The other time, I published an article captioned, ‘Prez. Mahama, What Is Your Legacy For Ghanaians?’ The responses that I received from some of the readers were unsavoury. Many did not fathom the rationale behind my asking of the president’s legacy for Ghanaians in just about three or so months after his assumption of office.
I believe the president had a fair idea of what he wanted to do for Ghanaians before he offered himself to serve. Therefore, it was not out place to as a matter of urgency urge the president to fast track his policies for accelerated development due to the high cost of living and the fact that a four year term is an eye’s blink away. By the way, a wise man does not step into a river before deciding on the next direction to take.
Now that power is in the grip of the president, although the NPP has challenged the legitimacy of his rule, one of the political hurdles he must surmount with grace is the assembling of competent men with the requisite acumen to manage the country. It is one thing securing power and another thing managing it to bring prosperity to all. And I can imagine the intense lobbying bombarding the president.
If the president does not get it right this time, hell will definitely break lose. The gravity of this assertion can be seen in the way the late professor Mills was verbally assaulted by some of his party members and the fact that Chairman Rawlings did not spare him either even at the point where the good old professor’s health was failing him. His crime was that he had erred in some of his appointments. It was the era where expressions like ‘greedy bastards’, ‘boot lickers’ among others gained currency on Ghana’s political landscape.
It is refreshing to note that the president has made certain nominations and his nominees have gone through vetting successfully with the opposition unilaterally boycotting proceedings for reasons best known to them.
However, one thing the president must be mindful of is the persons who hold themselves as advisers or those who outwardly position themselves to show that they have the president’s interest at heart. They are only trying to worm their way to win the heart of the president just for the purpose of securing their personal interest other than that of the country.
Such persons are political flirts or prostitutes. They seek the favour of their political benefactors via subtle means which seem innocuous. After winning the trust of the president, they manoeuvre their way to establish themselves. In fact, their counsels are timely and highly impeccable if not practical. I brand them as political Ahithophels.
Ahithophel is a biblical figure. He was the trusted counsellor of King David. When David’s son, Absalom wanted to take over his father’s throne, Ahithophel crossed carpet to Absalom’s camp at a time David needed him most. Ahithophel advised Absalom to lie with his father’s concubines in a bid to entrench his hold on the throne. Ahithophel later advised Absalom to pursue and kill his father, David. The rest is history.
The lesson in this biblical allusion points to the need for every leader, especially our president to be extremely cautious of the counsel he receives from those who claim to be much wiser than Ahithophel. They are blind men who seem to see well than those with clear vision.
In this vein, the president must not also lose sight of the fact that he rode on the back of his party to become who he is. Therefore, it is common knowledge that most of his decisions will be influenced by party interests other what may seem to be the realities on the ground.
Despite this, I wonder if the president has learnt any vitals lessons from the woes of his predecessor who lived but never existed. This was as a result of the late president’s inability to decipher between those wolves in sheep’s clothing and those with a clean heart to serve. The praise singers formed a deadly choir around him and took advantage of his see no evil and talk no evil nature.
During ex-President Kuffour’s tenure, there was and is a certain man who belonged to the NDC fold but diligently and surreptitiously managed to win some favours from the party that he was not a card bearing member. We are told he even sponsored a certain presidential aspirant of the NPP during their congress to elect the party’s flag bearer in 2008. That did not end there, he bought a car for the current General Secretary of the NPP for the services the former rendered for the latter.
When the NPP lost the 2008 elections, it emerged that this man was able to convince certain government officials of the new government (NDC) into believing that the previous government had short changed him in a questionable if not dubious contract. The rest is history. Such men are dangerous and they can sink a country within seconds. Their allegiance is to themselves and not to the nation.
The president must be aware that there are men in his fold who fit perfectly into the description of the man above. They are lurking cautiously ready to pounce on any loose opportunity to execute their parochial interest. They are indeed fleas capable of fleecing the country through shoddy contracts and other deadly initiatives.
In the midst of all these, I trust the president is not his own Ahithophel. I hope the president is not like the wizard who consumes his own children at night and gets up during day light to cry that someone is bent on decimating his family.
Ghana urgently needs redemption from the economic, energy and social crises it is faced with. And the solution to our woes is for the president to open his first, second and third eyes to see the Ahithophels in his government and party. The president should scrutinise his appointees and counsellors properly and not honour the inglorious chorus of job for the boys.
The composition of his members of council state and other allied advisory bodies must be done well because those closest to him can deal with him the worst of blows. The president should not forget that when Julius Caesar fell on his knees, Brutus was on his feet. For the president to make any enduring legacy, he should not forget this proverb: If any man is bitten by an insect, the insect is a friend of his clothes. Therefore, the earlier he fumigates those insects, the better it is for his head and crown

SOURCE: OKOFO-DARTEY SAMUEL
EMAIL: sodesq2000@yahoo.com