“When I say NDC, you say no abaabasɛ. NDC, no abaabasɛ. Then, the third one, you say ‘hweeeeeeeeoooow’ [that supporters whistle],” there was President John Dramani Mahama addressing teeming supporters.
Indeed, Ghana’s 2016 election was one of fun and would forever be remembered. While the National Democratic Congress were telling the New Patriotic Party (NPP) they were not going back, Nana Akufo Addo, then NPP’s presidential candidate and now president-elect of the Republic of Ghana,was saying goodbye to President Mahama from somewhere.
“John Dramani Mahama, bye byeeeee! Bye byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” The other contesting presidential candidates did not quench the fun-fire. Yes. The Progressive People’s Party’s Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, for me, scored the highest mark for the fun game.
“Every year Bole Bamboi road, JJ Rawlings. Bole Bamboi road, Kufuor. Bole Bamboi road, Atta Mills. Bole Bamboi road, Mahama. Ah?!” Dr. Nduom asked at one of his campaigns.
But like the lizard’s excreta, the fun game was marred with some provoking jabs.
“The president said I was sleeping, I thank him. The people in the Western Region and all those who use those roads there will know the one who is peddling falsehood. If the roads were good, would they have included it in their projects?
“Let me ask you; do you see anything near good roads? Do you see that most of the roads are in good shape? We should not be deceived by these falsehoods,”said Nana Akufo-Addo.
He was addressing a rally at the Achimota Station in the Okaikoi North constituency on Friday, August 19, 2016, and would respond to President Mahama’s claim that he [Nana Addo] was sleeping in one of his tours to the Western region, hence, his inability to see the good roads there.
After months of intensive campaigning, the dust has settled and Ghana has finally chosen a leader to steer the affairs of the nation for the next four years.
Our president-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo has enormous responsibilities to undertake as Ghanaians have a mountain of expectations from his government. Having campaigned and probably won the election based on promises, the nation looks forward to the NPP effecting that ‘change’ they called for.
When, after, the Electoral Commission’s Chairperson, Charlotte Osei declared Nana Addo the president-elect, what I heard many people at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle jubilate about were the free SHS promise, one district one factory and improvement in the health insurance scheme.
Whereas these may be a few of the NPP’s promises the Kwame Nkrumah Circle celebrantswere happy about, there are those who look forward to seeing our economy grow tremendously. The 1 million Ghana Cedis per every constituency and the creation of jobs cannot be forgotten as we were similarly told not to forget the GYEEDA and other scandals, under the NDC government.
However, I strongly believe Nana Addo will have a very smooth tenure of office if he follows the exemplary footsteps of Tanzania’s president, John Pombe Magufuli.
Mr. Magufuli, prior to being elected as president, had campaigned to crack down on corruption, promised to tackle the endless power shortages Tanzanians face, and to exploit its gas resources for the benefit of the nation
The BBC reports thatMr. Magufuli portraying himself as a poor man’s son had reached out to Tanzanians to better their lives.
“Our home was grass thatched and like many boys I was assigned to herd cattle, as well as selling milk and fish to support my family.
“I know what it means to be poor. I will strive to help improve people’s welfare,” he said.
So, what happened after Magufuli assumed the position of a president in Tanzania in less than a month?
Social media was awashed with messages of Mr. Magufuli’s announcement that there would be no celebration of Tanzania’s Independence Day on December 9. Why? His reason was reasonable. It would be shameful to spend huge sums of money on the celebrations while people were dying of cholera. Resources would rather be channeled to productive ventures.
At his official visit to the Muhimbili Hospital, in Dar es Salaam, Mr. Magufuli seeing the hospital’s horrible state, ordered over 200 million shillings marked for “parliament parties” be used to pay for beds for patientswho either slept on the floor or shared beds,the sapeople.com reports.
Subsequently, the governing board of the Muhimbili Hospital was dissolved and got a new team in place, and within days broken MRI was fixed. A cut from $100,000 to $7,000 as an amount for his inauguration party hadthe extra money being sent to the hospital.
More so, the announcement of a ban on all foreign travel by government officials and ordering these officials to, instead, make regular visits to rural areas to look at how to solve and improve the lives of the ordinary Tanzanian cannot be over emphasized.
This is the man many call as the Bulldozer for he abrasively acts upon his words. Still on his assumption, in less than a month, Mr. Magufuli suspended the Tanzania Revenue Authority’s chief and other officials as irregularities were recorded at their office.
This is the shining example Tanzania offers a Nana Addo government. Our president-elect must be able to not only sack corrupt officials but imprison them when the law courts find them culpable. This, President Mahama failed to do and even infuriated Ghanaians by releasing the Montie 3. Simply because he has that power to do so.
Our president-elect must let his ministers and appointees understand that they cannot live the life of New Yorkers, in Ghana, while many people wallow in poverty.
Our president-elect must either scrap or restructure government policies that are drawing us back as a developing country. The National Sanitation Day, for instance, must be restructured. The idea of calling on people to sweep and clean their environment on the first Saturday of every month is sickening.
Here, we end up filling the same gutters we cleaned just a day after the clean-up exercise. Malaria must be a thing of the past if the Americas and the Europes have drastically achieve this feet. Why can we not ensure sanityby fining people who litter indiscriminately? Could this not be a source of income for the nation in solving some of our numerous problems?
There are lot that could be said to Nana Akufo Addo but in a nutshell, I wish to say that with his status in life this is not the time to create, loot and share. You have everything that could be said of every successful man.
Becoming the president of Ghana is just an addition to your feat in life, I guess, and you must, however, not ‘play’ with Ghanaians. Do not take this for granted. Work to write your name in the good books of our country.
Dear, Nana Addo be reminded of what former President JJ Rawlings wrote to you in congratulating you. That, the people elected you “President because the electorate believes you have the ability to confront these challenges [the nation faces] and lead the country with fearlessness, humility and honesty.”
I wish you a prosperous term of office. Long live our motherland, Ghana.
The writer, Solomon Mensah, is a broadcast journalist with 3FM 92.7. Views expressed here solely remain his opinion and not that of his organisation.
