A BETTER SPEECHWRITER FOR MR MAHAMA JOHN- AN URGENT NEED

I have had this on my mind for a long time, but I bid my time until the President's New Year message gave me the go-ahead.

It is difficult to write on a topic such as this without provoking the straight insults of NDC faithfuls, and they are often right because if one is silly enough to out-rightly deliver dirty insults to the President of Ghana, who happen to come from the NDC, who else must respond? Definitely not government's Ministry of Information? But even to the fanatics: they have to, in low moments, express their despair at those in power especially when it is mostly their votes that birthed government.

Their anger and or despair may not do any magic, but it will go to inform those in charge that all of us, including the faithfuls, have feelings and refuse to be made a four-year political variable to be used and abandoned at the selfish convenience of some celestial party gods and goddesses, that's just by the way.

Now I proceed: methinks the President of Ghana needs a good Speechwriter.

Whoever is currently at the Presidency doing that job maybe good in grammar, but not speech writing.

Constructing long sentences often regurgitated at many, many national events and forcefully chiseling out its grammatical originality is not the Art of speech writing.

Reading the New Year Message from a prompter, it was not just the President's normal voice, RESPECTFULLY, the speech text lacks sincerity concerning the 2013 difficulties it concedes existed; the address was dry in morale and faithfully uninspiring with some disrespectful, if not arrogant aloofness to the painful suffering we just left behind in 2013- I wish I could put it less truthfully.

Some of the President's speeches are of course crafted by technocrats, but where the President's handlers know he is not delivering a UN G.

A address, AU Summit speech or delivering a certain Nigerian University's Public Lecture, but this time he is speaking to the people who a year ago endorsed his government at the polls, the same people who bear the brunt of the friction emanating from an 'unlubricated' national economy, surely, the speech could have been a refreshing New Year music to tactfully shoo us into the betters days we are feverishly waiting for.

The speech writer(s) has consistently failed to mirror the mood of Ghanaians in the mind and words of the President.

He/she is not able to effectively calibrate the dynamic demeanour of Ghanaians or the tone and vocal rhythm of his employer (The President) and deliver accordingly a heart-piercing text (easy to voice) on occasions that will not only make people willingly rise to their feet from behind their TVs, but also appeal to the Ghanaian's famous 'sense of co-operation', about the tough nature of the Executive job at hand, inter-laced with a calmly poetic explanation of presidential difficulties and an empathetic acknowledgement of our very justified national despair.

Then the speech will proceed, with the subtlety of the lawyers who aided Opusika Aggudey escape Nsawam Prison; to dismiss as premature all such despairs because government's milk teeth are still in place with 3 years to go! I will be remiss if I did not acknowledge that flowery speeches, on their own, cannot guarantee lower taxes, free fuel or reduced tariffs.

It's been difficult for me writing this because my humble opinion may be misconstrued as one the many write-ups that delight in taking the Presidency to the cleaners.

I have a great deal of respect for people in authority, and I hope to never, ever open my young mouth to insult any adult who has through hard work and dedication risen to his/her position.

In all this, you may be bothered to ask: so what is my problem? My problem is that as ordinary citizens, policy implementation is not part of our constitutional duties despite our many needs.

Were it so, we would have given ourselves low taxes and higher pay slips; make NHIS premium-free, by ourselves, supply free kerosene to all villages, free pre-mix for fishermen, free petrol and diesel for drivers; give Okada men free license, cut down import duties, give “triple spine” allowance to ex-convicts, then pay Teachers & Nurses the salary of Ministers & Parliamentarians and vice versa, and go ahead to pay all National Service Personnel, which will include SHS graduates, the President's salary—damn the consequences! Thanks to the Social Contract theory, you can dismiss this as wishful thinking! But then, we have a duty somewhere in the whole mess; to ensure, through constructive counsel, that whoever holds the levers of national policy does not fail.

In the unlikely event that the person(s)' performance is not impressive in our estimation after (mere) one year, we can still advice him on how to communicate to us going into Year Two, in a manner that will sooth our Year One pain and give us a reason to trust that the New Year Address of better 3 years ahead is not yet another big lie.

I wish the President success, from the “borrom of my heart”.

MIKDAD MOHAMMED (c) January 2014 .
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