Is Mahama A Curse On Ghana?  

We cannot afford to forget that public order, personal security, economic and social progress, and prosperity are not natural order of things; that they depend on ceaseless effort and attention from an honest and effective government that the people must elect. (Lee Kwan Yew).

It has now become very obvious that this nation elected a dishonest and ineffective government over the last two elections; and we are paying the price for that.  In modern governance, we have seen leaders who have inherited very poor economic and social conditions of their people but through the instruments of honesty and efficiency, have turned the conditions around for the better. President J.A. Kufuor is a modern example in Ghana's recent political history. No nation and its people anywhere in the world have been totally satisfied with the state in which they find themselves.

However, every sincere individual appreciates progress in his or her life no matter how little that progress is and strives through hard work to further improve on his or her life. Ever since John Dramani Mahama became the President of this country and even as Vice President previously, he, unlike King Midas whose touch turned everything into gold, has brought doom to this nation in everything he touches. Anything Ghana has embarked upon has gone sour under Mahama.

His followers tout him as a communications expert. They cannot differentiate between a speaker who wins the understanding of his audience and gets them to do what his speech expects them to do, and one who is a smooth talker but ends up creating dissonance at the end of his speech. In many instances, the President has been cheeky in his speech, insulting or further creating pessimism among the populace.

Mahama has clearly shown that he is unable to address the crisis confronting the country. In its stead, he has taken solace and succour under his secondary duty as the Chairman of the ECOWAS to, as it were, be more concerned about matters across the borders than issues within the four corners of the country he is supposed to be the President. He has abandoned his duties to Ghana and is gallivanting around the world showcasing himself as the most concerned person among all others about the Ebola epidemic. He has also specialised in telling the world how good Ghana is, contrary to the difficult realities at home.

When the President meets Ghanaians in the United Kingdom, it is normal for him to tell them what efforts his government is making to improve the situation at home. It is normal for him to instil confidence and hope in them and assure them that all is not lost yet, even though we face some crisis. He can even tell incredible stories and use them as the causes of those challenges. Instead, Mahama painted a picture that Ghanaians at home tell lies to their relations in the Diaspora so they can be offered some 100 or 200 pounds.

'If they tell you there is good drinking water, good schools and that the situation is good, you will not send them the monies, so they have to paint a gloomy picture to persuade you to send them the monies.' This was what the President literally told his audience in the United Kingdom recently. What he meant is that conditions at home are so good that those in the Diaspora need not remit their relations back home in Ghana.

What any President would have said was to admit that times are hard but government has taken steps which are ameliorating the challenges and the hardships the nation is going through; that the government is not shirking its responsibility of ensuring good living standards for all the people, and that policies and programmes to achieve that are ongoing. He could have even added that the nation appreciates the support those in the Diaspora are offering their relations back home to cushion them from the challenges and plead with them to continue with the support while government finds lasting solutions to the challenges confronting the nation.   Instead, Mahama said Ghanaians are well off and that those in the Diaspora should not listen to the lies being told them by those of us at home just to get some resources from them.

It is also a fact that foreign remittances by Ghanaians in the Diaspora constitute 13 percent of the nation's foreign exchange earnings. Any President would have urged his compatriots out there to send more monies home to help address the health of the cedi in relation to other currencies. Is this nation cursed or is it the President who is cursed and the nation is suffering from his curse? What kind of person is ruling us in this technological age and time?

This is a nation being governed by kleptomaniacs, brigands, burglars and safe-breakers without compare. The leadership of Ghana today can be likened to the fairy tales of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves—in this case, President Mahama (Ali Baba) and his selected 40 kleptomaniacs. This nation has gone beyond the periods of corruption in every government. In the case of Mahama, it is not corruption, it is plain planned thievery.

Ironically, many of those who have led these pungent acts of thievery come from the three northern regions, where we all admit there is so much poverty and that as a nation, we need to do something differently to improve their conditions of living. The SADA saga was led by a northerner, GYEEDA is led by a northerner, the National Service Scheme (NSS) rot is led by somebody from the north, the Better Ghana Services, which has raped this country of millions of cedis without any services offered to the country, is led by Roland Agambire, the NPA's horrendous rent payments were done by somebody from the north, and now the 'huhuhuhu' going on at the National Youth Authorithy is happening under the leadership of Ras Mubarak.

There is hope though from the North, in the person of Martin Amidu. Nature is so kind that out of a hopeless situation, a glimmer of hope beckons us. This country must one day build a monument in honour and memory of Mr Martin Amidu for his singular efforts at ensuring that thieves in his government were exposed. And President Mahama, who claims he is committed to fighting thievery in his government, cannot even collect monies the Supreme Court says were fraudulently created, looted and shared.

On the contrary, President Mahama has established himself as the leader in this country who institutionalised thievery as a way of governance and led it to its successful execution. Under his watch, the only news for the people on a daily basis is stealing in government by some of his appointees.

While almost all institutions which offer social services and relief to the poor majority have shut down, public funds continue to be siphoned by government officials.

The patience of Ghanaians, which I had the opportunity to liken to that of the camel in an earlier write-up in this column, has made it possible for this government to continue insulting us.  Look, between January and this month of October, 2014, petrol prices have gone up by 39 percent, the reason being that crude oil prices on the world market have gone up, coupled with their reckless stealing which saw the cedi fall like a dry leaf in the harmattan. Now over the past few weeks, crude oil prices on the world market have fallen by 29 percent, and the relief consumers can get is a paltry two percent reduction in petrol prices. Yet we are quiet; what is wrong with us?

It is our docility that has made this government to take all of us for a ride. Do we have to sit down and swallow this criminality on the part of government in the name of democracy till 2016 to exercise our right to protest against these robbers in jackets? We need to do something now.

Daavi, please just give me three shots of my mahogany bitters to check my how far.

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