All The President's Men

SOOTSAYER; Beware the Ides of March
ARTEMIDORUS: Caesar, beware of Brutus, take heed of Cassius; come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna; trust not Trobonius; mark well Metellus, Cimber; Decius Brutus loves thee not; thou hast wrong'd Ligarius. There is but one mind in all these men, and it is bent against Caesar. If thou beest not immortal, look about you; security gives away to conspiracy.

Julius Caesar- William Shakespeare
'The end of man is knowledge but there's one thing he can't know. He can't know whether knowledge will save him or kill him. He will be killed, all right, but he can't know whether he is killed because of the knowledge which he has or because of the knowledge which he hasn't got and which if he had it, would save him.'

All the King's Men (1946) Robert Penn Warren
The American presidency is a formidable, exposed and somewhat mysterious institution. It is formidable because it represents the point of ultimate decision in the American political system. It is exposed because decision cannot take place in a vacuum; the presidency is the centre of the play of pressure, interest and the idea in the nation and the presidential office is the vortex into which all the elements of national decision are irresistibly drawn. And it is mysterious because the essence of ultimate decision remains impenetrable to the observer - often, indeed to the decider himself.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy in a Forward to 'Decision - Making in the White House'.

TIME CHANGES.  Akwasi Ampofo Adjei was right when he sang a song about a teacher who told his students that no one could predict his future: he could become a palm - wine tapper (eno na erehuru yi); there was the possibility if his becoming a lay preacher (Praise the Lord… Alleluia)' there was the chance situation of his being a truck -pusher. None could tell the future, or as people say, 'the future is unknown'. In present-day Ghana, some are well-situated; some are struggling to survive. In the 60's, Nana Ampadu sang: 'Ebi te yie; ebi nso nte yie koraa'

The Information Ministry has been enhanced by a merger with the Ministry of Communications into the Ministry of Communications, Information and Media Relations with Dr Edward Omane Boama as the substantive Minister. The then Deputy Minister of Information, Honourable Felix Kwakye Ofosu is the Deputy Minister for this enhanced Ministry. Luck has smiled on this young man. None can tell or foretell the future. Many of Kwakye Ofosu's classmates are members of the Unemployed Graduates Association, but he rides a heavy Land-cruiser and lives in a posh apartment. Dr Hilla Limann's Ministers were riding in Peugeot 504, and Flight Lieutenant J.J. Rawlings could not understand why; he could neither understand why some people had more than one toilet in their homes, so he had to overthrow Limann's government. When he lifted the ban on politics in 1992, he formed the National Democratic Congress, and he metamorphosed into a civilian President. The chickens had come home to roost, they say.

On the just - announced reshuffle, Kwakye Ofosu had this to say (on Radio Gold); 'The reshuffle was one of the most anticipated events on the governance calendar. Indeed, there was no Ghanaian who was not looking forward to hearing the final list from his Excellency President, John Dramani Mahama'.

Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992, says: '…the cabinet shall assist the President in the determination of general policy of the Government,'. Besides the cabinet, there is a Council of State whose task (Article 89) is '… to counsel the President.' The Council of state is further enjoined (Article 9(1)) to '… consider and advise the President or any other authority in respect of any appointment which is required by this Constitution or any other authority in respect of any appointment which is required by this Constitution or any other law to be made in accordance with the advice of, or in consultation with the council of state'.

Why would people ask: 'Who advises the President?' What is the economic situation now? The economy is the most critical area. A dollar for GH3.80! Why wouldn't it? When I put my dollar in my account, I can only be paid back in cedis. Cost of living is rising, and very fast; cement is GH35.00per pack, a tin of Milo is GH10.00. A 5kg bag of rice GH 20.00. Duties and other taxes collected at the ports are rising daily because the cost, insurance, freight (C.I.F.) quoted in the currency from where the imported item comes keeps soaring as a result of the exchange rate. And corruption is killing the country. Does anyone do a service with integrity? The question is whether people even understand the very word 'integrity' and it is doubtful whether they have heard: Honesty is the best policy'

People are quick to point at Agyekum - Kufour's appointment as 'Deputy' Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Busia Regime (1969 – 72) at a very young age. His was an exception rather than the rule, and his 8 - year Presidency is a classical proof of the wisdom in giving him that position. But now, as if to attract the youth, the NDC government has appointed 'babies with sharp teeth' who are metamorphosing into 'greedy bastards' and turning this country upside down. Meanwhile, government cleverly donates vehicles to chiefs at such a time of austerity and baits the members of the opposition to talk about it and get a lashing from NDC of being 'anti - chieftaincy'.

Uganda's President Museveni has 98 advisers, with 77 Cabinet Ministers and with such a large pool of advisers, one would expect the government to be able to fix some of the basic problems; but corruption is pervasive there. The President hardly consults the advisers for advice, with many of them having unclear roles.  When former Prime Minister Kintu Musoke, one of the Presidential Advisers, was asked how many times the President consulted him, he said he was often too busy on his farm out of town!

President Lyndon Johnson of the United States of America used to have a 'Tuesday lunch' which enabled him to hear a variety of views on important policy issues. Dean Rusk said of Johnson's 'Tuesday Lunch': 'They were invaluable sessions because we all could be confident that everyone around the table would keep his mouth shut and wouldn't be running off to Georgetown cocktail parties and talking about it.' A good idea to sell to the President of Ghana?  It all requires experience and maturity, at least.

If Queen Elizabeth I was able to run her monarchy successfully in the 16 th century, it was mainly because she chose veritable men as her advisers, including Sir William Cecil, who was her Chief Adviser.

You know why Samuel Sarpong might be a successful Ashanti Regional Minister while Joseph Yammin fails as a Deputy Regional Minister? One must be tactical, if not patriotic; one must learn how best to address the public without hurting feelings. Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh sees Cabinet Reshuffle as '… the only option open to a government in a presidential system to try to change course and arrest its declining political fortunes in the period between elections. But when the leadership problem lies squarely with the person at the helm himself as it does in Mahama's Ghana, ministerial reshuffle is mere window dressing'.

Ours is not the Westminster - style parliamentary system, else the crisis would have propelled a crunch debate with its attendant power struggle, and a replacement by another insider.

Daily Guide's editorial of Tuesday, 22 nd July,2014, says it all: 'Ghana did not endure a fraction of what she is enduring under the current crop of politicians to warrant the coup of the 'other ranks' instigated by the likes of Rawlings and others in 1979. Even as the most sophisticated forms of corruption are taking place with such devastating effects on living standards, Rawlings like Rip Van Winkle is deep asleep feigning ignorance. The end of probity and accountability!'

Julius Caesar told Marcus Antonius: 'Let me have men about me men that are fat; sleek - headed men, and such as sleep o' nights; Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; he thinks too much: such men are dangerous'. No conspiracy theory is being mooted. Who needs to admonish the President to listen more to the likes of Spio -Garbrah, Kunbour, Bagbin than Kwakye - Ofosu, Murtala Mohammed and Okudzeto Ablakwa. Is it as someone says 'a constipation of ideas and a diarrhoea of loquacity? I could hear someone say: 'Tweaa'. Who said 'Tweaa'? 'Yenntie obiara'.

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Africanus Owusu Ansah