Opinions of Monday, 7 November 2022

Columnist: Reindolf Amankwa

Times are unduly tough needing stringent measures to salvage Ghanaians

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When I say it's not funny anymore this is what I mean. A few weeks ago, the transport fare from Kumasi to Mankessim (Note: Same price from Mankessim to Kumasi) was Ghc57. Fast forward to today, it's astronomically increased to Ghc83, a situation arising from the hikes in fuel prices. Salaries of public sector workers have not seen any increase regardless of the economic crisis staring at us in the face. What has been partisan got to do with this? What we face today is not and must not be an individual concern. Collectively, we must eschew partisanship, call a spade a spade and speak out without fear of victimization. It is not true that we are all in this together. What exactly are we in together? The suffering of the Electorate Employers called "Ordinary Ghanaians" or the enjoyment of the Employee called "Honorable"? It is clearly the case of the employer suffering whilst the employee enjoys all the gains yet hiding behind the smokescreen of "I am serving you". Where in the history books do we find the master sleeping with an empty stomach whilst the servant goes to bed belching out of a full stomach? Pathetic. Things are not well. This cannot be the Ghana we want to build. Most definitely, this cannot be the leadership we need. Something must be done. Stringent measures are needed to reshape the direction of the country. Leadership is about delivering results. A leader proffers solutions not reiterating challenges. A leader can only rally the people's support if he or she presents to them intended solutions, not complaints. One thing must be made clear and I say this without any shred of fear of future sanctions; Ghanaians did not vote for my party NPP to keep reminding them of the failed John Dramani Mahama administration. In the words of Manasseh Azure Awuni in his book The Fourth John, he asserts that the John Dramani Mahama presidency "was an error of an era, a cancerous tumor whose removal called for an eternal thanksgiving service". The writer of the Fourth John preaches that any thought of John Mahama coming back as President is tantamount to cruelty against this nation. Widely agreeing to Manasseh Azure's position on the leadership of then president John Dramani Mahama, Ghanaians unprecedentedly rejected his candidature in 2016 and 2020. Therefore, it is unfortunate that six years and counting, we are still left with nearly nothing to say to Ghanaians but to linger around the failure of a failed former president, John Dramani Mahama, and his NDC government, COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war. Assuming these three are the challenges facing the Akufo-Addo-led government, what solutions are being presented to Ghanaians to restore hope and confidence in the broken economy? We need solutions, not complaints. It is no funnier, times are really tough for the ordinary Ghanaian.