Weighing Every Word: Faith, Public Opinion, and My Support for President Mahama

There are moments when public commentary invites a storm, and I have found myself standing in one. Since I began writing in support of another term for President John Dramani Mahama, I have received backlash from several quarters. Some have accused me of being selfish, insisting that my closeness to the President has clouded my judgment.

Others have gone further, resorting to insults. I do not take these reactions lightly, because public opinion, however expressed, deserves respect. But I owe it to the good people of Ghana to explain the convictions that guide my pen.

I am guided by the Presbyterian hymn whose lyrics remind me that whatever I say and whatever I do, I should first ask whether it would be pleasing to the Lord. To that I add my own rendition: whatever I say and whatever I do, I should first ask whether it would be pleasing to the Lord and the good people of Ghana. This is the standard against which I weigh every word I write, and it is the standard I apply to this debate.

My call for a third term for President Mahama is not borne out of selfish interest. It flows from a desire to see Ghana develop to the benefit of her citizens.

President Mahama is not only competent and experienced; he is an honest leader. It is reported that Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams once said of him, in words that have been paraphrased: it is not because I know President Mahama, but I can tell you he means well for this country.

The Archbishop recounted meeting a business tycoon in another country who told him that Ghana's president is a good man. According to the businessman, in the President's first term, they came to Ghana and struck a business deal structured so that the President would benefit from it later, but the President said no, let it all go to the nation. The Archbishop added that several people tell him the same thing about our President.

Archbishop Duncan-Williams has reiterated that President John Mahama means well, but he needs our support and prayers.

Such testimony matters in a country where estimates from civil society and research groups place public money lost annually to corruption, waste, and fiscal irregularities at approximately US$3 billion per year.

Close to two years into his government, President Mahama is managing the economy extremely well. He has warned severally that he will not shield any appointee whose actions are inimical to the State, and there has been very little or no scandal since he took office.

He has matched words with action. He pledged and donated six months of his basic salary to the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, known as Mahama Cares, and tasked his appointees to donate one month of theirs.

Besides, his appointees buy their own fuel, a departure from the norm where the State fuels the cars of appointees. With this trend, government is recovering a great chunk of money lost to the State.

The estimated cost of the Accra-Kumasi Expressway is approximately $4 billion. If even $2 billion of the $3 billion lost annually is recovered, we could build another expressway from Accra to Takoradi and from Accra to Aflao in a few years, aside other monumental projects.

One respondent to my earlier article on presidential term limits remarked, 'I've never been a fan of term limits, but

I don't know of any European country that has term limits. Perhaps France, but that one isn't rigid.'

Such comments show that the conversation is far from settled. For me, the question is simple: what serves Ghana best? Development is not an abstraction; it is expressways, hospitals, schools, and recovered public funds.

I will continue to speak, subject always to the test of whether my words please the Lord and the good people of Ghana.

Anthony Obeng Afrane