By Anny OSABUTEY
Your Excellency,
Congratulations on your overwhelming victory. You worked hard, real hard.
Your team’s hard work and dedication were instrumental in securing this victory. However, as you are aware, this election was also a strong expression of public disdain and disillusionment with the incumbent government. Your victory wasn’t so much a show of faith and trust in your competence as it was a sign of punishment for the incumbent’s gross incompetence and arrogant leadership.
This election, just like the 2016 election, reflects a clear rejection of the status quo. It shows that the Ghanaian electorate is more discerning and understands the concept of democracy as against blind political loyalty.
In this regard, the next 4 years is going to be a second chance assessment. You have limited time to prove to Ghanaians that you have learned your lessons and are prepared to serve as you have promised. It isn’t going to be an easy task for you and your government. It will require the same level of efforts (if not more) that was put into your campaign to get you this victory.
Your Excellency, I do not envy you. You have too many people to satisfy- party faithfuls, members of your huge campaign team, victims of the banking sector restructuring, labour unions, your fund-raisers, anti-galamsey protesters, progressive free SHS supporters, the betting populace, and every Ghanaian who looks forward to a better condition of living.
Your Excellency, indeed, you cannot satisfy everyone. Neither can you afford to be a ‘dead goat’ or give impression of such. You see, Ghanaians will not tolerate the arrogance of the incumbent from you because inasmuch as it may sound doubtful, you are held in much higher esteem than your soon-to-be predecessor.
It is important that you give a listening ear to everyone and not treat complains as propaganda. It is important that you go beyond what your appointees tell you, and have a first-hand experience of happenings. The first year of your office should be dedicated to listening, putting all cards on the table and soliciting ideas for collective progress.
Sir, you have a long list of potential appointees you will have to repay for their commitment and loyalty to you. Understandably so! Because only a handful of persons followed you without expectations. Everyone wants a piece of the national cake. It’s alright to appoint them if they are competent enough.
However, you need not give everyone a place at your government. You may have to find innovative ways of rewarding that will lead to a win-win situation. For instance, you can provide support to someone’s business in such a way that the person can also employ more Ghanaians and operate profitably. Your government should be seen as beneficial to all Ghanaians. The brag and go that the incumbent dealt us should have no place in your government.
Your Excellency, we understand that you will be assuming office with significant challenges inherited from the previous administration. Never think, however, that Ghanaians will accept that as an excuse for any underperformance.
Why? Because you had an idea of what you will be getting into before you promised and convinced Ghanaians to vote for you. You said you will reset the country so Ghanaians should vote for change. The change is here, and Ghanaians are keen to see how the reset process will move beyond mere rhetoric to actuality.
Resetting the economy is like wiping a computer clean and re-installing the operating system, allowing for a fresh start and a chance to fix underlying problems. You can’t do so much in four years. You can only lay a foundation and place Ghana on a new slate.
You said you will go after the nation wreckers and recover all loots. It is a very welcoming news. However, it will be more prudent to form committees to handle these, or use existing governance structures like the Special Prosecutor, so that you can concentrate on actual governing.
One of the things badly needed is constitution amendment. The initial process of constitution review commenced under the NDC. You owe it to the late Professor John Atta-Mills to, at least, attempt some major changes.
You are the best person for that, Sir! Reason is that you have nothing much to lose. With no re-election to worry about, you can take bold, decisive actions to achieve the best outcomes for Ghana, unencumbered by the pressures of seeking another term in office.
While you are at it, you may have observed that the recent elections showed some divisions among our armed forces. You will need to take steps to address this as a divided army will not inure to your benefit nor to the benefit of the country.
Your Excellency, you need not curtail ongoing projects of your predecessor as long as they are laudable and if there are resources to continue with them or opportunities to seek financing for them.
I know that typical with oppositions, your predecessor may laugh at the fact that you deemed their project necessary and continued them. But you will have the opportunity to put your name on it, just as they put their names on many of the projects you commenced before leaving office. More important, you will be doing this for Ghanaians and showing them that you care about them.
Mr. President, come January 7 and for the next four years, I will be rooting for you because I want you to do better than your last four years. Also, I want you to go down in history as one of the bold decisive presidents the fourth republic has ever had. With no re-election to worry about, you can take bold, decisive action to achieve the best outcomes for Ghana, unencumbered by the pressures of seeking another term in office.
I wish you Godspeed in your endeavours, Mr. President.
SIGNED:
Citizen Nyaniba Zelson
Accra-Ghana
>>>today we dedicate our column to a concerned Ghanaian who shares his thoughts on the soon to be gone leadership.
