Why Must President Mahama Be The Sacrificial Lamb?

A lot is expected from every leader, regardless of the circumstance of your ascension to the throne or the country you preside over. One of the most difficult jobs in the world is leading people that is why it is not a job reserve for people who are not ready. There is even an ongoing debate as to whether leaders are born or made. Leadership requires Honesty, Compassion, Conviction, Drive, Courage, Boldness, Vision, Direction, Creative Thinking, Intellectual Perspicacity, among other virtues. Can we honestly as a people, say that most of our leaders possessed the aforementioned attributes? I have had in my quite time, reflected on my President, John Dramani Mahama, I have come to the conclusion that is both the luckiest and the unluckiest President of this country. Since he took the oath of office on January 7, 2013, he has never had rest; it has been one problem after another. Promises in the run- up to the 2012 elections were made and had to be kept. He made those promises because, he knew in his heart of heart, he had the capacity and with the benefit of the goodwill of Ghanaians to fulfill those promises; little did he know that the sins of his predecessors or if you like their inaction, will come back to haunt him. Development is never in abeyance and the President has never relented to continue from where his predecessors left off. His biggest challenge now is that Ghanaians and voters for that matter have become more sophisticated and alive to their needs and what they expect from their leaders. The world is now a global village and comparisons are quick to be made and inferences drawn. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are now demanding more of our leaders than it used to be ten or fifteen years ago. As we grow and develop, we entrench our democracy that means, we get to understand and appreciate the real meaning of democracy. The President himself made it clear, when he said that he was the first President to be born after Independence, it means a lot is expected of him, he is leading the generation referred to as Generation Y or Born Free Generation, who do not want pain or suffering. They demand of their leaders, what their parents were afraid to ask for, the beauty and joy of leading them is that they are ready to be part of giving them their dream. Two years in office and President John Dramani Mahama, is expected to wield the magic wand that will make all our problems go away. This is a miracle that the President cannot perform. Since we ushered in the 1992 Constitutional dispensation, we have had three Presidents before him, President Jerry John Rawlings, had eight years from 1992-2000, followed by John Agyekum Kufuor, who also had eight years, from 2001-2009, the late President, John Evans Atta Mills, who could not finish his first four years term, had three and a half years. All these leaders contributed their quota in the development process of this country, if they had both done as much as is expected of them, Mahama, all he will be doing is sharing the gains of his predecessors. Unfortunately the story is different. Let look at a few of the areas Ghanaians seem impatient with the President. CORRUPTION As ex-President John Kufuor said, corruption is as old as Adam and no President anywhere in the world can stop it. It is a difficult task, because as a President, you cannot be everywhere at the same time. Even people who work in your office you cannot control them all, as far as their behaviors are concern. Human beings by nature have insatiable desire, the more we have, the more we want, because the satisfaction we receive, only increase our desire to have more. A lot of corruption cases have come up, some people were arraigned before court facing various charges of allegations of corruption, and none of these happened under the watch of President Mahama, except that he was the Vice-President then and so cannot completely insulate him. Mention can be made of GYEEDA, SADA, SUBAH, Womegate, etc. He is the President and must take action on all these, which he has and is still doing. President Mahama has tried to be above reproach. We cannot expect him to do something about corruption, if we don�t trust him. How many of our ex-Presidents, have ever had the courage to drag party members and Minister of State for acts of corruption, except President Mahama. As I have said before and continue to, posterity will judge him right as far as fighting corruption is concern. ROAD CONSTRUCTION Road construction is capital intensive that is why Presidents, have had to cut sods for the start of a road, only for it to be abandoned midway. A fortnight ago, the people of the Eastern Region gave the President ten days to do something about their roads, or else they will hit the street, this threat followed an earlier one from the Chiefs of the Region gave, the Chiefs even went to the extent of inspecting the roads in that Region. Had his predecessors, including President Kufuor, who won that region in 2000 and 2004, constructed all the roads in the Region, President Mahama, will not be harassed about the roads in the Region. The people of the Volta Region are also up in arms about their roads, regrettably that Region, have not had their fair share of its development, yet they have remained true to the National Democratic Congress (NDC), since 1992. All the ten Regions in the country need roads, President Mahama, cannot construct all the roads in the country, his administration like the ones before his, inherited a lot of uncompleted roads, money is needed to finish them and the President is doing all he can to ensure that by the time he leaves office in 2020, most roads would have been constructed or rehabilitated. ENERGY Load-shedding, which has been nicknamed, �Dumsor Dumsor�, did not start with President Mahama and is certainly not going to end with him. How many megawatts had all the Presidents, with the exception of our first President Dr Kwame Nkrumah, added to the national grid? In 1997, during the era of President Rawlings, we experienced Load-Shedding, in 2007, ten years on, we experienced another Load-Shedding, the reason for both the 1997 and 2007, was because the water level in the Akosombo Dam, was low. It was apparent then that the problem will reoccur again, should the water level go down. Both President Rawlings and Kufuor, were supposed to think outside the box and adopt other sources of generating power, instead of relying on Hydro. Little was done in that regard and that is why we are where we are today. How can President Mahama, end the load-shedding, if not enough investment had gone there. The President, must be given the benefit of the doubt, since he has demonstrated in both acts and deed that he wants load-shedding to become a thing of the past, before the end of his second term in 2020. He needs our support and prayers, not condemnation.