Beware of babies and babies beware

By Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh

To the appointer and appointee, I say beware. Appointer must beware of appointing babies; and let babies appointed beware of the status of an appointee.

Given our recent history of the damage babies with sharp teeth did to a motherland that should not be in need of anything, a return of babies (with or without sharp teeth or toothless) must be with extreme caution.

I am yet to come to terms with public university vice-chancellors having to rise in reverence to a never have worked in his life who was also facing university disciplinary action.

That was a baby minister appointed in charge of vice-chancellors. An unfathomable abomination! Yet a whole professor appointer, once himself an aspiring vice-chancellor, made his colleagues to compulsorily face that. The scenario continues to make me nervous about baby appointments.

I see a chasm between the deputy and the substantive which confounds effective stepping into the chief’s shoes.

We all saw the disaster of Mills’ deputies pushed into Mahama substantives. I think that kind of transition from the thirties to late sixties can be more complicated with possible result mishaps.

Surely, the appointer, who is being praise-sung not unusually with motherland bootlicking, knows best who is competent to be around him. In fact, he is backed fully and firmly by political convention and experience.

The necessary qualities of the close appointed staff are trust, unflinching proven loyalty and commitment to the appointers cause. However, they are to deal with others in positions of equal importance to the appointer.

The chief is without doubt likely always to act with poise. Those who know her, as definitely the appointer would, speak of an affable approachable personality. A president would want to often deliver the goodwill message to his close friends and associates whereas the alter ego chief would almost always be the ill will message bearer. The chief’s with a resolve cast as steel to be able to easily deliver, with finesse, sour appointer messages to his bosom friends and relations.

With teeth, sharp orblunt, baby Mahama appointees sucked the motherland milk to their fill and then bit the motherland nipple to stop the flow of milk for others. Yet, when appointed babies are toothless, they would be unable to chew the solid medicine. It would have to be ground into powder and liquefied for them to be able to take it. Babies, therefore, are hardly assets in running a motherland. With teeth they overbite like akura ba (baby mouse) chewing pepper to destroy a pepper farmer’s hard work. Without teeth they are a drag.

It must be a keep wonder how a 39 or 33 year-old deputy would confidently fit a 69 year-old’s role in an environment of 60-70 year-old office holders. Well, I am assuming what I think about deputies. However, I have no idea about what deputies do as relates to specific substantive positions. From 69, maybe it should be deputy sixty something and then thirty something.

It’s not about age, though. It’s the importance of life and living experience in this motherland. It takes someone not in political office years to acquire a place of abode. So we see political office holders clamouring for houses. It should make sense then to consider people’s stage in the acquisition of a home as a possible measure of their integrity when assigned to a political office.

Appointments have something to do with who gets involved in a campaign. Matching campaign effort with commensurate reward was incompetently overdone in the previous administration. An appointer expects competence, trust, loyalty, commitment and the capacity to overcome temptation of personal interest that would discredit the appointer.

So all I can say is: appointer, beware of babies you appoint and appointed babies, be aware that what the appointer requires of you is honest, selfless and competent ; just as you rendered to him during the long campaign. A stellar sterling team is emerging. It is amazing how even the security and parliamentary majority leadership include people with sound economic knowledge.

By the way, I have been wondering who the motherland republic president is from midnight January 6 until a new president is sworn in later the January 7 morning. Independence began at the stroke of midnight March 5. So at the stroke of midnight is when a new president should be sworn in. The public inauguration ceremony can continue later the January 7 morning.

Congresspeople are mischief makers. They prefer to operate the law without its ethical spirit. Should they continue to exist, one day, they would hold the motherland republic to ransom over that hiatus

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has toiled to become president. So let his appointees, even when imperfectly chosen, devotedly support him to achieve the good plans he has for the motherland.