Questions Pop Up

President John Mills and Ex- President Jerry Rawlings

Even as the remains of the former president await funeral and interment befitting one who paid his dues to his motherland, many questions have popped up.

These questions border on the management of information about his health status, issues which commenced shortly after his assumption of office, but which soon became a taboo subject. Anybody who dared suggest that the deceased was ill was subjected to a barrage of insults and innuendoes.

The flag-bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo Addo, when he wished his school mate speedy recovery while the man was en route to the US, was not spared the acerbic tongue of the Ablakwas and the Pratts. The innocuous rendering of sympathy became a topic of abrasive radio discussion featuring reckless hurling of insults.

It is painful and regrettable that the minions at the presidency decided to manage the unfortunate situation of the deceased the way they did until he gave up the ghost.

Lawyer Sam Okudzeto got it right when he said, 'We have been careless and callous about the president's health.' He could not have gotten it any better.

Elizabeth Ohene wondered why even when it was clear that the deceased was unwell, he continued to work.

Someone, out of pain at the manner the deceased breathed his last, asked: 'Would they have handled their ailing fathers the way they did the late President Mills?' It is not erroneous to suggest that they plodded the deceased on because of the opportunities that the situation offered them to tamper with the public purse.

It would be premature to delve deep into this grey area of the omissions and commissions on the part of the minders of the late president.

Suffice it to however pose a few questions as we are doing so Ghanaians can appreciate what they went through at the hands of the minders of the old professor at the presidency. It is a cursory thought, a teaser, if you like, preceding the principal queries which we are withholding until we lay the old professor to rest.

Given that the late president was afflicted with a major health challenge, against the backdrop of the wanton propaganda spun around the condition, only confirms the fear that the minions splashed mendacious stuff in the media to mislead all of us.

It was an apt reflection of the mismanagement of the presidency. What was the stuff about the president en route to Nigeria?

The three hours which the late President Mills was doing in office, as alleged by former President Rawlings, supports the position held by many that the deceased was not in charge of affairs.

We would want to be charitable in our description of the situation by stating that he was partially in charge of the country.

A dangerous situation was put in place which allowed bad guys called presidential minders to do as they pleased including pleading for the payment of judgment debt. Where are they now? They have taken cover with their tails between their hind legs, they and the rented press.

May the soul of the departed president rest in perfect peace, Amen.