It is disturbingly clear that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as a political party or some of its operatives do not expect Prof. Mills to succeed as the President of Ghana. This is borne out by the various acts of omissions or commissions that have characterized his administration since its inception. Among the persons who had the opportunity to be either the President, Prime Minister or Head of State of Ghana, it is only Professor Mills who had had the misfortune of being openly disrespected by the very people he had personally appointed to positions of trust.

It hurts to see on regular basis that the President of Ghana is either being ignored or embarrassed not by his political opponents but rather the very people who form his party and government. In 2010, Prof Mills in his capacity as President of Ghana observed that the political environment was full of insults which he believed was not in the interest of the nation and therefore called on all Ghanaians to desist from such behavior. Just as he made this observation, his own aides ignored him and attacked their political opponents with words that did not represent their positions in government. The latest is one from the Deputy Minister of Interior, Kobby Acheampong, who on Tuesday, 15th March, 2011, referred to Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, flag bearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) as “fruitcake” when he addressed the KNUST branch of the Tertiary Education Institute Network of the NDC. He went on further to state at the same forum that; Nana Addo is “a typical villager” for his “all die be die” declaration.

Thiswas in complete defiance of President Mills’ call on all to cease from verbally abusing political opponents. We are worried because in raw Asante language what Kobby is telling the President is “fawo nkwaseasem sooho na menkeka bi nkyere no” to wit –stay off with your stupidity and let me vent my feelings on him. He may not have put it this way but by defying the elderly in our society in this case the President of Ghana that is what he is invariably saying. For whatever Nana Addo’s crime there is more than one civil way of handling him instead of going against the words of the President.

Kobby is not the only one. We recall with uneasiness, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Deputy Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, who on “Metro TV” on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 said “………… yes we need more psychiatric hospitals in Ghana to examine all those who say 'all die be die'” in apparent reference to Nana Addo’s comment. For someone with academic credentials and as a Deputy Minister to rain insults on people he disagreed with is simply inappropriate. This was an open disregard for what the President had warned against. Is Dr Boama not also insulting the President of Ghana who appointed him to his position – Deputy Minister? Then there is also Dr. Hannah Bissiw, Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, who would rather describe a political opponent, Ms. Ursula Owusu as “sorrowful soul” and a “disgrace to womanhood” and Nana Akuffo Addo as “sexy old fool” in the presence of university students instead of advising them to seriously take their studies for a better future.

Other appointees of the President like Elvis Afriyie, Dr Tony Aidoo, Okudjeto Ablakwa, Fifi Kwettey, Fritz Baffour, Baba Jamal and Alottey Jacob have all jumped into the fray with invectives and blatant insults. If these people did not know then they should understand that for refusing to heed to the President’s advise they are in fact addressing him (the President) with the very words they supposedly meant for their political opponents. We do not believe that NDC brought Professor Mills to be the President of Ghana only to turn round to disobey him. They must be ashamed of themselves for biting the finger that fed them.

We would not be bothered if President Mills had only been limited to insubordination by NDC and its operatives but the embarrassment he continued to suffer. Soon after being sworn in, President Mills had to go to town apologizing to his political opponent, Nana Addo, because somebody from his Government confiscated his (Nana Addo’s) car. As if this was not enough, President Mills had to, again, apologize to his immediate predecessor, Ex-President John Agyekum Kuffour (JAK) and Her Ladyship (Mrs.) Georgina Wood, Chief Justice of Ghana, for not recognizing them at the State of the Nation’s address to Parliament on February 13, 2011. Whether it was deliberate or not whoever wrote that speech and did not observe standard salutatory remarks did the President a great disservice. How come the President of Ghana had to be subjected to such personal humiliation in the presence of the Diplomatic Corp? This was not in the interest of us - Ghanaians.

No one should get us wrong. Apology is one of the best ways to settle problems between friends, among groups and nations. It, however, depends on the issue(s) at stake, the medium in which it is expressed and the number of times it had to be rendered by the same person. Directly or indirectly NDC has reduced Professor Mills as President of Ghana into a subservient individual instead of projecting him as one “capturing the commanding heights” of the people. We hardly come across a President who would be compelled to apologize for embarrassing situations. Ex-President Rawlings apologized for the excesses of the AFRC and PNDC administrations while JAK apologized for his critique of the large number of Ministers in Rawlings’ administration at the time he was a presidential candidate. Comparatively President Mills had more than once apologized for events that seemed to demean his person and his presidency. These could be avoided if his aides had been extra careful and shun both pettiness and vindictiveness.

The Government struggled to explain why no one was asked to pour libation at the national parade commemorating the 54th Anniversary celebration of Ghana’s independence on March 6, 2011 even though it had always been part of such celebrations. Added to this is the fact that President Mills had to concentrate much of his speech on that day trying to convince striking teachers to be patient since his Government was not out there to cheat them. Had Fifi Kwettey, Deputy Minister of Finance, opened his eyes and paid attention to details he would avoid the uproar that characterized the transfer of teachers onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), the source of the teachers’ anger and frustration with the Government. If nothing at all, he could learn from the reaction of the personnel of the Prison Service on the same issue and improve on the performance of the Accountant-General’s office. Instead he had time to cast aspersions on Nana Addo’s 10-year development plan.

As if these were not enough, President Mills had to personally negotiate with striking University Teachers in 2010 to calm down tempers when he had a sitting Minister of Education. At what point would we say enough of these humiliations and embarrassments? When would NDC realize the damage it is inflicting on the Presidency and the President himself? No reasonable Ghanaian wants to see his President being dribbled and tossed around this way. Too much of everything is bad. NDC has to set its priorities right and strive to defend Professor Mills as the President of Ghana. Ghana deserves better than what NDC is doing with the Presidency.

We have only one country and that is Ghana. We were brought up to respect the elderly and those in positions of authority. We have every right to agree, disagree, agree to disagree and disagree to agree. Our various tribal groupings have certain things in common. One of them is respect to authority. The President of Ghana is the ultimate authority to whom all respect is due. Those around him should take the lead for all Ghanaians to follow. What is happening now does not augur well for our next generation. The entire President’s aides could do better so they should help Professor Mills be the President of Ghana.

Opanin Kwabena Mensah