Would Akufo-Addo Please Get The Recalcitrant “Jonah” Off The Boat?

I could not agree more with those who hold somewhat reasonable view that seven months into a four year mandate is a short period to persistently squall and censure the government over its performance.

So far, the vast majority of Akufo-Addo appointees are living up to the expectation, with only a handful of them allegedly backsliding according to the news coming from the vineyard.

We would thus be most grateful if President Akufo-Addo could as a matter of urgency, investigate, and if found any element of truth in the vineyard news,show any derelict appointee the exit, as he did graciously in the case of theDenkyira District Chief Executive.

Of course, it would be a worthwhile to throw “Jonah” overboard than to procrastinate and allow the boat to sink and perish precious and innocent lives.

Somehow, the disturbing news coming from the vineyard is similitude to the parable of the biblical Jonah.

According to the parable, Jonah was called upon by God to Go to Nineveh for evangelical assignment. But Jonah got up and fled from the LORD to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, secured passage on a ship bound for Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded, intending to go with the mariners to Tarshish to escape from the LORD.

Then the LORD sent a great wind over the sea, and a severe storm broke out. It seemed as if the ship were about to break up.

At this point the mariners became terrified, and each man cried out to his gods. They began to throw the cargo into the sea in order to lighten the vessel.

But Jonah had gone down into the vessel’s hold, had lain down, and was fast asleep.

So the captain approached him, and told him, “What are you doing asleep? Get up! Call on your gods! Maybe your god will think about us so we won’t die!”

Meanwhile, each crewman told another, “Come on! Let’s cast lots to find out whose fault it is that we’re in this trouble.” So they cast lots, and the lot indicated Jonah!

So they interrogated him: “Tell us, why has this trouble come upon us? What’s your occupation? Where’d you come from? What’s your home country? What’s your nationality?”

“I’m a Hebrew,” he replied, “and I’m afraid of the LORD God of heaven, who made the sea—along with the dry land!”

In mounting terror, the men asked him, “What have you done?” The men were aware that he was fleeing from the LORD, because he had admitted this to them.

Because the sea was growing more and more stormy, they asked him, “What do we have to do to you so the sea will calm down for us?”

Jonah told them, “Pick me up and toss me into the sea. Then the sea will calm down for you, because I know that it’s my fault that this mighty storm has come upon you (ISV-Jonah1:1-15).”

Interestingly, Jonah graciously volunteered to be taken out of the boat in order to save the lives of his fellow passengers.

I will venture to state that in today’s Ghanaian political landscape, we won’t find many “Jonahs” who would voluntarily leave their lucrative posts without a push.

Tell me, dearest reader, how can we develop as a nation with can’t do, won’t do and don’t care mindsets?

The truth however is, we can only develop as a nation if we appoint suitable people to important positions and hold them into account at all times.

Truth be told, we are struggling to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of development, largely due to lack of accountability on the part of people we often appoint to important positions.

Let us face it, though, the word accountability is missing from the Ghanaian lexicon. Regrettably, more often than not, we fail to hold into account people holding down important positions, so to speak.

I would therefore like to believe that the right remedy for a possible attitudinal and behavioural change amongst public servants is to resort to dismissal upon poor performance and corrupt practices.

Why must a public servant hold on to his/her position despite an admissible evidence of dereliction of duty?

In all these, President Akufo-Addo and his appointees must bear in mind that they do not have an absolute right to remain in power. Suffice it to state that it is up to the NPP government to work towards their re-election.

The fact however is, discerning Ghanaians voted the NDC government out of power in the 2016 general election as they were not appreciative of the way President Mahama and his appointees were managing the affairs of the country.

Somehow, the good people of Ghana found in NPP, a redeemer, who they trusted to set them free from the NDC government’s apparent economic bondage.

So, President Nana Akufo-Addo and his NPP government must not and cannot disappoint the good people of Ghana, whose invaluable efforts brought about the needed change.

In sum, President Akufo-Addo and his government must bear in mind that when promises are broken, the bonds of trust are breached, thus the NPP government must not and cannot disappoint discerning Ghanaians.

K. Badu, UK.