Letter To His Excellency President Nana Akufo-addo

LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT NANA AKUFO-ADDO

Your Excellency,
First, let me congratulate you on your successful election by the good people of Ghana and your subsequent impressive investiture. I should not be writing to you at this time when you are engrossed in constituting your cabinet towards this arduous task of governance. I know what you stand for and believe you will not soften your stance but kindly permit me to proffer some suggestions.

First, don’t forget your God. Your God who has remained faithful to you and has ordained you King at His appointed time. The presidential battle was His as captured in your campaign slogan and in the end he has proven to be faithful. Don’t only remember Him when it is time for you to do another battle in 2020 but let Him lead you in all your endeavours so He directs your path.

There is a lot of work to be done so let the euphoria and excitement die down quickly. It is good to bask in the glory of winning such a crucial elections but the celebration should be short-lived so we can get to work. Also, don’t be distracted by the media frenzy and cacophony but be decorous in your dealings with the press.

Uphold our values, the moral fabric of our societies that ultimately define our identity, especially respect for the elderly. In this regard, I see you have appointed some ‘babies’ at the presidency and you are poised to appoint many more as ministers. This is a pointer to the confidence you have in the youth but Mr. President, tame your ‘babies’ so they don’t pour out vituperative on our elders and statesmen. Tame your ‘babies’ and prevent them from developing sharp teeth, they should be properly incubated, nurtured and nourished so they develop sharp brains instead of sharp tooth. The politics of insults must give way to politics of reason and objectivity. Don’t submit to the whims and caprices of donor institutions and the Bretton Woods institutions, especially if this requires us to sacrifice our values on the altar of donor aid, grants and loans.

Submit to the needs and will of the masses for the voice of the people is the voice of God. Ultimately, they elect presidents and parliamentarians. Don’t lose touch with them, continue to touch base with them. Though you may not be in every district, town or city, your appointees are there with them. Don’t wait for another four years before you begin to criss-cross the length and breadth of the country to garner votes. Reduce the number of foreign trips in favour of local trips.

Eschew corruption as that could be your undoing. Even your enemies admit that you are incorruptible. However, some of your appointees could tarnish your hard-earned reputation when they engage in corrupt practices. I am happy you have sent strong signals to those who want to amass wealth to stay out of your government. But Mr. President the war on corruption is not won with slogans and rhetoric. Please walk the talk. The office of the independent prosecutor should see the light of day early in your administration.

I am sure during your travels around the country you had first-hand experience of the deplorable state of our infrastructure, the squalor and life threatening conditions under which our people live. I need not remind you about the many social problems that confront our people but it is my hope that you will device appropriate programmes to alleviate these problems. It is my hope that you will try to balance infrastructural development and human development. I am also sure by now you are aware that Ghana is bigger than Accra. Yet successive governments have chosen to concentrate development in Accra and Kumasi. Under you administration, let other parts of the country have a fair share of the national cake. In an era of ICT I strongly believe the government machinery will still function effectively if some ministries, departments and agencies are relocated to other regions this is why I am excited about your promise to relocate the headquarters of GNPC to Takoradi as this will ignite other economic activities through the trickle-down effect.

Let me specifically mention unemployment, the unemployment situation in our country is endemic. The other day I had a shock of my life when the guy who washed my car at the washing bay told me he had a degree in marketing but for lack of jobs he had had to resort to washing cars to keep body and soul together. Many of our able-bodied youth are unemployed, though your ‘one district one factory’ policy has the potential of absorbing a chunk of the unemployed youth, I think creating the enable environment for the private sector to grow and for foreign direct investment is the best way to go.

Education holds the key to accelerated socioeconomic development. The overwhelming endorsement by students should tell you that students are not happy with the status quo. I hope you will deliver on your promise of free SHS. Every child in Ghana deserves some education. But I sincerely hope that you will not play politics with our educational system. Our educational system needs to be realigned to the skills needs of industry. Lastly as an academic, I will be most grateful if your administration could foster greater collaboration with academia. Ghana has a pool of people with the requisite expertise in almost every area of our lives. Your government should harness such expertise for an accelerated socio-economic development.

Finally, beware of the sycophants. They will always sing to your praises but fail to point out to you where you are going wrong. Let me congratulate you once again and wish you well in your endeavours. I know you will consolidate development and democracy in Ghana because yenim wo fri tete. God be your guide.

Your Humble Servant,
Ishmael Mensah
(Sgd.)