Dear Sir,
I hope this finds you well. Today marks the 70th day of your return to power — and so far nothing really shows that voters made a mistake in the last election.
Even though your government is still taking shape, you have made some moves which point to a bright future, and though they’re worth discussing, that is NOT the reason why I’ve taken my pen this afternoon.
The purpose of this letter, is to draw your attention to a crawling earthworm, that can grow to be a monster to destroy the legacy you want and further ruin the NDC’s chances in the next election.
With less than three months into office, one may argue that it’s too early to start discussing the next election, but the reality is that an election is a process and not an event — and thus the battle for 2028 actually started on 8th December when Bawumia conceded.
In this regard, I’m sure you’ll love to hand over power to another NDC President — but that could be a mirage if you don’t take steps to address the internal acrimony about the ongoing appointment process.
Before I continue, I am aware that you cannot appoint everybody — and your appointments can certainly not make everyone happy. Indeed, no leadership decision can excite the entire crowd — yet there is a section of the crowd who should not be plainly offended either — and in this case, it is your party’s grassroots!
In his famous track ‘Meko ama obi aba’, the legendary Boakye Gyan, puts it this way — ‘… Wanya biribi amma w’asew a ɛmmɔ no krɔno’ — to wit if you cannot be kind to your in-law, don’t steal from her either — and in this case the grassroots represent that in-law.
For the records, over the past few weeks, many of them have had to publicly lament some appointments, yet as understanding as they are, they always wipe their tears with the belief that you know better — even though they don’t necessarily agree with you!
But this trend, Mr. President, seems to be happening too many times — and just like that young lover who finally leaves her boyfriend who can’t stop cheating, a day may come when your party’s base may finally get tired, give up and disappear into oblivion.
Indeed, just last night, many of these loyal followers of your party trooped to Facebook and other platforms to lament the perceived ‘mafia’ that has characterised the appointment process so far!
This outpour of grief was triggered by the appointment of Madam Obuobia Darko-Opoku as the Deputy MD for the Ghana Airport Company Limited, and suffice to say, those who hid their pain from the public for the sake of ‘political correctness’, were more than those who came out to weep like mourners.
According to the aggrieved party folks, the appointment of Obuobia is an evidence of a worrying pattern, where certain ‘notable instruments of your victory’ are either rewarded ‘late’ or rewarded rather unconvincingly.
While resisting the urge to cite examples, the belief has been that after toiling hard in the desert, ‘donkeys’ like Obuobia didn’t have to wait so long to drink from the river banks — talk more of drinking from the same cup with a donkey from another master.
Ideally, it was expected that all the key personalities in the party would have been rewarded very early to serve as motivation for others to also work hard in the future, but that has not really happened, and though you may eventually sort everybody, your ‘timing’ has been seen as a slowness in rewarding loyalty.
All of these narratives, Mr President, have the potential of weakening the momentum of the grassroots — and being the wise leader that you’ve always been, I believe you would take urgent steps to address these issues.
I shall now turn my attention to another crucial matter which deserves a mention in this letter. At the moment, there is the belief that some of your trusted lieutenants have ‘hijacked’ the appointment process, in furtherance of their future ambitions.
To put it bluntly, the narrative on the street is that your current Chief of Staff, Mr Julius Debrah, and his ‘clique’ are deliberately enlisting their favourites to strategic positions ahead of his rumored presidential ambitions — while sidelining possible contenders like your party’s Chairman, who I understand is the angriest man in the universe, apart from Lucifer himself.
FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT, THESE ARE NOT MY WORDS — and as it appears, I’m only conveying to you, the growing conversation in the NDC which is gradually gaining credibility, and dividing the unity that gave you the biggest electoral victory in the 4th Republic!
Indeed as I write, all the fans of Mr Asiedu Nketia and other prospective flagbearer aspirants who feel ignored or shortchanged have quietly drawn their swords — waiting for an opportunity to strike, and this is not a threat you should ignore.
Just by way of a polite reminder, two ingredients often guarantee the success of any administration. The first is the element of good governance outcomes, and the second is the factor of internal party cohesion — yet as we speak, your party is losing momentum on the latter, and you, more than anybody else, should be concerned about this dissipating unity and I’ll explain why.
If the NDC loses the next election in 2028, that will set a painful record as the first political party in Ghana’s 4th Republic to enjoy a single term — and your name will be the reference point for that unpleasant novelty.
Your dreams of championing a good legacy will also be shattered, and if care is not taken, the NDC itself may dissolve into ashes and dust — with your name as the reason for that misfortune!
All of these possibilities can happen, and that’s why you need to take another look at the concerns surrounding the appointment process — including the widespread perception that your noble Chief of Staff (a man whom I personally admire and respect) is building an army to advance his purported presidential ambitions through some ‘parochial and self-serving appointments‘.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, good governance is important in sustaining the life of a party, but when the grassroots are unhappy or divided by disunity and deep internal cracks, the party may die sooner or later.
With the deepest sense of respect, I’ll therefore humbly urge you to revisit the raging concerns with the ongoing appointments and use your unmatched experience as John Mahama to address them, even if not all!
Do have a great day Mr President, and may the Lord be with you for all the good works you’ve started, including the fact that very soon, if I stake a bet on the Red Devils, I’ll enjoy the cash alone!
The author of this advisory piece is Derrick Schandorf Ayirebi-Acquah (Paa Kwesi Schandorf). He is a writer, a journalist and corporate MC — twice nominated by the BBC for the Komla Dumor Award — currently the acting news editor at TV Africa, having worked with JoyNews and The Multimedia Group in the past.
