Former President John Mahama
For a long time, we have had to contend with chiefs who toe the line of politicians in power. With no room for sincerity and morality, they follow these insincere politicians hook, line and sinker doing their bidding while simultaneously claiming they are non-partisan in their conduct.
In the end, such chiefs lose the respect of their people and others outside their jurisdictions. The point about chiefs not doing politics is good but when politicians abuse this restriction and persistently throw dust into the eyes of the people, it is the duty of the untarnished ones among their ranks to stand up and speak the truth no matter the repercussions.
Local history is replete with a long list of chiefs who stood up against colonialism. They were on the side of our compatriots on the frontline of the nationalist struggles.
Their support paid off. We had independence and that was what they and the rest of the country sought as the ultimate objective. Perhaps the story would have been written differently today had they sat on the fence.
The Chief of Sankore spoke last week when President Akufo-Addo visited his traditional jurisdiction in furtherance of his tour of the newly created region.
We were pleased that he spoke out his mind about the mode of travel by previous presidents. When a President flies on his visits to the various parts of the country, he definitely would not appreciate the level of infrastructure deficit being suffered in the various parts of the country. Under such circumstances, he would be compelled to rely on the reports of his appointees.
The Sankore Chief, Nana Ogyedom Appiah Kubi Pabo Katakyi IV, was spot on when he praised President Akufo-Addo for doing his travels by road. What better way to appreciate the infrastructure deficit in the country and to also gauge the quality of work by contractors and the supervising state agencies.
Therefore, we join the chief in asking the President to continue on this tangent. That is the way, and it stands him apart from his predecessor who preferred to inspect the roads while airborne.
While airborne, of course, he saw the bad roads as first-class and asphalted ones. Perhaps that was why he did not render the necessary attention to our roads because he erroneously thought they were in the best of shapes.
Today, we know those who were sleeping and those who are not and working fervently for the country’s progress. We have not forgotten the former President’s response to President Akufo-Addo when he, as flag bearer, complained about the roads in the Western Region during a tour of the area. The then President John Mahama retorted that he was sleeping and could not have seen the quality of roads in place.
Today, the real state of the roads in the country has exposed the ex-President, just as the state of foreign exchange did when they were flaunting a wrong picture about the economy while at the helm.