he did not go to the Supreme Court to challenge the Election Petition of 2020, but rather to calm down his supporters and prevent them from disturbing the peace of the country.
This is shocking, coming from a former President who had earlier stated that they had won the election and had majority in parliament. What a shock this is!
NO CONSISTENCY
There is no consistency in this claim when compared with other statements he and his NDC cohorts had made about the 2020 general election. It was like saying something different when they meant the other. Can such contradictions come from a presidential candidate in the person of Mr John Mahama?
It is becoming clear that frustration is setting in their effort to recapture political power in this country. Politics of today is quite different from politics of yesterday. Politics in Ghana in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s is quite different from what is happening now. There is still a problem with lack of enlightenment and deceit on the part of certain people who can easily be deceived by the NDC through propaganda. However, there has been more improvement and when people see what is good, they are able to stand for it.
This explains why the NPP, despite all the lies spread about its presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, that he would never be president in this country, was able to win massively and become president of the Republic. There was a similar dose in 2020 when Nana Akufo-Addo, despite all the lies, again won by over 51 per cent compared with John Mahama.
DISTURBANCES
When the results of the 2020 elections were announced by the Electoral Commission, the supporters of the NDC took to the streets and disturbed the peace in various parts of the country the they had won the election not only at the presidential level but had won also 140 seats in parliament. As we all know, this has proved to be a big lie and the NDC today is not believable or credible when it comes to declaration of truthful matters.
Tyres were burnt across the streets in Ghana and most of the people engaged in them were the youth. Also, in certain parts of the country people, including women, collected rubbish and threw them on the streets to create an eyesore. One such incident took place in front of the Electoral Commission but the security officers prevented such miscreants from getting access to the Commission.
PATIENT SECURITY OFFICERS
The security officers, patient as they were on that occasion, skilfully asked the supporters with this unruly behaviour to go back to the streets and collect the rubbish they had spread to create the eyesore. This was a useful lesson to those irresponsible men and women who had been commanded by their leadership, including John Mahama, Asiedu Nketia, Peter Boamah Otokunor and the others to create disobedient and ugly behaviour in this country.
For John Mahama, therefore, to come out today and say that he did that to calm down his supporters shows that he is not consistent when it comes to decision making on his part. If the NPP and the security agency had resisted in the same way, many lives would have been lost on those occasions and the number of injuries of people and the destruction of properties would have been countless.
While all this was going on, the NPP and its supporters, made it clear that the Party and its presidential candidate had genuinely won the election. Well, after eight or nine months, Mr. John Dramani Mahama, has finally confirmed the assertion of the NPP that it is Nana Addo and his Party that won the election in 2020.
WHAT DOES THIS TELL YOU?
It points out that the NDC candidate was not sincere with himself and had only wanted to influence needless fighting in this country, especially at a time when our efforts should be directed towards rebuilding and reconstructing this noble country of ours. Mr. John Mahama made this declaration after the Supreme Court had delivered its judgement in line with the facts concerning what happened during the election outcome. This is shameful and it reveals that my friend, John Mahama, will have to reconsider his political tactics if he wants to be considered serious in this country.
Knowing that he had lost the election, he could have called the leadership around him to immediately calm down the supporters some of whom were not mature enough to understand what was going on as far as the election results were concerned. Indeed, the NDC did not effectively collate results at the constituency and regional levels to prove to its supporters that they had won or lost the election. He should have been decent enough to also congratulate Nana Addo on his victory. This is something he has not been able to do till now.
BEING WIDE AWAKE
Ghanaians must, therefore, be wide awake and stop following people of that kind whose only agenda is to create mayhem in this country. When it comes to peace in West Africa, Ghana comes first. The same Ghana occupies the second spot in Africa. It occupies an enviable position of peace in the whole of the world that is why countries like Germany, Britain, France, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Peru and many others – all see Ghana as a dependable nation that must be embraced by all countries.
The embezzlement of funds amounting to US$200 million under the Saglemi Housing Project in Accra and other projects under which the money quoted has been embezzled shows that Ghanaians must be prepared to follow Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his hardworking government rather than allowing themselves to be deceived by the deceitful NDC whose only agenda is perhaps the destruction of this country!
Attention-Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often mistaken for laziness or indiscipline. In consulting rooms across Accra and in reports from school teachers, the pattern repeats: children who are bright but forgetful, parents who feel helpless, teachers who see incompleteness.
Research is clear-Barkley (2015) and others describe ADHD as a difference in the brain’s regulation of alertness, impulse and working memory, not a lack of effort.
The family’s role begins with structure. Regular sleep, predictable meal and homework times, and a simple visual list (uniform → books → water → corridor) provide the external scaffolding of these children need. Praise what is completed—“You opened the book and wrote the first sentence”-instead of rebuking what is missing.
Schools can help by seating the child front-row and centre, giving short written plus verbal instructions, allowing brief movement breaks, using quiet nonverbal cues and, where possible, grading effort and method as well as neatness. These adjustments reduce conflict and raise submission rates without lowering standards.
Couples and caregivers should share roles: one grounds, one pivots, and both protect rest. Shame-“bad parenting, bad child”-needs replacing with fact: different wiring, needs scaffolding.
