Mahama Reasons Like an 8-Year-Old

The problem with former President John Dramani Mahama is that he still doesn’t appreciate the crystal-clear fact that he ought not to have been selected as the running-mate of then-Candidate John Evans Atta-Mills, late, let alone be accidentally confirmed as Interim-President of Ghana, and then appointed substantive President of the Democratic Republic of Ghana by the judicially rigged William Atuguba-presided panel of Supreme Court Judges. Indeed, had he not been too power-drunk to virtual blindness, the Bole-Bamboi native would have long humbly recognized his abject political nudity and worked feverishly to gain the confidence of the electorate.

The fact of the matter is that a man who never directly and squarely won any Presidential Election in the country cannot be spoiling for what he narcissistically terms as a “rematch” against President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (See”Mahama Warns NPP Ahead of 2020 Elections” Modernghana.com 1/18/19). We also know that it took the cautionary advice of the authoritative likes of the late Mr. Kofi Annan, the legendary Secretary-General of the United Nations, to convince this grossly incompetent politician that Ghanaians had roundly and decisively rejected him, in-toto, and will never entertain any thought of having this moral reprobate and intellectually bankrupt and pathological freeloader misgovern them ever again.

You see, so morally and intellectually exhausted and psychologically callow and infantile is the former Rawlings’ Communications Minister that rather than list and showcase his achievements during the four-and-half years that he held the reins of governance, Mr. Mahama continues to envisage the Presidency as a game of musical chairs between himself and the man who irredeemably trounced him at the polls in 2016 and continues to admirably convince Ghanaians with his legion progressive policy initiatives that he is unarguably the best and most visionary leader – God willing – for the next 6 years. And, of course, we need to also point out that even as Vice-President, Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia is light years ahead of Mr. John Mahama, the man who had to be literally tethered to tow-truck and forced out of his Vice-President’s official residence, which he would rather cheaply have had sold at a giveaway price to him, like the rest of the National Democratic Congress’ robber-barons, than have his successor, Dr. Bawumia occupy the same in turn.

I have said this before and hereby repeat the same: that if the late Vice-President Aliu Mahama had flatly refused to promptly vacate his official Vice-President’s Bungalow at the end of his tenure, Mr. John Mahama would not have had the chance to reside in the same. You see, we are talking about a man who has absolutely no respect for our national legacies and heritage, a man who has absolutely no respect for the laws of our country. He would even opportunistically accuse his former boss and most generous political benefactor, Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills, of having made him and other northern-descended politicians like himself “presidential spare-tires.” You see, so hopelessly and irredeemably ambitious was he that immediately upon the death of his then-boss and predecessor, Mr. Mahama would publicly jubilate and gloat over the purported fact of Divine Providence’s having auspiciously removed the one loathsome stumbling block that stood between the Gonja Boy and the Presidency.

Put in simple terms, Mr. Mahama has absolutely no sense of decency, dignity and empathy. For him and his backers, politics is all about slavishly using party members and followers to reach his ultimate destination, which is to simply plunder the resources of the country in a dog-eat-dog fashion, totally devoid of any compunction or fellow-feeling. It is all about drawing double paychecks, while the universal access to public education by our children and grandchildren is cavalierly relegated to the backburner. At a pre-congressional delegates’ conference in Koforidua, recently, for example, the former President is widely reported to have haughtily addressed party members and supporters as follows: “I want every party member, delegate and grassroots supporter to all sacrifice themselves for the party. We need everyone to show some level of sacrifice to ensure [that] we come back to power to save Ghanaians who are suffering under this [Akufo-Addo] government…and you will all enjoy.”

In other words, for Mr. Mahama, winning an election and the Presidency is essentially about creating access for party members to loot and share the resources of our nation. The man has absolutely no progressive or constructive agenda to facilitate the improvement in the living standards of all Ghanaians, irrespective of political-party affiliation or ethno-regional identity. His is reckless and wanton political abuse and the unremitting exploitation of middle- and lower-class Ghanaians. His supporters and sympathizers only need to retrospectively evaluate the quality of their lives and the level of unemployment under his odious and extortionate Dumsor policy initiative in order to draw the most appropriate conclusions.

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By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., PhD
English Department, SUNY-Nassau
Garden City, New York
January 18, 2019
E-mail: [email protected]