Obama Would Have Resigned if He Was the President of Ghana

Resigning from a position as president of a nation, as a minister or from a high public office has never been part of the culture of Ghanaians. It doesn't matter whether the president or the top official is involved in a sex scandal, ineffectiveness, massive corruption or any other serious malpractice. In Ghana, a minister may be compelled to quit his post such as what happened to the Sports Minister during the last FIFA World Cup when the money sent to the Ghanaian team was overpaid and the left-over shared among the officials. The Minister was given a new job at the presidency. This is what has become known as “quit and get a new job” at the presidency. This is not resignation. Resignation is a formal act of giving up or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a president holding a position gained by elections, leaves the appointment before the expiration of his term of office. Resignation is a personal decision to exit or quit a position, though outside pressure may exist in many cases.

Unlike Ghana, resignation is common in many advanced countries in the west. Richard Nixon resigned as president of USA in August 1974 following the Watergate scandal when he was very certain that he would be impeached. In the Philippines, resignation was used as a political manoeuvre. Ten cabinet ministers resigned en masse to put pressure on President Gloria M Arroyo to resign following allegations of electoral fraud and massive corruption.

A group of pastors calling themselves International Bishops and Pastors Intercessors Network has proposed to President John Dramani Mahama to resign to save Ghana from future disasters. The pastors stated categorically in a press release that if the president does not resign or is voted out of power, the country will not know peace and that the country will continue to experience misfortune after another. The presiding bishop of the group, Rev. Aryee, cited unfortunate occurrences in the country during the reign of John Mahama to support his claim in an interview at Adom FM.

Obama, or any wise president of a true democracy, would resign if he is incapable of finding a lasting solution to multiple fire outbreaks in his country. Resignation, however, is not part of the vocabulary of President Mahama. Since Mahama came to power, there have been fire outbreaks that have destroyed goods and property in almost every major market in the country. The president has no solution to the fire problem. He is completely at his wit's end and he needs to resign honourably. I have a simple advice for you, Mr. President: Resign and save your face!

The fire explosion at the GOIL petrol station near Nkrumah Circle, said to have been sparked by a generator nearby, was the worst that ever happened in Ghana in terms of human deaths. It killed more than 200 Ghanaians. After this nightmarish incident, the Bishops have intensified their calls for Mahama to resign or be booted out of power.

In another development, a couple had to use generator during their wedding due to power failure. The generator exploded killing the couple and some church members. This will soon lead me to what has become known as dumsor.

The problem of power failure has been hanging on the heads of Ghanaians like the sword of Damocles for more than three continuous years. This "dumsor" problem has affected many businesses, slowing down industries and causing the closure of many cold stores and other related companies. University graduates can no longer find jobs because those who are already working are being retrenched in their thousands. This power crisis has not only crippled many local businesses, but it has rendered the business environment less attractive to foreign investors. This power crisis, combined with the outbreak of cholera which claimed the lives of many Ghanaians are indications that worse things are going to happen in Ghana if Mahama continues to remain in power. It is important to stress once again that Bishop Aryee has stated unequivocally that Mahama must resign. The group of Bishops had affirmed that they would continue to pray for the leadership, but in a special prophecy the Bishops said, if Mahama and his NDC do not throw in the towel or BE voted out in 2016, Ghana will continue to experience worst disasters and continuous power failures. President Mahama has admitted himself that he is a dead goat, and according to the pastors, his dead goat leadership style makes him insensitive to the plight of Ghanaians. Since he would not resign on his own, the pastors are advising Ghanaians to exercise patience until 2016 to vote Mahama out of power.

Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) has added their voice to the popular demand for Mahama to resign. It has called on Mahama to resign to save Ghana from total collapse. AFAG released a statement in Accra on the 2nd of July 2014 that due to the ineptitude of the NDC government, a dangerous economic situation has been created.

Without a shred of doubt, it can be said that, the inability of the President to absolve himself from various corruption charges leveled against him, has led to the moral break down under his governance. Indeed, it is obvious that the President has been overwhelmed by the high tide of corruption rocking his government. The Alliance, in their address to the public, stated that Mahama was vice president to Prof. Mills, and rose to become president and is still the president with a former Bank of Ghana director, Mr. Amissah Arthur, as his vice. These two administrations have plunged Ghana into an abyss. Ghanaians, according to AFAG, are living in a state of hopelessness due to the greed and misrule of the NDC.

Mahama and his government have agreed to, and supervised, very expensive projects and contracts whose costs are highly and deliberately inflated. Such wickedness, inefficiency, blatant abuse and misuse of state resources and other corrupt practices by the government have created serious problems for the economy.. The Kasoa-Winneba highway was put at more than 40 million dollars. Analysts and Accountants put the total cost at 15 million dollars! In whose pockets will the extra dollars go? That is Mahama and his NDC for you. If I tell you how much Nkrumah Circle is going to cost Ghanaians, you will collapse wherever you are. All these are some of the reasons why AFAG maintains that Mahama should resign or be voted out in 2016.

Resignations or dismissals are not known in Ghana’s culture or vocabulary, otherwise there is no way the director of WAEC, Rev Ollenu and examination questions security coordinators, must still remain at post after this shameful and mass leakage of BECE examination questions.

The problem with the NDC government is its visionlessness and its refusal to respect the views of the opposition parties, civil societies, the clergy and other respectable bodies in Ghana. President Mahama set a dangerous precedence when he danced to, and opened his mouth and said, “yentie obiara.” This sentence which implies that he would not listen to anyone is a very dangerous, irresponsible and unfair pronouncement from no other person than the president of the nation, John Dramani Mahama. This unworthy and unwarranted pronouncement has opened the floodgates of indiscipline and lackadaisical attitudes among people in authority. Ghanaians, including political parties and organizations like AFAG, have all expressed concern about the way Mahama has gone ahead to do the unthinkable. Thus, after misapplying state resources and looting of state coffers, the President has succeeded in plunging the economy into a mess and subjecting the good people of this country to such great ridicule.

The way things are now, Mahama has no idea how the multi-faceted problems could be tackled. However, he continues to institute ad hoc measures and trial and error approach to Ghana’s problems. Mahama must heed to the call of concerned Ghanaians and resign, so that a more competent person will be elected to steer the ship of state to a future that is prosperous and progressive... His resignation will set a good precedent for incompetent leaders to follow.


Written by Stephen Atta Owusu
Author: Dark Faces at Crossroads
Email: [email protected]