President Kuffour’s quest to award the former Vice President and other prominent Ghanaians has raised a lot of controversy in political circles. Prominent members of the NPP have come out to express their displeasure about the reason and timing for the award. Their argument that the former Vice President was a failure and an award to him would mean an endorsement by the President against the presidential candidate of his own party is untenable.
The spin by the Minister of Information and members of the NPP that it is only a nomination subject to review does not make the issue only ridiculous but also laughable.
I personally do not know what criteria is used for the selection of distinguished personalities for the highest award of the land, what I know is that the office of the presidents issues a press release from the castle mentioning the names of distinguished people nominated for the award and the scheduled date for the confirmation of such awards on them. There is nothing like bringing a list into the public domain and then going back to screen that list again. If that is the norm or practice then why didn’t the government screen the list before bringing out the list of those qualified for the award? This would have saved us the trouble and pain of discussing this triviality. There are a lot of social and economic issues facing our dear country but because of the attitude of some few NPP members we have shelved those issues for now and discussing something which would not even put a bowl of konkonte on our table.
I believe the President have good intentions for penciling Prof. Mills and the others for the award. This gesture would boost the much touted claim of reconciliation and all inclusiveness that the NPP always brags of and would have resulted in the President living a legacy of goodwill and oneness amongst Ghanaians after his tenure of office.
Prof. Mills did not ask for this award, he is a Ghanaian like any other ordinary Ghanaian; he has devoted his life in serving this country from his days as a University lecturer to his tenure as the head of Internal Revenue Service and also a Vice President for four years. This is a man whose character exudes peace (Asomdwe hene). He saved this country from going the Kenyan way when Mr. Jake Obetsebi Lamptey and his peers turned themselves into electoral commissioners and declared an election results against the tenets of our constitution and the electoral rules of this country. Prof. Mills could have incited his over 40% supporters who voted for him at that time and this would have resulted in chaos. If for nothing at all, his conduct alone in 2004 has contributed to peace, stability and the growth of democracy in this country
Elections are just around the corner and an award of such nature would have definitely boosted the campaign of Prof. Mills but who says it is only him who is going to benefit from the electorate if he is given that award? The NPP would have also had their share of floating voters by using that gesture to tell Ghanaians how they have reconciled this country by recognizing the contributions of the former Vice President which the previous government and other governments did not do. It would have been a good precedent for other governments to follow. This would have provided them the platform to trumpet their claim of the all inclusive policy of the Government.
The outburst of the few who are against the award has revealed how true their party has caused a section of Ghanaians pain, division and hatred. They have place the President in a very tight position, now the rumour in town is that the awards would be postponed to a later date probable after the elections. One thing is clear if Prof Mills receives the award now or at a latter date, Ghanaians have been made aware of how some of our fellow countrymen hate their colleagues when they see them progressing in Life. No wonder we have a lot of such “PHD’s” around.
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