Pres­ident Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

 In most general sense, a chair is a piece of furniture designed for the purpose of allowing a single person to sit or recline. It is an item of furniture that provides sitting for more than one person, often referred to as a sofa, settee, bench or so on.Sitting in a wrong office chair, can cause major health issues and one can simply avoid this by investing in an ergonomic chair. A good office chair can bear wonders for your back. It works by improving your posture, reducing unnecessary back pains and reducing hip pressure.

Research has shown that, slouch­ing, and similar postures while sitting can cause backaches, headaches and poor concentration. Ergonom­ic chairs are more comfortable than normal chairs because they are user-friendly. You can adjust all features of the chair to fit your individual needs until you are totally comfortable.

SPECIAL

PRESIDENTIAL CHAIR

For some time now, there has been controversy from the point of view of the public over a special presidential seat being used by Pres­ident Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at both state and private functions across the country of which viral photos keep trending on social media more frequently. The now famous seat of the President, has been spotted carried in a V8 vehicle that followed the president anywhere he attended public functions.

The brouhaha over this strange development on the part of the pres­ident, has imputed several rumours, speculations and conjectures about the motives behind the practice, es­pecially when he has to travel to any public functions across the country with this special chair. Some have said that the practice, is purely asso­ciated with spiritual direction offered to the president. Rumours are that, the President’s personal prophet, had cautioned him to avoid publicly of­fered chairs and use his own private chairs anywhere he goes.

SPECULATIONS ABOUT THE SPECIAL CHAIR

Another strange reason is that the President’s special chair has a special purpose to perform while he sits on it. It is being alleged that the chair is not a mere seat, but an electronic device put together to keep him from fallen asleep.It is said that the seat is actually a contraption filled with a device that delivers mild electri­cal vibrations to keep the President awake. Explaining how the device works, an unimpeachable source within the presidency, was once quoted with­in social media circles to have stated that, “It is really a simple device that is remotely controlled. The trusted aides handling the remote control, are under instructions to deliver a certain level of electric shock to the President at specified intervals. The shock is not delivered to cause him to jolt, but rather, to deliver some vibration to keep him awake”.Whether this asser­tion is true or not, is something yet to be established and comfirmed.

GABBY’S

EXPLANATION

However, Mr. Gabby Asare Otch­ere-Darko, a Special Aide to the President and his right-hand man, was quoted to have debunked all the conspiracy theories and assertions on his Facebook page, explaining that the roaming chair, was due to the deadly Corona virus pandemic which rocked the entire world in 2019, including Ghana.

It is recalled that during his official tour of the North East Region in 2020, President Akufo-Addo, visited PAD 95.1 FM for an interview along with his presidential seat and that was cap­tured in the social media. The usual studio seat, according to the picture that made rounds, was shifted aside and replaced with his special chair. Also, during his visit to the Ashanti Region in that same year, his special presidential seat was taken along with him for an interview with Wontumi Radio Station among others.

PUBLIC CURIOSITY

ABOUT THE

Nobody is against the President carrying and using a special chair at any given functions across the country and even beyond the borders of this country, provided the costs involved in transporting this special chair will be borne or absorbed by the Presi­dent himself. If for any good reasons regarding his health and doctors have advised that he should use a special seat as a means of dealing with his problem, that will be fine and also be­comes a state funded issue since he is the president and the number one gen­tleman of the land as such, the laws will allow that to happen. In all these propaganda theories being bandied around in the social media by some personalities, neither the President nor any of his spokespersons, have given reasons as to why this special chair always has to travel with the President anywhere he goes to put an end to some of these mere speculations. It is on the basis of such development that one finds it difficult to comprehend what is happening in the face of the current economic challenges that has brought about high cost of living among the citizenry.

HUGE COST INVOLVED IN MOVEMENT OF CHAIR

The cost of travelling with this presidential seat on board the V8 vehicle to public functions across the country will be at a huge cost, running into millions of Ghana cedis at the expense of the state. Apart from that, the number of luxurious vehicles including V8 that follows the president in convoys during his local travels is another financial drain to the country which needs to be looked at with critical lenses. What is more disturbing, is the fact that a whole V8 is assigned to convey a chair with a driver and a guard. That is, in­deed, very strange and difficult to imagine.

A vital question people continue to ask is that; If it is not for any good or tangible reason, why can’t the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDCEs), make available special seat just like what the President always travels with, even if it should be electronically manufactured, to accommodate the president in their localities anytime he travels to their areas and cut down the cost of travelling with this special seat on V8 from the presi­dency in Accra to the districts and regional capitals.

GHANA IN

COMPLETE MESS

This country is in a terrible finan­cial and economic crisis, as the Pres­ident himself has admitted when he recently came to our homes through radio and television broadcast to the nation.

There is high depreciation of the local currency against the US dol­lar, inflation keeps escalating to an unimaginable level, the cost of fuel is astronomically high, thus affect­ing the cost of transportation among Ghanaians, high level of state debt and heavy fluctuations in foreign direct investment, volatile prices of goods and services among other economic challenges. We have gone to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to seek a financial bailout to re­structure our ailing economy. There is a general disaffection among the people as they continue to experi­ence severe hardships.

AVOIDING PROFLIGATE LIFESTYLES

While steps are being taken to resuscitate our shattered economy and restore confidence in the economy, there is the need for the government and its appointees, to lead by exam­ple by cutting down all the unneces­sary spending and also to plug all the loopholes in our financial management. Things that are not of essence and beneficial to our course of development must be got rid of, in order to conserve our meagre foreign exchange.

It is also important that, we down­size our government by cutting down the number of ministers of state and merging some of our ministries to avoid duplication of functions.There is a clari­on call by Ghanaians to the President to sack or remove some of his non-per­forming ministers and bring in fresh minded people with ideas to help him to prosecute his development agenda which is a call in the right direction.

TOUGHER MEASURES NEEDED TO REVAMP ECONOMY

The going is, indeed, very tough, rough and, therefore, we have to adopt and apply stringent measures to resus­citate our ailing economy which is in a state of comatose. Ghanaians deserve better because they have sacrificed a lot for this nation to the present state, and the time to do this is now. Let those who have ears, listen now!

Contact email/WhatsApp of author:

ataani2000@yahoo.com 0277753946/0248933366

By Charles Neequaye