Why must President Mahama go when the NPP cannot come in?

By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Sunday, April 10, 2016

Folks, it is common knowledge that the battle cry of the NPP politicians and their buffs is that President Mahama is incompetent and must be voted down at Election 2016. That clarion call resonates only with them, not with those who have eyes to see what his government is doing to transform Ghana in line with the NDC's manifesto. Those with a genuine desire to see Ghana developed along the path of peace, love, and national unity see things differently. I am one of them; so should you be too if you love Ghana.

One of our Facebook good friends, Musa Kukar, says it all; and I reproduce his comments for purposes of buttressing my stance that retaining President Mahama and his government in office spells more good for Ghana than his political opponents can ever bring themselves down to admit. Here is Musa Kukar's eye-opener:

"I am afraid the NPP wants to lie to the good people of Ghana to get power. All revenue is so low because the NPP signed a killer contract with the oil companies. What is 7 per cent profit bring to the national coffers? But for the coming to power of NDC that 'kululu' contract agreement wouldn't have gone up to the 10 per cent. To worsen matters the price of crude oil is now $38 from over $130+ NPP will never bring anything better. Did Dr. Nkrumah not use state resources to build schools and industries? Yet (UP) NPP sympathizers demonized his rule. But after over 50 years we now know he loved our dear nation. He was a selfless leader unlike his opportunistic opponents who wanted to corner our common wealth. We have seen their evil politics."

A very good observation, good friend. Yours is a comment loaded with wisdom, I daresay to support my stance that merely wishing President Mahama "to go" just because he is what his opponents are not won't solve Ghana's problems. I am poised to prove why.

There is no perfect government anywhere in the world. What we have in Ghana has its ups-and-downs; but evidence strongly persuades me that it is up to the task, especially in laying the foundation for the take-off that we should expect in future. No country ever makes progress without a solid infrastructural base.

I am more than happy that President Mahama has focused on this aspect of governance and is using public funds to prove to the citizens that providing facilities for them is a sure step toward giving them the chance to uplift themselves. And, as he explained at Axim, the government won't be fixated on infrastructural development in its second term but on measures to improve livelihood, taking advantage of the infrastructural base already laid. What could be more re-assuring than this explanation?

Providing infrastructure comes with a huge price, though, which immediately manifests in the cost of living. And which the NPP rogue politicians are highlighting as the government's failure. Their tunnel-vision approach to politics won't let them see anything good in a party and government that they regard as their nemesis. But merely wishing that government out of the way won't pave the way for them to be in power. Their kind of pipe-dream is nauseating.

Ghanaians may be in want of instant gratification (which infrastructural development doesn't immediately provide---and which Akufo-Addo and his NPP are quick to snatch at in their bitter but misplaced bad-mouthing campaign); but if they look beyond today, they should see what some of us have seen to assuage all doubts, suspicions and apprehensions. Just as Nkrumah sought to do to move Ghana beyond where his opponents could bring it after orchestrating his overthrow, so also is the NDC administration bent to do (starting with Jerry Rawlings and moving on with Atta Mills and John Mahama).
I am more than persuaded that the NPP's battle cry is vacuous and dry. It sounds pleasing only to the ears of Akufo-Addo and his benighted buffs, not the segment of Ghanaians who appreciate what the government is doing. And they are in the majority to prove their worth at Election 2016.
Crying hoarsely all over the place and using "patapaa" to create the impression that Ghana is doomed under President Mahama won't wash with those genuinely seeing what is unfolding. And they are those hailing President Mahama all over the place. The video clips on his tour of the Western Region "to account to the people" are clearly indicative of the affection and appreciation shown by the beneficiaries of the projects so far undertaken by the government.

We wait to see how those in other parts of Ghana will react to him when he visits their communities to commiserate with them. A true leader walks every step of the way with the people.

I have read a news report quoting an Akufo-Addo supporter as saying that Akufo-Addo is not for "ordinary people". The last nail in his political coffin? In politics, any leader who moves along with the "ordinary people" wins hearts, minds, and thumbs at the polls because the "ordinary people" form the majority of the voter population. Only elitists of Akufo-Addo's type consider themselves as tin-gods to be feared. Scarecrows of his type are political dinosaurs with no place in the 21st century politics of our kind.

So, if the NPP people cry that "Mahama must go" and yet do not know how to reach out to the electorate to win their hearts, minds, and thumbs, what will they resort to? Mayhem!! Even, designing schemes to cheat their own people in internal elections to choose their Parliamentary candidates and flagbearer. Intimidation, arm-twisting, plain bullying, and murderous intentions reign supreme therein. Scarecrows scaring each other? Tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaa!!

Folks, we admit that the Mahama-led administration has yet to have firm grips on the economy to turn it around; many other sectors of national life are yet to be controlled and problems tackled to our satisfaction. We must admit that the going has been tough; but the consolation is that the government hasn't been sleeping. That is why it is asking for its tenure to be renewed at Election 2016. I support it!!

That is why I am happy at the level of political mobilization going on, especially by the innovative approach dubbed "I Choose JM". I congratulate the brains behind this move and urge them to intensify their efforts. Clearly, video clips on their activities (the latest ones being the Kawo Kudi and Odododiodoo sessions in Accra) are heart-warming. Others are on course in other parts of the country. They tell me that the NDC is indeed a grassroots machine that knows how to mobilize support for its cause.
Flip the coin to see how the NPP people are doing their public outreach activities. Lectures upon lectures in narrow spaces, churning out abstractions, and vain promises, not to talk about depressing lies about governance. Such a stale political move rakes in nothing but absolute rejection at the polls. The only way for them to pursue power, then, will be recourse to the dark chambers of the Supreme Court. Well dodged!!
Liars, thieves, and murderers of their sort deserve no compassion. To rub more salt into their wound, let me tell them that they are nowhere near winning the hearts, minds and thumbs of Ghanaian voters. Until they provide better alternatives for building Ghana and taking it out of the woods, they will remain what they have been all these years---disgruntled, unfulfilled nay-sayers. Let them blow their own horns and enjoy the cacophony; but it won’t place them in power. Merely wishing President Mahama to go is a desire to see a vacuum in governance. But it won’t happen because Nature itself abhors vacuum.

I shall return…
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