By: Stephen A. Quaye.

Should you wake up the next morning and the breaking news throughout the country is that His Excellency John Dramani Mahamah, is going to resign as the president of the republic of Ghana will you be surprise?
No but the pope of Catholic Church in the whole wide world, Pope Benedict XVI known in private life as Joseph Ratzinger, gave two weeks notice to the church of his resignation as over all leader of the church, how about a political leader and a president of a country that has less than 30 million population?
Pope Benedict XVI stunned the Roman Catholic Church which has a total of 1.196 billion people worldwide who profess membership in the church when he announced his resignation a couple of weeks ago.
His reason for stepping down as the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church in the first papal abdication in 600 years as he said was that he no longer had the mental and physical strength to run the church through a period of major crisis.
The church officials tried to relay a climate of calm confidence in the running of a 2,000 years old institution but the decision could lead to one of the most uncertain and unstable periods in centuries for a Church besieged by scandal and defections as the newspaper The Toronto Sun of February 12, 2012 put it.
In an announcement read to cardinals in Latin the universal language of the church, the 85-year old said,” WELL AWARE OF SERIOUSNESS OF THIS ACT, WITH FULL FREEDOM I DECLARE THAT I RENOUNCE THE MINISTRY OF BISHOP OF ROME, SUCCESSOR OF ST.PETER…..” which was broadcasted life on international television networks for all in the world.
If the earlier statement that the decision could lead to one of the most uncertain and unstable periods in centuries for a church besieged by scandal and defections was anything to go by then the same reason can be given by any political leader or president who’s political party or country is besieged by scandals, rigging of elections, economic hardships, strikes that will inform his decision to resign or be made to resign as a leader.
Another school of thought have it that the 85 year old Pope was no longer able to keep up with demands of modern world in other words could not bend the rules and regulations of the church to suit modern day practices that goes to satisfy mankind and not the creator therefore stepping aside which might be a good reason.
If these two reasons are anything to go by then it should not serve as a shock to anybody when he wakes up the next morning to the breaking news that the president has also resigned which the reasons might be that his government is being besieged by scandals and defections as well as not able to keep up with demands of the people he governs.
That is why I first asked the question should you wake up the next morning to the breaking news that the president has resigned will it surprise you? Personally, I will not be surprised looking at the way the present government has been besieged with scandals and defections.
Ghanaians have not just forgotten about the recent scandal involving some security men who sat idle for tons of cocaine to be exported from the country only to be stopped at Heathrow Airport in London.
Another scandal was the tons of precious minerals that find it way to Turkey for further transportation to Iran only to be detected and stopped at Turkey. What even shocked most Ghanaians was what the media reported about the arrest of three EC officials who attempted to validate unsigned pink sheets into signed pink sheets in Savelugu Naton in the Northern Region as was reported on February 17, 2013.
The recent fuel price hikes which have affected every aspect of individual life, failure by the government to pay health workers their due allowances for them to deliver quality health services to the people.
All of these and many other issues point to the fact that the president and his government is no longer able to provide justice and fairness coupled with accountability for all to live in peace.
Once he and his government are not able to keep up with the demands of the people which are genuine demands though, resulting into civil service strikes as we have been witnessing of late, it will be right for one to say that the president must do the honourable thing by bowing out for a successor to be elected to put right things in place.
Although Pope Benedict XVI stunned the Catholic Church including his great advisers as well as the 1.196 billion members of the church world wide and other people in the world, no one can run away from the fact that he did the honourable thing by stepping aside for a successor instead of staying and dying on the throne only for the church to be consumed by scandals and defections.
Therefore it should not serve as a surprise to you when the news break out that the president has step down for a successor to be elected as it will be applauded instead of gluing himself onto the throne for his government to be besieged by scandals and defections everyday.
Pope Benedict XVI resignation is a lesson for all as the president in his own earlier comment stated that it was a bold decision the pope took.
END.