I have always said that I am solidly on the side of His Excellency President John Atta Mills, and on a day like this, I cannot be any more prouder, that I continue to unashamedly remain on the side of the President of the Republic of Ghana.

My last piece was captioned “No Rod Will Be Spared!!”

In that piece, I made it succinctly clear that I operate on conviction and good conscience, and that, based on the legs I stand on, there is no way I will support any form of wrongdoing by the Atta Mills government.

In that piece, I congratulated President Mills for his nominations for ministerial positions and made the point that the nominees deserved to have caught the eyes of the President.

But I issued a caveat; I said I will not spare the rod lest I spoil the child.

In other words, I made it clear that it was going to be my God-given duty to keep my lenses closely focused on the operatives and functionaries of President Mills.

I did not hide the fact that having kept my lenses close to the failed Kufuor Administration, and having been an integral part of the NDC’s victory, I will fail in my duty to Mother Ghana if I suddenly allowed the dictates of my stomach and pocket, to determine the path along which my brain cells will tread.

Indeed, I put it out that, knowing President Atta Mills at close range, he will be more than happy to know that I have committed myself to making sure that I don’t pamper any of his appointees.

Well, I have been vindicated via a very solid action taken by President Mills.

Per the powers vested in him by the constitution, President Atta Mills, on Friday, February 06, 2009, withdrew the nomination of Hon Moses Asaga, as Minister-Designate for the Ministry of Water Resources, Works & Housing.

President Mills, withdrew the nomination for reasons that are very much in the public domain. I am not gloating in what has happened to Moses Asaga; far from it!

I am happy that the President cracked the whip very early, when the need arose, to send a strong signal to the people of Ghana that, he will not be a lame-duck President who will allow his operatives run away with unacceptable behaviour.

I am happy that President Mills, when the need arose, sent a strong signal to his operatives that, he will be a President who is more interested in having a good name rather than walking away from office with all the riches of the world like Kufuor did, but with shame and ignominy hanging around his neck.

The President is not about to allow any of his operatives to take him for granted, and his very firm and stern decision to make Moses Asaga take an early shower, is ample evidence to that effect.

It is not a secret that for those who don’t know President Atta Mills at close range, some of them think that the man is a sissy.

Yes, there are some people who think that President Mills is a softy who will allow his “balls” to stepped on and not make a single sound.

There are even some high-ups in the NDC who have succeeded in deluding themselves into believing that President Mills’ pacifist approach to life, means that the man has no teeth to bite.

Well, for those high-ups in the NDC who were dreaming of taking undue advantage of President Mills “Asomdwehene” tag, they must certainly be awake to the hard fact that President Mills is not going to allow ANYBODY, and we repeat, ANYBODY, to take him for granted.

As for those badly bruised elephants and very sick kangaroos (Kwaku Baako and co) who have a hard-on calling President Atta Mills names, the move by the President must really be hurting them for the simple reason that President Mills has put himself on a very high pedestal.

Because I know President Mills at close range, I know that there is no way he will walk down the disgraceful and colourless path of Kufuor.

In other words, I know if for a fact that President Mills will not sit idly by and allow his operatives to engage in all manner of unacceptable acts, and leave them to continue to operate with impunity under his watch.

Certainly, he will not allow his Health Minister to attend an international AIDS Conference, have raw sex with a Caucasian lady, impregnate the woman for her to beget a son, and still maintain his status as a Minister of state.

Of course, in the case of Kufuor, he was part of the problem and so did not have the guts to deal drastically with the thieves and crooks who were his operatives.

If after declaring a zero tolerance for corruption, you say that corruption started from Adam and so there is no way you can deal with it, why will your Chief of Staff not loot the coffers of the state and engage in senseless profligate spending?

In the case of President Atta Mills, he is not one to allow himself to descend to the low-level ways of Kufuor and so there will be no need for him to shield his operatives who engage in unacceptable acts.

It is said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step and if the first step that President Mills has taken as regards “zero tolerance for nonsense” is concerned, then I have no doubt that the other steps leading to the thousandth mile, will be very solid and enviable steps.

Yes, if the cracking of the whip at this early stage is anything to go by, then operatives and functionaries of President Atta Mills must hear the very strong message of the President loud and clear; “I am not going to make any noise about zero tolerance for nonsense but when the evidence of nonsensical acts are adduced, I will not hesitate to crack the whip as hard as I must”.

For those who have ears, let them hear the very loud, stern, and firm voice of President John Evans Atta Mills.

On the other hand, for those who choose to behave like the alligator, and play deaf, they should not waste our ears with their cries, when the President cracks his whip.

President John Evans Atta Mills, you have started well and the good people of Ghana are on your side. Keep up the good work and God will surely be on your side.

The CHANGE has come; the BETTER GHANA process has begun; and I am very excited at the very good beginning.

May God continue to bless our homeland Ghana and make Her greater and stronger.

Nana Biakoye