*The Real Ras Mubarak*

I don’t believe in the politics of character assassination.

I don’t believe in the politics of elitism. Democracy means allowing the full participation of all citizens in national decision-making. The spirit of the constitution promotes freedom of aspiration. So long as what one aspires to do is within the law, people should not be discriminated against because of the social, cultural, ethnic or professional background.

That does not mean however that the door to *every* social status is open * equally* to everyone. There are basic qualifications needed for every role in society. To be free to aspire to any position in the land is not the same thing as to be free to hold any position in the land. And a person does not have to reach the top of every social ladder to exercise their rights.

As a society we have put some checks in place for good reason. Democracy doesn’t mean that the cleaner should be able to walk into the theatre, wear a white overcoat, and start operating on patients. Actually, if you are a cleaner and you succeed in doing this you will be arrested and prosecuted. Democracy is not a license to attain high status in society without working hard for it.

Are these simple issues different in politics?

Should anybody at all because they are a citizen of Ghana be put in a position of political responsibility?

I am asking this question because of a certain Mr. Ras Mubarak who until recently was one of the many noisemakers our porous media have allowed to attain minor celebrity status.

Today, he is the official candidate of the ruling party for the Ablekuma North seat. He is just an election away from actually sitting in parliament and passing laws for you and I.

Only one in 100,000 Ghanaians sit in Parliament. The few who manage to make it there therefore form the upper crust of our political brahmin. They can impeach a sitting president, throw out the national budget, subpoena witnesses before their committees and are immune from arrest when carrying out their official duties. Their perquisites and salaries are equivalent to that of senior directors of private companies and top civil servants.

The position of ‘member of parliament’ is a very high office.

Does Mr. Mubarak deserve this very high office? Will he qualify in a society that takes these things seriously?

His recent outbursts on the Woyome scandal has forced some of us to take a closer look at him.

Showing complete insensitivity to the huge losses the country has incurred he chose instead to go on a radio noisemaking spree insulting politicians who have called for government officials responsible for this mess to resign. I thought this was a serious lapse of judgment on the part of a young politician who seems to be campaigning on a platform to ‘change business as usual’.

What I found about Mr. Mubarak didn’t reassure me at all.

It is possible that some people who have already made it into parliament or are just about to are just as disappointing. If so, that explains the mess we are in as a country. Other citizens can choose to shine the spotlight on such individuals too. I am doing my part by asking the right questions about Mr. Mubarak.

Why is Mr. Mubarak not qualified for the high office of parliament? It is because he has committed an offence that in the private sector, in the professions or in the civil service is considered unpardonable. He is faking his CV.

Mr. Mubarak gives the impression of being highly educated and peppers his CV with all sorts of vague references to universities abroad.

Mr. Mubarak never completed a single university degree and it is doubtful that he passed his qualifying secondary exams.

When he attended the international summer school at the University of Oslo, he misrepresented the qualification as a ‘postgraduate course in international development’. What he doesn’t make clear is that the course takes about 6 weeks and does not lead to a degree qualification. The University of Oslo itself says this on its website. Since when did summer schools become a substitute for university qualification?

He tries hard to create the impression that he has a postgraduate degree from the University of Oslo and even puts this information on his facebook profile page. Mr. Mubarak does not have a university degree of any kind and did not excel in his secondary education. He claims he has a diploma in public relations but cannot reveal at which level and from which institution this vague qualification was obtained.

It is for good reason that we do not limit qualifications to academic qualifications when assessing an individual’s merits.

There are many highly accomplished people who have solid professional qualifications but do not possess any degrees. I only pointed out Mr. Mubarak’s lack of education because he tries to misrepresent the true situation and also because he has no real professional qualifications that can substitute for his lack of education.

He claims to have worked for the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation for 10 years and the Africa Courier Magazine for 6 years. Surprisingly he never held a position of leadership at either place. He does not seem to have been successful in rising through the ranks of workers at either the magazine or the broadcaster.

On his linkedin page he creates the impression that he held the official title of ‘senior broadcast journalist’ at the GBC. Inquiries suggest he was a reporter.

There is nothing wrong with being an ordinary member of society doing your bit to feed yourself and family and contributing what you can to national development. Most of us are doing just that. What is wrong is misrepresenting your qualifications to apply for a job you don’t qualify for, especially a job with so many heavy responsibilities and corresponding high compensation.

We need parliamentarians who have the requisite competence to design excellent laws and prevent the government from having its way in all cases. We need parliamentarians who can scrutinise complex international business deals and official reports.

Just as there is no provision in the constitution barring any unqualified person from becoming chief executive of Cocobod there are no laws presently that bar unqualified persons from aspiring and being elected into parliament. But common sense dictates that we cannot only look at the law and the constitution when we are identifying good material for high political office or any high office in this country for that matter.

If you won’t employ Mubarak to run your small business but think it is alright for him to go to parliament to make laws to govern the whole industry it is your decision. As for me my duty is to alert the voters of Ablekuma North to put their political hopes in a better candidate.

Mr. Mubarak is perhaps qualified for a number of jobs in this country and I wish the young man well but he is not yet parliamentary material.

*Nii Armah Hammond*