Is Kennedy Agyapong The Only Hope For Ghana?

The problems with Ghanaian politicians today are, individualism, greed, graft and corruption. Ghanaian politicians do not, will not and will never work for the greater good of Ghanaians. They are severely narrow minded, short sighted and lack the ability to take the long view. The desire to accumulate personal wealth at the expense of the people they govern is their main goals and objectives. They are very comfortable living in luxury and surrounded by abject poverty. They have no conscience. While Ghanaians are bleeding of poverty and in dire straits, they can still wallow in grandiose lifestyles meant for a king or an emperor. Most Ghanaian politicians come into office very poor and leave very rich. They consider themselves as elitists.

The 1992 Constitution forever more ensured the political setup in Ghana is one that is easily prone to domination and exploitation by the ruling classes and elites. Under our current constitution, a party can win even 10% of the popular vote in the presidential election yet that party would still be theoretically possible not to even earn a single seat in Parliament. The current constitution is littered with loopholes and indemnity clauses to protect politicians if and when they err and not to hold them accountable. Heck, even it endows the president with “king like” powers to even add and remove justices to the Supreme Court at will. All of this was of course by design by Rawlings. He perfected a constitution that would ensure that no government that gets elected in the future seeking him out for the crimes his government committed in the past- would of course not, succeed in that endeavour.

Ghana's economic future as designed by Rawlings during the 1990s is no different from the Ghana of today. Then and now, we are a nation that hasn't had active and dynamic leadership since 1966. Leaders in Ghana need not torture their brains for innovative leadership, after all there's a proven template- steal and enrich yourselves and when the economy is going to hell, quickly call the IMF and World Bank to your rescue. As I write this, precisely that is taking place right now. As the current president of Ghana, Akuffo-Addo has recently reached out to the IMF for a bailout.

Ghana desperately needs is visionary leadership. We need to build transformative, good governance and democratic institution. A crucial component of such institute is strong leadership in a developmental state which aims at defining an agenda that meets the needs of its people and puts national interest above personal interest.

We thought Nana Addo was the man. A man who was desperate to make an impact in Ghana. But he has disappointed us big time.

Ghana’s economic progress has been in decline since John Agyekum Kuffour left power in 2008. Oil discoveries and many other opportunities for economic growth have been squandered or not fully utilised by corrupt government officials.

The country was driven into a ditch by the previous government and instead of him to drive us back to safety, he has driven us deeper into the ditch. We thought his over 30 years’ experience in the affairs of the country would be utilised to govern the country well. Former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan described him as someone who has the skills and experience to help the country face up to the challenge of fixing economic difficulties. He was also been endorsed by two former Ghanaian Presidents, John Agyekum Kufuor (Directly) and Jerry John Rawlings (Indirectly). But today what is the story like? It is so sad to describe it. Nana Addo is a great disappointment to Ghanaian youths especially.

The several international and locally accomplished men who we thought were at his disposal and tipped to be part of his government are thieves. Little did we know that his free education policy was a scam. Yes, the free education is a scam that made Nana Addo the president of Ghana.

Is John Dramani Mahama the option? The answer is a big NO. I will tell you why but I will make it very brief.

Foremost, he doesn't respect Ghanaians. He has insulted Ghanaians and he keeps on insulting us. Listen to him lately about his policies when he wins power in 2024. He says he is going to provide Ghanaians with a chicken coop or hen house and chicks when we vote for him. He even added piglets. What does this man take us for? He has nothing better to offer Ghanaians. He is visionless.

He can't unite the country. He showers in tribal politics. In 2012 most of his reasons why Ghanaians in the north should vote for him was that he is one of their own. Can you believe that?

He is indecisive. Ghanaians cannot trust him as Commander in Chief of the Army because he disputed the idea of free education which was the prior message of the opposition party and said it wasn't possible. Later, he was doing something he calls progressively free education. I know it's been ‘adjectivized' to confuse people. All he hopes and works for is how to win power so he is doing stuffs he's even said he wouldn't do just to win power. We cannot re-elect a personality such as himself

He is also corrupt! There are many instances but the one instance that I will always refer to is the 2014 World Cup saga. Upon all the tears Mr. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah shed on national television for squandering state funds, he was graciously called by the President to come serve as a presidential staffer. What a punishment!

We need a leader who can:

1. Fix the property addressing database.
2. Fix the taxation systems
3. Maintain a good record of who is paying tax and who is not.
4. Link access to government social services to being properly documented.
5. Keep track of property and liquid cash being amassed by corrupt officials.

All the above working properly will root out corruption leading to improvement in social services which will lead to more productive people. And then will lead to more taxes collected which will lead to more money for infrastructure and amenities.

In my opinion, Kennedy Agyapong is the only hope we have now. A new opportunity to bring change, to try something new. If change is what we want, the least we can do is to choose someone new. The old had its chance, let the new have it as well. Let us all come together, support and vote Kennedy Agyapong to power. Ghana needs a change.

Elijah Adjei Boakye is a trained Journalist and a motivational speaker. Elijah is a columnist for several media houses in Ghana including modernghana and ghanaweb.

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