Jerry Akwei Thompson, The Call Is Not Yours

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Garden City, New York
June 7, 2015
E-mail: [email protected]

He is definitely entitled to his opinion, but I think Mr. Jerry Akwei Thompson does Ghanaians a lot of ill by presuming to lecture us on the caliber of citizens who ought to be elected to serve in the various local assemblies around the country. The Ga-South Municipal Chief Executive Officer appears miffed by what he terms as attempts by some inexperienced assembly members to blame him for problems in some districts of the nation's capital that he personally does not feel responsible for (See "Reject Students And [The] Jobless As Aspirants - MCE" Ghana News Agency / Ghanaweb.com 6/7/15).

The irony here is that Mr. Thompson, as a Municipal Chief Executive Officer, was appointed by President John Dramani Mahama. His position is not an elective one, and so it is rather presumptuous of him to think that he is better qualified than those who elected assembly members he may not like or get along with to decide who gets to serve in any assembly chamber. He may be better off counseling President Mahama 80-percent of whose deputy cabinet appointees are reliably known to be graduate students, than presuming to counsel prospective eligible voters that "assembly membership is a tedious and expensive service demanding selflessness and sacrifice from people with jobs and expertse."

This is rather absurd, especially when one thinks of Mahama cabinet appointees like Messrs. Okudzeto-Ablakwa and Agyenim-Boateng who, until their appointments by the late President John Evans Atta-Mills in 2009, were not known to have held any economically viable and/or productive jobs. The fact of the matter is that there are people with jobs and some level of professional expertise who may not necessarily be vintage assembly membership material. Then also, having a job does not insulate the holder of such job from greed and the desire to make quick money. Nearly every one of our leaders, from President Mahama to the lowest-ranked "public servant," is guilty of striving to make quick mega-buck at the expense of the very people who elected them.

There are also students, as flabbergasting as this may seem to the likes of Mr. Thompson, who are more foresighted and imaginative than many who have jobs and are sitting in these assemblies doing absolutely nothing short of scheming recklessly to augment their salaries. They may not have any regular jobs, but these "student assembly members" could be more honest, dedicated and sacrificial than their salaried counterparts. The stereotypical jobless student is what Mr. Thompson clearly seems to be referring to; unfortunately, however, like all stereotypes, not every student or young adult fits therein. And he may not know this, but there are students with more lucrative and meaningful jobs than the stereotypical adult job holder that the Ga-South Municipal CEO clearly seems to have in mind.

Mr. Thompson is also being devious when he pretends as if MCEs like himself are impeccably progressive and can thus not be faulted for the extremely low development of the districts under their supervision. The fact of the matter is that there are both progressive and regressive Chief Executives. And if he is confident of his administrative competence, then he has absolutely no reason to be worried about the caliber and status of assembly members so mandated by their fellow constituents. Indeed, were he that progressive, Mr. Thompson would be advocating for the election of all local public administrators, including MMDCEs. It is quite well known that Chief Executive Officers posted to opposition strongholds tend to be regressive in attitude towards the development of these "hostile" territories.

And so, yes, while blame games may not be meaningful, sometimes there is a palpable reason to call a local or even a Regional Chief Executive Officer to the carpet. If Mr. Thompson appears to be caught up in such a situation, then about all he can do to feel secure and confident at his post is to do the right thing by justice and fair play.

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