I find it quite bizarre whenever the brassbound supporters of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama pontificate somewhat impetuously that he is returning to the presidency to correct the perceived wrongs of the incumbent president, His Excellency Nana Addo-Danquah Akufo-Addo.
In any case, the crucial question every discerning Ghanaian should be asking the teeming supporters of Mahama is: did Mahama do any wrong at all during his tenure in office?
For argument sake, if indeed Akufo-Addo has failed to meet the expectations of Ghanaians, who says Mahama is a reliable alternative?
To be quite honest, the sceptics feeling of indignation with the current political and socio-economic dynamics is something shared by many Ghanaian electorates.
The current administration may have made some mistakes along the line, the critics disposition nonetheless appears somewhat sophisticated, because the prevailing economic meltdown is ecumenical due to the pernicious coronavirus and Ukraine/Russia impasse, as a matter of fact.
Unfortunately, the brassbound Mahama loyalists do not want to acknowledge the painful fact that a large portion of the country’s scarce resources went down the drain from the mismanagement and the wanton sleazes and corruption perpetrated by the officials of the erstwhile Mahama administration.
You may agree to disagree, the fact however remains that Mahama has never been Ghana’s economic Messiah, and some of us, as a matter of principle, do not see him as the best custodian of Ghana’s economy.
Of course, in a dynamic democracy such as ours, governments pop in and out. Suffice it to emphasise that such practice will continue unabated.
The all-important question we should be asking is: can we trust every sound adult Ghanaian to just perch on the presidential seat?
In truth, a president of a country is a lifetime privilege that comes with juicy trappings and enormous responsibilities.
Therefore, someone with vast life experience, a catalogue of suitable employable skills, a portfolio of relevant qualifications, tried and tested competency and requisite knowledge should be a suitable candidate for the position given the absolute importance attached to the presidency.
Nevertheless, the emergence of democracy has energised every sound adult Ghanaian to compete for such an important position.
Regrettably, we are, more often than not, been electing ‘a semicircle’ of negligent officials whose only preoccupation is to sink the nation deeper and deeper into the mire through incompetence and unbridled corruption.
It is, indeed, an undeniable fact that we choose to exercise our voting rights by electing a president in anticipation that the said leader will form a formidable government to run the affairs of the country to the benefit of all and sundry but that has not often been the case.
There is no gainsaying the fact that discerning Ghanaians cannot so soon forget the harsh economic conditions the Mahama government wilfully imposed on them. Indeed, those sad memories will long be stencilled on the mental sheets of discerning Ghanaians.
The all-important question one may ask the brassbound Mahama supporters is: where is the justification for former President Mahama’s ability to steer Ghana in the right direction when a GH9.5 billion debt former President Kufuor left in 2009 rocketed astronomically to incredible figures in just four years?
How can the diehard supporters convince some of us about former President Mahama’s capability to lead Ghana again when he woefully shrunk Ghana’s GDP from GH47 billion to GHC40 billion in five years?
How could Mahama supporters justify former President Mahama’s suitability to lead the nation again when he abysmally dragged an economic growth of around 14% in 2011 to a squeamish 3.4 % as of December 2016?
Didn’t the much-touted economic Messiah drag single-digit inflation in 2012 to double figures by 2016(15.8%)?
Where is the justification for Mahama to lead Ghana again when his terrible errors in judgement sent Ghanaians into darkness for well over five years amid business crippling dumsor?
How can the diehard supporters convince some of us about former President Mahama’s suitability to lead Ghana again when he woefully wasted Ghana’s scarce resources instead of purchasing fuel to generate power?
We do not have to look any further than the 2016 and 2020 general election results to acknowledge how Ghanaians were disgusted over Mahama’s dreadful errors in decision-making which culminated in the unspeakable dumsor.
By and large, the successive NDC governments have proven to be the worst economic managers who can never improve upon the socio-economic standards of living of Ghanaians.
Let’s face it, Akufo-Addo may have faced some challenges in the discharge of his mandate, his ‘brainchild’-the Free SHS is a monumental achievement that will benefit the generations yet unborn.
I bet it will rather be easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for NDC to return to power anytime soon with former President Mahama, judging from the unprecedented economic mess he left behind.
Source: Ghana Web