Outcomes improve not by promises of perfection but by daily routines, clear limits and warmed connection. One homework slot kept, one instruction chunked, one calm repair after blurting-these small wins shift the family climate and let the child be seen beyond the label.
Resource
• CPAC (award-winning Mental Health and Counselling Facility): 0559850604 / 0551428486
Source: REV. COUNSELLOR PRINCE OFFEI’s insights on special needs support, relationships, and mental health in Ghana. He is a leading mental health professional, lecturer, ADR Expert/Arbitrator, renowned author, and marriage counsellor at COUNSELLOR PRINCE & ASSOCIATES CONSULT (CPAC COUNSELLOR TRAINING INSTITUTE) – 0551428486 /0559850604.
WEBSITES:
https://princeoffei22.wixsite.com/author
https://princeoffei22.wixsite.com/website
After two weeks of hectic activity up north, I drove to the Tamale airport, parked the car at the Civil Aviation car park as usual, paid the usual parking fee and boarded the plane for Accra.
Over the last two weeks, I had shuffled between three sites where work was close to completion.
One was a seed warehouse, where farmers would come and pick up good quality maize, sorghum and other planting material.
The other was a health facility for new mothers, where they were given basic training on good nutrition and small scale business.
And the third was a set of big boreholes for three farming communities.
The projects usually ran on schedule, but a good deal of time was spent building rapport with the local people, to ensure that they would be well patronised and maintained.
It was great to be working in a situation where one’s work was well appreciated. But it certainly involved a lot of work, and proactivity. And I made sure that I recorded updates online before going to bed in the evening.
When the plane took off, my mind shifted to issues in Accra, the big city. The young guys at my office had done some good work. They had secured five or six houses on a row in a good part of the city, and were close to securing the last.
When we got this property, unusually, Abena greeted them casually, and appeared to be comfortable in the guy’s company.
I was quite disappointed to hear that, because until the last few weeks, it seemed as if Abena and I were heading in a good direction. Apart from the affection I had for her, I liked her family. I decided to take it easy, and allow things to fall in whatever direction.
Normally I would take a taxi to her house from the airport, and pick her up to my place. This time I went to my sisters’ joint, where they sat by me while I enjoyed a drink and a good meal.
“So Little Brother,” Sister Beesiwa said, “what is it we are hearing about our wife-to-be?”
“When did you conclude that she was your wife-to-be? And what have you heard? I’ve only heard a couple of whispers. Ebo and Nana Kwame called to say that they have seen her in the company of—”
“Well said Little Brother,” Sister Baaba said. “By the way, Nana Kwame called an hour ago to ask if you had arrived because he could not reach you. Someone had told him that Jennifer had boasted to someone that she had connected Abena to a wealthy guy who would take care of her.”
I was beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. So I think Jennifer fed her with false stories about me in order to get her to move to the Ampadu guy. Jennifer must have been well compensated for her efforts.
“In that case,” Sister Beesiwa said, “you should be glad that Abena is out of your way. She is easily swayed. Anyone who would make a relationship decision based on a friend’s instigation lacks good sense. I hope the guy is as wealthy as they say?”
“Who gets wealthy running a supermarket chain in Ghana?” Sister Baaba said. “Our supermarkets sell mostly imported products. Look at the foreign exchange rate. And remember that Ghanaians buy second-hand shoes and clothes. Supermarkets are not good business here. Perhaps they are showing off that they are wealthy, but in reality they are not doing so well.”
“Amen to that,” I said. “I’m beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. So I think Jennifer fed her with false stories about me in order to get her to move to the Ampadu guy. Jennifer must have been well compensated for her efforts.”
She said that David Forson was only an agricultural extension worker in the north who did not have the resources to take care of a beautiful girl like her. And apart from being wealthy, the guy comes from an influential family, so Abena had done much better leaving a miserable civil servant like you for him.
“Amen to that,” I said. “I’m beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. We would be able to sell all five houses to one big corporate customer, and we had already spoken to a property dealer who was trying to find a buyer in order to get a good commission.
That was going to be my biggest break. I had asked the boys to look for a large tract of land on the outskirts of the city where we could develop our own set of buildings, blocks of storey houses and upscale apartments. Things were going according to plan, and I was quietly excited. However, things were not going so well regarding my relationship with Abena.
My buddies Ebo and Nana Kwame had called to say that they met Abena and her friend Jennifer enjoying lunch with a guy, and Ebo believed that Jennifer was ‘promoting’ an affair between Jennifer and the guy. They were of the view that the promotion seemed to be going in the guy’s favour, because only an agricultural extension worker in the north who did not have the resources to take care of a beautiful girl like her.
And apart from being wealthy, the guy comes from an influential family, so Abena had done much better leaving a miserable civil servant like you for him.
“As I’ve already said, I will stop by her place, but I will mind my own business from now. Hey, let’s talk family. How are our parents? And my brothers-in-law? And my nephews and nieces? Why don’t we meet on Sunday? I’m going to drop my bags at my place, and go to see Mama and Dad.”
