President John Mahama
President John Mahama has subtly boasted of preparing to hand over a peaceful Ghana to his successor. It sounds interesting even as it makes us wonder whether at the time that he was handed over the mantle of leadership Ghana was in turmoil.
It is the kind of talk which dominated the political campaign of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Ghana has been a peaceful country for a long time, civil strife never an issue with us as a people, but for the isolated intra-ethnic strife in some parts of the country which he failed to contain as Commander-in-Chief.
If his remark was supposed to be a veiled boastful rhetoric intended to provide the succor he needs now as he manages his fractured ego, we might just let it go. But come to think of it; we would not be doing justice to ourselves and our compatriots if we do not pass a few comments.
At the end of his tenure we are beginning to witness the cracks which for a long time were hidden from the public eye even as he sought to present the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as a divided party.
The late President John Evans Atta Mills bequeathed a whole party to him and a country whose economy at the time was not as wretched.
We wish he could have boasted of handing over an economy – an oil-powered one – in a wholesome state to Nana Akufo-Addo.
We would have been in a position to pose questions, but we can guess it is a minefield he would rather not touch. Not at this time when his power to suppress the contents of the books is completely diminished, courtesy the electoral defeat handed him by the people of Ghana.
We can state without any apprehension of contradiction that the president is handing over an economy critically demanding to be confined to the intensive care unit under the management of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the man whose diagnosis was long handed over to the people of Ghana.
We recall when in the early days of the Mills administration then Vice President John Mahama claimed the economy inherited by the new administration was in intensive care unit, the result of mismanagement by their predecessors.
That was a hoax: the economy is rather going to the intensive care unit, having suffered all manner of tribulations. It was Dr. Bawumia who once said that “when you lie about the economy the figures will soon give you out” and this is being evidenced today.
Today the indicators are available for whoever seeks to know the truth. The president-elect and his team are inheriting the leadership of the country at a time when the public kitty has been so depleted that just how they are going to start the journey remains a mystery. We are not doubting their ability to undertake their programmes, but just pondering over the challenges that lie ahead.
Corruption and reckless thievery from the public purse have impacted the economy negatively. The state of the economy at the time of President Mahama’s exit is what we would want to hear about and not this unnecessary and irritating self-aggrandizement. It would do him much good if he switches off the campaign mode and stays off such obscene talks.