By Isaac Ato Mensah
Accra \u2013 10 February, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A concerned friend, Engineer O, asked me over the weekend, \u201cSo can Nana Addo not see what is going on, and especially about these \u2018missing excavators’ can\u2019t he sack about 50 District Chief Executives?\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
People are frantically seeking to\nunderstand what is going on within this administration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let us offer our perspective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his inauguration speech at the\nIndependence Square on 7 January 2017, President Akufo-Addo said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor myself, I am in the unique position of\nbeing able to draw on the wisdom and experience of three former Presidents of\nthe Republic, their [Excellences] Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor and\nJohn Dramani Mahama\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based on this quote, we offer two\nreferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, Lt. General Emmanuel Erskine in 2001\npublicly advised President Kufuor to imitate President Rawlings who ensured\nboth juniors and seniors walked directly to him with information, a strategy\nwhich Erskine believed accounted for Rawlings\u2019s 19 years stay in power without\na coup d\u2019etat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second, Kufuor himself publicly stated\nthat, Theresa, his wife monitored the media and gave him daily updates on the\nsituation prevailing in the country, suggesting that someone who did not need\nfavours from him was telling him the truth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2018, when I encountered an Akufo-Addo\nappointee, he told me point blank, I was writing \u201cNkwasiasem\u201d to wit,\n\u201cNonsense\u201d, in my blog posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He explained that \u201cthe president has over\n600 informants across every village in this country\u201d, hence the president knows\nfrom the security agencies the realities in Ghana more than I do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the appointee concluded, \u201cWhen the\nSinohydro loan comes, the narrative will change, I assure you, the narrative\nwill change\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Please note: \u201cnarrative\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As my mentor will say, \u201cIn ghana we\nmanufacture our own reality”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A second quote from POTROG\u2019s inaugural\naddress: \u201cWe must restore integrity in public life. State coffers are not\nspoils for the party that wins an election, but resources for the country\u2019s\nsocial and economic development. I shall protect the public purse by insisting\non value-for-money in all public transactions. Public service is just that \u2013\nservice and not an avenue for making money. Money is to be made in the private\nsector, not the public. Measures will be put in place to ensure this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is a final quote from POTROG\u2019s\naddress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe should all recognise the danger we face\nby the alarming degradation of our environment and work to protect our water\nbodies, our forests, our lands and the oceans. We should learn and accept that\nwe do not own the land, but hold it in trust for generations yet unborn and,\ntherefore, have a responsibility to take good care of it and all it contains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leadership requires sound judgment, strict\nmorals, sacrifice and the ability to do things yourself, thereby imparting\nknowledge and skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we are hearing now are only caged\nbirds singing \u2013 appointees yearning to speak the truths their hearts can no\nlonger keep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet what we see are supine law enforcement\nagencies, who insist that they \u201cneed a complainant\u201d before they act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maya Angelou tells us in the second stanza\nof her poem:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut a caged bird stands on the grave of\ndreams<\/p>\n\n\n\n
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream<\/p>\n\n\n\n
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied<\/p>\n\n\n\n
so he often opens his throat to sing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that the caged birds have started\nsinging, let us all appropriate Maya Angelou\u2019s poem for ourselves; she wrote,\n\u201cthe caged bird sings of freedom\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maya Angelou who worked as an administrator\nat University of Ghana, Legon and left this country in 1965 back to the U.S.\ntells us \u201ca free bird\u201d is happy to \u201cfly on the back of the wind\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All\nthis was before any Year of Return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the back of the wind of confessions\nthen, as my mentor advises, \u201cLet us reflect on our obligations so that we are\nled to meaningful individual actions\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feedback;\nato@writersghana.com; www.writersghana.com; LinkedIn, Isaac Ato Mensah;\nInstagram, @atomenswriters; Twitter, @Atomens; Facebook, Writers and\nShakespeares Ghana; Telegram, Isaac Ato Mensah; Quora, Isaac Ato Mensah;\nWhatsApp (+233) 020 022 0353.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Writers\nand Shakespeares Ghana Limited exist to be a moral and intellectual guide to\nthe best practice of PR and integrated communications around the world,\nbeginning with Ghana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"