The heartiest of congratulations on your re-election as the President of the Republic.
There are scarcely any plaudits left to describe you and your monumental comeback that have not already been used.
It is the stuff of legends and we considered ourselves privileged to have been witnesses to it.
We are indeed reticent to proceed with this open letter, aware that you have an infinitely better grasp of the task that is at hand than anyone else.
Yet, we are compelled to bring to your remembrance a number of things.
There is no gainsaying that your record-shattering victory was in part due to positives and negatives. On the one hand, there is the consummate state manliness you have demonstrated over the past eight years, coupled with the campaign message and hard work put out by you and your team.
Nevertheless – and this is by no means an attempt to downplay the positives, it is evident (and you have said so yourself) that the result was a commentary on the performance of the current administration.
The message of hope that was sold Ghanaians eight-plus years ago failed to materialise in the worst possible manner, and the people have spoken with their thumbs.
We would not like to be overly melodramatic; but there’s a very real sense in which the restoration of hope in Ghana lays squarely on your shoulders. Indeed, there is a very true sense in which failure on your part would be the final nail in the coffin of many’s hopes of a better Ghana. An exodus or, at least, attempts at an exodus of catastrophic proportions should be expected if that were to happen. But scarcely anyone in the country knows this better than you.
You know better than any of us the dearth of trust that the young, and even the old, now have in the system. You know better than any of us the need to see you walk the talk.
That lean government that you promised would and should be the first point of call – A demonstrable commitment to fiscal discipline. We know the coffers are far from full and there is a mountain of obligations on the horizon.
Like it or not, we are desperately in need of an injection of patient investments; and the world is watching to see if you will reverse the recent trend or continue with the wanton profligacy.
Furthermore, muscle memory is a funny thing and the ghost of ‘Dumsor’ past still lives freshly in the minds of many. Anytime the lights flicker after mid-day on January 7, 2025, there would be apprehension and understandably so. Oh, and how your friends on the other side of the aisle would love to sing that song. Then again, you are better aware of this than any of us.
With the outstanding payments and overall inefficiencies in the energy sector, your swift negotiation with the IPPs and the assurance of steady power would go a long way to calm nerves and allay fears, especially during the very humid first quarter of the year.
Speaking of that period, you know better than any of us that it is the profit-taking season and our well-worn cedi is likely to take further beatings from its trading peers. We do not seek any voodoo economics to prop up the cedi but you can understand why stability, at least during that period, is most crucial.
You would not be able to solve all of Ghana’s problems even if you were given multiple lifetimes and no reasonable person should hold you to that standard. Nevertheless, you, more than anyone else in our recent history, have the unenviable task of laying the most robust framework for our good.
There is much agreement that the 1992 Constitution needs an overhaul, it served its purpose during a period of genuine concerns over possible coups. However, it has served as a tool for the worst kinds of state capture. Sir, you, more than any of us, know what to do.
In a few years, we will all be gone. Sir, write your name in gold! Your acceptance speech spoke of the damage to the national psyche, the scars, the need for healing, the reset agenda and the necessity of making Ghanaians happy to Ghanaians once again.
Sir, when the roll call is made, write your name in gold!
Yours-in-support,
Ghanaians.
