How do we elect a President who can deliver

If there is any argument about whether or not Ghana has a leadership problem, the decision to airlift $3.5m in cash to Brazil and the broadcast of that crass action to the entire world, has settled it. A government that revels in populism has hit a new low. It is quite clear that a monumental recovery job would be required in the future, after we have seen the back of this lot, to restore faith of the Ghanaian in the leaders of this country.

The prevailing lack of effective leadership has led me to write a number of articles exploring why leadership has become such a problem. Over three articles I have asked: whether we lack vision or leadership; why our leaders perform abysmally; and whether those selling themselves to us as transformational leaders, as we head for elections in two years time, are really what they claimed to be.

To the first question, some people responded that we lack both vision and leadership but I will rather say it is leadership that we lack since vision flows out of good leadership. In response to the second question, some readers thought the reason why our leaders perform abysmally is that they are corrupt. It is quite evident that Ghanaians feel so strongly about corruption these days but my article was looking at issues at the systemic level rather than the individual specific ills that afflict our society. Besides it is systems, by way of institutions and the conduct of those who operate within them, that allow corruption to thrive. Hence I have blamed the lack of Leader-Presidents as the primary reason why leadership outcomes are poor.

I introduced the concept of two types of Presidents: the Manager-President and the Leader-President. Whichever of these two types of Presidents is effective, at any given time, is determined by context as in the times we live in and the prevailing issues. If everything is progressing satisfactorily in a country and all institutions and systems are functioning well, a competent Manager-President ought to do well. However, there is no country that does not face an emergency or an unforeseen event. When these events occur, you need the leadership qualities of government actors to come to the fore. I even posited that African countries are forever in crisis and that we need Leader-Presidents to be in charge all the time to enable us make the quantum leap we are seeking.

In the last article about whether those offering themselves to us as transformational are really so, I pointed to the mindset of incoming presidents and who they are as the basic determinants of whether or not they would be transformational. I am of the opinion that to become a transformational leader, a president should come to the job with the aim of transforming the institutions that have failed to deliver and he himself should have a transformational leadership style.

Transformation of institutions involves taking on the narrow, powerful and vested interests that are currently in control of political and economic power in Ghana. I argued that a transformational president will aim to distribute political and economic power broadly and downwards, for instance by supporting the election of DCEs and MMDCEs. I, however, do recognise that this may result in pitting him against the beneficiaries of the present system including his own political party. He must therefore be prepared to become unpopular and should accept that he might not even be re-elected for a second term. In other words he must look at the long term gain for the country rather than the short term gain of winning the next elections.

The leadership style of a President is also important to his success. He can either have a transactional style or a transformational style. Probably he needs both depending on the circumstances. Every President operates with the powers given him by the Constitution. Some of these powers are coercive (i.e. compelling citizens to carry out or not carry out certain actions) and some are to induce (through rewards and penalties) the citizens to act in certain ways.

It is my view that if a President relies solely on the powers granted by the Constitution, he cannot attract and influence the critical mass of people who are needed to effect behavioural changes leading to transformational changes. Hence a President must add a third form of power - 'soft power' - to change the largely transactional engagement between him and the governed. This he can do through attraction by appealing to people on an emotional rather than superficial or populist level. His ability to do this lies in the vision he has, how well he is able to explain and justify this vision and the passion and consistency with which he pursues the vision. On top of these, he has to be trustworthy, sincere and authentic - traits that are defined by how he has led his life rather than who he says he is.

In discussions that have followed my articles, one gets the feeling that a lot of people have given up on Ghana ever finding leaders with these qualities. Some do not see them in the current crop of political leadership. I am not that pessimistic. We have to retain the hope that within our politics, workplaces, homes, villages, towns and cities, there are individuals with such qualities who are already making a difference. We only have to create the conditions to encourage them to emerge.

The more persistent question I have been asked, though, is: how we do we identify such people from amongst our current political actors? To answer this question, I am proposing this matrix for assessing presidential candidates. This is a rationalisation of all the discussions I have been involved in so far and it encompasses all that I have written about.

The potential for any aspiring presidential candidate to deliver for Ghana can be predicated on him:

1. Having a compelling and realistic policy VISION. This, when combined with the right social and political skills and affective qualities would attract a critical mass of Ghanaians to believe and participate in realising that vision.

2. Being COMPETENT and KNOWLEDGEABLE based on education, training and experience, especially in public office. He must have high cognitive skills, be analytical and able to see the bigger picture in any situation. He should be someone who has mentored people and achieved something in his life. Even more importantly he should be someone who knows what he wants to achieve and will appoint competent independent-minded people to positions of responsibility, to help him achieve them. He should be someone who likes being told how things really are, instead of surrounding himself with 'yes' men and praise singers.

3. Being VIRTUOUS. An aspiring President must be someone who has demonstrated high moral and ethical behaviour throughout his public or private life. He must abhor injustice and corruption of all forms. He should be believed as the one setting the high moral and ethical standards for all his appointees and the entire nation to look up to.

This matrix can be used to also assess any president. There are presidents who are considered visionaries but are neither competent nor virtuous. Such presidents are good at painting the picture of a better tomorrow that never materialises. They turn into demagogues who pursue populist actions and thrive on adulation. There are also presidents who are considered competent but cannot paint any vision and neither are they virtuous. These are just technocrats. Every unforeseen event, outside the normal course of things, presents an insurmountable challenge. Even less successful are presidents who are considered virtuous (humble and living according to high moral and ethical standards) but have nothing else in terms of vision and competence. They end up only repeating empty slogans typical of ideologues.

Finally, all will agree that what we want least of all is to have a president who falls short on all three - no vision, incompetent and nefarious. He is likely to flounder in the face of challenging events. Their rule is characterised by the institution of one ad hoc measure after another, which fails to contain whatever the problem might be.

So to be able to deliver, all three metrics should be in fine balance in a President. I hope this helps as we follow the 2016 presidential campaign.

We must move away from electing uninspired leaders - Ghana must move forward!

Dr Yaw Ohemeng