If you would recollect, prior to the 2008, 2012 and 2016 general elections, the then presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, made the Free ‘SHS’ his principal campaign message. As it was expected, the opposition NDC communicators scoffed and labelled him an inveterate liar.
Astonishingly, however, some unsuspecting Ghanaians, including my maternal uncle, Oliver, bought into the NDC’s manipulating gimmicks and rejected the handsome offer of the Free SHS on two previous elections (2008 and 2012 respectively).
But lo and behold, discerning Ghanaians saw the light and gave the Free SHS provider, Akufo-Addo, the mandate on 7th December 2016.
And, true to his word, President Akufo-Addo has honoured his promise of the Free SHS to the delight of the vast majority of Ghanaians.
It is, therefore, worth stressing that the implementation of the Free SHS is the judicious way of distributing the national resources. It really epitomises a true leadership.
Leadership and management scholars observe that visionary leaders act as role models, motivate, provide meaning, optimism, enthusiasm, strategic thinking and stimulate the intelligence of their subordinates(Bass, 1985).
Interestingly, Akufo-Addo insisted during the 2016 electioneering campaign: “We are going to get out of stagnation and backwardness, and move our country onto the path of progress and prosperity. We can do it. We, the Ghanaian people, have the capacity to change the circumstances of our lives”.
The preceding statement really emphasises Nana Addo’s intellectual stimulation and positivism. Apparently, intellectual stimulation explains how true leaders promote their subordinates innovative and creative skills by encouraging them to solve problems entirely in new ways (Bass et al., 2003).
More importantly, the Akuffo-Addo administration is tackling the erstwhile Mahama’s government economic mess head-on.
Ghana’s economic growth, which had slowed from 4.0% in 2014 to 3.7% in 2015, was predicted to recover to 8.7% in 2017, following consolidation of macroeconomic stability and implementation of measures to resolve the crippling power crisis (‘dumsor’).
Despite the extent of the economic mess left by the Mahama administration, the Akufo-Addo administration is prudently taking steps to stabilising the economy.
If you may remember, during the 2016 electioneering campaign, Nana Akufo-Addo asserted: “This ‘new Ghana will be a Ghana with opportunities for all, and where everybody is taken care off. We will have a society that is caring and compassionate and expresses solidarity. Nobody is going to be left behind. We are all going to march together, hands linked together, to that great future that beckons us, here in Ghana.”
In fact, back then, I had no qualms about Nana Akufo-Addo’s claim of bringing everyone on board to build the nation.
To his credit, though, Akufo-Addo brought all the people who contested him in the NPP’s flagbearership race together. Yes, he resolved all pre-election issues and worked collaboratively towards the 2016 election victory.
And, following his election victory, President Akufo-Addo graciously assembled a working team consisting of people from all walks of life, including a 2016 presidential candidate from an opposition party.
This is, indeed, a leadership by example. In fact, Nana Akufo-Addo is ‘the Moses’ of our time.
Biblically, Moses was a visionary leader. We read in Exodus that he was a shepherd – he had a modest, humble and patient upbringing. Moses employed his humility, patience and tolerance when he had the opportunity to speak to God. He kept watching as thousands of sheep grazed the fields. Moses noticed that one sheep was missing and went off to look for it, finding it at a distance apart.
When the sheep had finished drinking, Moses lifted it onto his shoulders and carried it back to the flock. When Jehovah God saw this, he became aware that Moses was a man of reason, empathy and selfless devotion, a man truly worthy to lead His people; a man who would put his empathetic qualities at the disposal of the needs of his subordinates. After all, no one was keeping an eye on Moses; Moses could easily have thought to himself, “why be concerned with one sheep when there are thousands”?
Fellow Ghanaians, I think it is about time we distinguished between a demagogue and a true leader. In this way, we would avert the apocalypse of our dear nation sinking deeper and deeper into the mire.
But the crucial question is: how do we stop backing the ‘semi-circle’ of economic managers?
To be quite honest, some of us, as a matter of principle, could not end our fury in condemnation when former President Mahama bizarrely doled out large portions of our scarce resources to inveterate apologists like the founder of Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Madam Akua Donkor, who in all honesty, contributed nothing meaningful towards Ghana’s well-being.
Let us also remind ourselves that but for Akufo-Addo’s timely intervention, Mahama would have given away not less than 58% of Ghana’s bauxite to his sibling, Ibrahim Mahama, just about a week before exiting power.
Ghana, to be quite honest, does not need a Father Christmas who would carelessly give away our hard-earned resources to apologists. But Ghana rather needs a serious, a committed and a forward-thinking leader who can utilise our scarce resources judiciously to the benefit of all Ghanaians.
A judicious distribution of national resources is the implementation of poverty alleviation policies such as the Free SHS.
And, considering the enormous benefits therein education, it is, indeed, prudent and somewhat forward-thinking for any serious and committed leader to seek to bridge the ever widening social inequalities gap through rational distribution of national resources in the form of free SHS and other social interventions.
To me, I’ll always choose a forward-thinking leader over a reckless Father Christmas who cannot take good care of our scarce resources.
Yes, we (Ghanaians) took the right decision on 7th December 2016 by electing ‘the Moses’ of our time (Akufo-Addo) to rescue us from the economic bondage of the ‘Pharaoh’ of our time (Mahama).
k.badu2011@gmail.com
From K. Badu, UK.