Ghanaians currently experience power outages across the country akin to the dreadful dumsor of the John Mahama era.
And as it is to be expected, John Jinapor, who as a deputy minister in the erstwhile NDC administration could not address dumsor, is jubilating over the current challenges, looking forward to a power crisis under President Akufo-Addo.
The NDC is always praying for doomsday in the country which they can capitalise on to regain power because they lack any clues to resolving the country’s economic problems.
It is in this vein that we have had issues with the inability of government appointees to explain the challenges facing the people. Mr. Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, what stops your appointees at the ECG and GRIDCo from explaining the power outages facing the people in recent days?
We need power to help stimulate the economy and if for any reason, there are temporary difficulties, the ECG and GRIDCo chief executives owe the consumers an explanation.
Do these two personalities want to tell us that they have forgotten that the customer is a king and must be treated as such?
We said it earlier and we repeat that any government appointee who cannot measure up to the dictates of 2024 does not deserve to be in office.
Mr. President, use your broom to sweep the dead woods clean to set the pace for national renewal on all fronts.
We hope these appointees know that this is an election year, which means that to retain the government in power the people must be told why it should be so. Those in deep slumber must wake or be left behind like the virgins who did not have oils in their lamps when the bridegroom finally arrived. We recall with pain the call by the Butterfly Movement man, Alan Kyerematen, to the government to speak about its activities.
There are lots of useful lessons here for the NPP; if the person who thinks the NPP is no more attractive and for which reason he has defected to form the Butterfly Movement which may not fly, the NPP appointees must sit up.
We think there must be an evaluation and monitoring mechanism to compel all government appointees including ministers of state, chief executive officers of state-owned enterprises and MMDCEs to stop sleeping on their jobs. We are not sure of the criteria for the appointment of these officials but we believe the process was intense, however, the performance of some of them requires a rethink of the basis for engagement into the public service.
Some of them, like we say in recent times, are not fit for purpose in an era of information, education and communication spearheaded by new media.
The Vice President, Dr. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, who is also the flagbearer of the NPP, had cause recently to complain about the loud silence of these appointees in the media space.
The Vice President has charged them to be better communicators of the government’s programmes and policies, but nothing has changed so far.
Some of these appointees are clueless when it comes to communication, but the status quo is unacceptable. We urge the Vice President to take charge of strategic planning going into the elections, including engagements with the media.
For this reason, we expect the Vice President to first go into conclave with ministers of state to discuss their communication plan and thereafter do same for chief executives and MMDCEs. This is not the time for mediocre business but planned, deliberate and sustained efforts to ‘break the eight’.
We urge the Vice President not to take the role of the media for granted. Breaking the eight appears Herculean but it is achievable with the right messages and strategies.