It shall be well with him should he read and cogitate about this analytical advice to him today, Wednesday, 29 August 2018. Mr President, please don’t let any likely criticisms you may come across in this piece of admonition irritate you but just see the sense in them to act accordingly.

I am not going to be like the biblical Baal prophets and some of the advisers of the biblical Kings who only spoke the sweet words and lies that the Kings wanted to hear but not the truth that God wanted the Kings to know. In some instances, the Kings had to order the executions of the prophets they came to discover to be false; in other words, some of these prophets ended up being killed e.g. the 450 prophets of the false god Baal and the 400 prophets of the false goddess Asherah (1 Kings 18:1-46).

"You may be hurt by the truth, but it's better than living with a lie" and as I often say, "It does not belong to he who is leading to redirect their steps". I am certain, God appointed you to come to liberate Ghanaians from their various extreme socio-economic predicaments under the hands of then President John Dramani Mahama and his NDC government. You know this for a fact, and you did have that belief hence committing your very being, fate and presidential aspirations into the mighty hands and generous care of God Almighty. This is ascertained by your unwavering fortitude to sticking to the campaign slogan, "The battle is the Lord’s". In the end, the very God who had appointed you in spirit, and in whom you had entrusted yourself, let his wish for you materialise for all eyes to see. He used various people to play specific vital roles as well as touching the hearts of many a Ghanaian electorate to vote for you to bring about a change of government in fulfilment of his designation and purpose for you.

God is able and capable of making and unmaking. Was it not God who following the agitations by the Israelites for a King did appoint them Saul to be their King? Is it not the same God who disowned and brought down King Saul after Saul had disobeyed him? Read 1 Samuel 9 (Saul Chosen to Be King by God) and 1 Samuel 15 (The LORD Rejects Saul as King).

In ordinary human life situations, when you open a business and fill it with your relatives, the business often collapses. Yes, you can run a successful business with your wife and children but to bring in your nephews, nieces, brothers, sisters and all extended family members and close friends, you are calling for the demise of your company. This is an undeniable fact and an everyday occurrence in Ghana and the world over.

Most Ghanaians living abroad have missed their opportunities to succeed in life because of the confidence they had in, and reliance on, close relatives and friends in Ghana to execute certain projects for them. Their monies ended up being squandered with their dream projects killed. In some cases, litigation ensued between them, culminating in invocation of curses on one another and/or death. I have myself been a victim of this situation but it is not worth narrating it here today owing to lack of time and space.

Your appointees are made up of a sizeable number of your close family members, friends and cronies. This is an obvious fact. It is even alleged that your nephew Gabby Okyere Darko wields huge power in the running of the country even though he is not one of your appointees. He is pulling the strings remotely. Then comes Asante Bediatuo and Ofori Atta. This is the view of many a concerned and a discerning Ghana.

Do you think they will be honest enough to tell you the truth about what bothers the public rather than telling you the sweet lies and words you may want to hear in order to keep their elevated positions but in the end to cost you your integrity and position? Should you for any reason boot anyone of them out of their current elevated positions, will you not incur the wrath of your very extended family members? For the avoidance of such unnecessary family feud coupled with their behaviour to do what they want when they want, which may not be conducive to the running of your government or business, it is just prudent that you don’t engage them in the first place but can help them with financial support coming from your own pocket or helping them to establish their own businesses.

Why did Antonio say to Brutus, “Et tu Brute?” meaning “and you Brutus?”. It was because Brutus was a confidant or one of the trusted friends of Julius Caesar. Therefore, Antonio was shocked beyond belief to see Brutus as been one of the sixty co-conspirators that plotted and killed Julius Caesar. This goes to emphasize that those closer to you can be your worst enemies without you knowing.

I pray that the President will see the wisdom in Benjamin Franklin’s expression of — 'Critics are our friends, they show us our faults.' He who refuses to accept criticisms will always be stuck in their own parochial ways of doing things. Their ways may not be useful but in their own eyes, they may see them as the best ever. This was the attitude of former president Mahama hence insulting the intelligence of Ghanaians by saying Ghanaians have a short memory. Not only that, he said he would not listen to anyone who has never been the president of a nation before, the culmination of his “me ntie obiaa” or “yen ntie obiaa” pronouncement.

Was it not the close friends in whom the later to be deposed and executed Head of State, General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, who let him down? He sent them out as emissaries, tasked to disguise themselves and to infiltrate the public to gather him information on the view of the public about his governance. Instead of going back to tell him the truth about the general public’s annoyance at his government because their conditions of living were getting worse with official corruption creeping in, they rather told him the public are happy with the way you are governing and their conditions of living are getting much better.

If they had told him the truth, hopefully, he might have changed the way he was governing the country. He needed to know the truth but for the unfounded fear of his emissaries who were indeed his trusted friends and colleagues losing what they stood to gain, they rather told him lies. The lies told to him played a major part in the truncating of his life by firing squad.

How joyous will it be if the President and the NPP were to consider having and strengthening communication teams in every constituency to inform the constituents of the government’s policies and the good things the President and the government are doing. The NDC are noted for throwing dust into the eyes of the public, especially the rural folk, by telling them lies that look like the truth. Why can’t the NPP have effective ways to counteract such lies?

At a time, almost all the radio stations, TV stations and in general the Ghana media including the journalists, were supportive of the NDC because of the money and favours they stood to gain. It was only Oman FM that was telling the truth and supporting the cause of the NPP but during it’s “boiling point” programmes, its frequency was often interrupted.

The journalists and the media will surely openly support John Mahama and the NDC during electioneering campaign because of what they stand to gain as equally corrupt as John Mahama as they are. What are the NPP doing to disseminate their true policies, achievements and policies to the electorates and how they are on course to achieving them? Why can’t they give people who are ready to tell the truth licences to establish radio and TV stations.

Is Joseph Anokye, the once a NASA computer analyst or scientist erroneously believed to have hacked the computers of the Ghana Electoral Commission during Election 2016, not the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Communications Authority (NCA)? Does he not have the foresight to encourage serious persons yearning for Ghana’s prosperity to come for licences to open radio stations?

I hope the president will not rely only on the delivery of his promises to secure him a re-election in 2020. He needs effective communication teams NOW! Additionally, he must conduct a serious reshuffle of his government with shuffling off some of his non-performing appointees to bring the number of his appointees to a reasonable size.

It shall be well with the President should he listen to intelligent advice delivered free of charge by his critics of whom I may be one. I don’t hope to become anyone’s enemy by telling them the truth.

I dedicate this publication to the memory of the late Opanin Ezekiel Kwame Basoah of Kumawu and Madam Awo Serwaah of Juaben for bequeathing to me the bravery to tell the truth, wisdom and kind-heartedness.