Arthur Kennedy Writes: Presidential Transitions

Peaceful presidential transitions are difficult to execute, particularly when they involve a defeated incumbent.

As usual, the Americans have the most documentation of transitions. While, for the most part, they have gone well, there have been memorable hiccups.

In 1800, after the bitterly contested election between Adams and Jefferson, President Adams made some midnight appointments, including a judgeship for Marbury, before leaving office. When Jefferson's Secretary of State and future President , James Madison refused to deliver the commisions/ appointments, Marbury and others went to court. In 1803, the Supreme Court, led by Justice Marshall ruled that it was the province of the Judiciary to say what the law was and to determine whether laws passed by Congress were constitutional.

In 1828, after Andrew Jackson won a rematch with John Quincy Adams, the transition was rocky. In 1861, between the election of Lincoln and his accession, a number states seceded from the Union, thus handing Lincoln the unenviable task of saving the Union, through the civil war.

In recent times, the most challenging transitions were between Hoover/FDR, LBJ--Nixon and Reagan--Carter.

The campaign of 1932 had left bitter feelings between the defeated Hoover and the victorious FDR and it hampered the transition.

In 1968, after LBJ dropped out of the Presidential contest, he believed the victorious Richard Nixon had reached out to the North Vietnamese and encouraged them not to agree to a ceasefire before the election. This naturally made for a rocky transition.

In 1980, the defeated Jimmy Carter did not think highly of the victorious Reagan and was scandalized that Reagan took no notes during their meeting.

Africa has come late to the tradition of peaceful transitions. Our transitions had only been peaceful when held between outgoing military and elected civilian governments. Recently, though, we are seeing more elected to elected government transitions. When Kaunda handed over to Chiluba, it was rare. Since, then we have seen more, in places that have included Senegal , Ghana and Nigeria.

Last year, Nigeria had a transition, between the defeated Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Buhari. Ironically, Goodluck Jonathan's concession to Buhari, did more to cement his reputation as a statesman and patriot than almost anything he did as President.

Ghana and Gambia too, are in the midst of transitions. The Ghanaian transition, despite some hiccups, is on course. The Gambian transition, is poised delicately, on a knife's edge.

The Ghanaian transition has been roiled by last minute appointments and policy initiatives by the outgoing government. While appointments are certainly legal till the incumbent President hands over, they may not be in good spirit. If appointments are problematic, policy initiatives are downright wrong. As a matter of principle and patriotism, a government should not initiate, just before it leaves office, a policy it had been unwilling to initiate in the prime of its own mandate.

Transitions though, are not just about handing over. They are about standing up a new government that can deliver on the mandates of the elections that precede them.

Lincoln famously put all his known rivals in his cabinet in what has been famously chronicled as the "TEAM OF RIVALS". By the time of his death, Secretary of State William Seward, who had been one of his most implacable rivals, was his closest advisor. Shortly after his election in 1960, John Kennedy had a conversation, at the suggestion of his father, with a respected veteran of government. In the end, the new President asked, "Who are the good people here-- those who can get things done?". That conversation led to the appointment of Robert McNamara, a man he did not know as Defence Secretary.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan left most of the screening of his appointments to others and ended up with a cabinet, most of whose members were personally unknown to him. Aisha Buhari lamented not knowing most of her husband's appointees recently. She added pointedly that her husband too, did not know most of his apointees. However, for Reagan, it would help him lead what is the most successful US government since FDR in 1933.

After naming Bibi Netanyahu to his cabinet, an interviewer asked Ariel Sharon why, after Bibi, "stabbed you in the back once, he is in your government?". He responded, "He actually stabbed me in the back twice-- for the record. But he is my son and more important, he is good, very good." There is a difference between campaigning and governance and successful Presidents recognize that. That is why it was encouraging for Ghana's President-elect, HE, Nana Akufo-Addo to thank Kojo Tsikata and former President Rawlings. It bodes well for his openness.

Finally, the public too has a role to play in a successful transition. Victors must be humble while losers must be gracious. When someone mockingly and tauntingly danced in front of President Mahama in church, it was inappropriate and he should have been called on it. We should, in this period, stop thinking of party and think of country.

Nkrumah once declared that we needed to show the rest of the world that the black man was capable of managing his own affairs. Since Nkrumah's declaration, Africa has been known, more for failed than for successful governments. Let these transitions, in Gambia and Ghana, just like Nigeria, usher in a period of successful governments that will lift Africa and make us all proud.

Arthur K