Former President Mahama is one person who journeyed through the political ladders to the pinnacle as president without sweat nor pain. He was a dynamic person full of energy and admired by all, he lost the goodwill accorded him by allowing some young people who are politically immature into his kitchen cabinet either consciously or unconsciously.
Due to the people around him he failed to gauge the political temperature accurately rather it gave him some false sense of security.
Based on the false sense of security he cunningly sidelined most of the senior comrades and the rest were kept at the periphery. A house where there are no elders that house ceases to be home and that was the malady that afflicted the NDC during President Mahama’s tenure in office.
It is unbelievable Hon. Alban Bagbin was unable to access President Mahama anytime he made an effort to see his friend fails, based on those treatments he went through provoked him to spew out his frustration through the mass media and the response from president Mahama embolden most of the young men around him to disrespect their senior comrades.
Most of the senior comrades strategically distance themselves from his administration, and unfortunately, they deceived themselves of thinking the 2012 general elections was won without the founder and his loyalist support. Very surprising a presidential candidate that won his first term bid with 50.7% of total votes and that result was challenged at the Supreme Court by Nana Addo, can be that complacent knowing very well former presidents J J Rawlings and John Kuffour lost votes in their second term bids.
It was amazing a political organization which some of them were drafted into and knew nothing about its formation and most of its founders are alive, it would be foolhardy for anybody to attempt to appropriate the National Democratic Congress and rebrand it as New NDC.
Most often critics are not detractors, traitors or enemies as most people think of, they create awareness on delicate issues which most friends dare not to talk about or inform the target of, because they are afraid, they might lose their privileges.
Former President Mahama was very fortunate most of his critics highlighted the rot and the weakness within his government of which most of his appointees were benefiting from and they wouldn’t want anybody near their empire to expose their dirty dealings to the president, often they build firewall around the presidents and keep them in the dark. Most critics are independent antennae that captures and highlight underhand dealings against the state.
The critics knowing very well presidents could be involved in some of the underhand dealings normally published their findings through the mass media which the ruling class aren’t too comfortable with the medium of communication and the criticism aren’t pleasant to the ears and bitter for them to swallow hence the guard dogs are unleashed to devour those critics.
How cunning politicians are the opposition party took advantage by deceiving some of the critics to consider them as allies and succeeded of using them to win power during the 2016 general election. After the election, most of them have been compromised by the ruling government, and unfortunately, they have plunged their ears and closed their eyes, see no evil hear no evil.
The former president failed to listen to constructive criticism from some of the critics and allowed the guard dogs to devour them into submission, now calling on them to do what, those critics are now deaf, dumb and blind.
The one who came up with the concept to brand buses with the pictures of President Mahama with former presidents did a lot of disservice to the president. It was a joke and its implication was the heat that issue generated to the extent of a noble soul losing her job. Mad Aku Attivor rise to higher glory.
A leader of a social democratic government cancelled the allowances of trainee Nurses and teachers with flimsy excuse of creating access, meanwhile thousands of nurses and teachers sitting at home jobless, and did not see the need to vary benefits of his appointees to reflect the economic challenges of the time. How could cost of utilities kept rising at the time cost of crude oil was at its lowest and this happened during an election year.
The expectation of the people is to mitigate the suffering and show remorse for the hardship that had to bedevil the country, rather the president chose to make a bold and decisive statement that he was elected president to take bold and hard decisions and was prepared to lose the presidency. This statement infuriated most of the citizenry and was the last straw that took the national democratic congress out of government in 2016.
The aftermath of the 2020 general elections revealed some mistakes President Mahama did when he dumped the three wise men at the abandoned seat of government. (The Castle). God has spoken loud and clear to political leaders who think they can use political power to determine the fate of opponents must understand power is transient.
Comrade Alban Bagbin whose sun almost settled was elevated to the high office of Speaker without sweat, Hon. E.T Mensah to Council of State and Hon. Cletus Avoka back to parliament. It is surprising the political elites haven’t seen the handiwork of the Omniscient God in the results of the 2020 general elections, with this empirical evidence had shown the backward attitude of the political class.
Most of the political elites parading corridors of power careless about the welfare of the state, they are only there for their parochial interest. Therefore, it is incumbent on the electorates to be careful, of the charlatans who used liars and deceptions to have our votes.
Written by Mike Kalley.
Executive Director, Oliasah Foundation for the Aged
