Opinions of Tuesday, 21 June 2016

Columnist: Richmond Asare Tinkaro

Mahama can only be impeached, if...

Ghana Parliament Ghana Parliament

President Mahama is not going to be impeached. Maybe that can happen in the next world. Many were those who had the belief that Ghana's young democracy would be tested in the Parliament of Ghana but that won't be the case because our mentality and mindset as Ghanaians don't support that; a supposed call for impeachment, "it’s impossible" not just because his party has the majority in Parliament .

I tell my folks that unless a miracle takes place in this country, unless the heavens come to directly sing a true divine song into the ears of our Parliamentarians with no exception to both Majority and Minority Caucuses in Parliament, unless the "god's" speak common sense into the minds of the less privileged Ghanaians to rise up to support what is truth, just and Godly and protect the supremacy of the constitution. Unless the opposition begins to have the strength to understand the true meaning of opposition, there will be no impeachment and this is the “truth”.

Do not get me wrong, the analogy of this piece is not to tell you whether I am in support of an impeachment of the President of Ghana neither am l pleading or asking for a total revolution for him to be impeached but to generally let you know the kind of people we are, our nature, our thinking, our culture, judgment, our compassion, and sympathy; "the talk only but no show attitude "by us towards general issues of interest to us as Ghanaians.

My focus is on the "Ford Gift” brouhaha or should l call it saga which happens to be" the latest issue in the country and on the screens of the international Media.

This is not to judge how right or wrong the supposedly "Gift" might be or to show what should have been done and what needs to be done on this saga. Neither does this writing want to point a wrong or right finger at the government or opposition parties, civil groups and students unions for their roles of what need and need not be done.

What happens to this country must be a lesson to our future generation, the actions and inaction of current circumstances must guide the steps of the young folks who wish to change the line of development and transformation of our country to a different level of development and not just of tenure and slow pace in progressing a sector.

My concern is not whether President Mahama should have received the gift or whether he needed not to but rather on how we generally judge, criticize, praise and carry issues of this nature in this country.

There is total division in the line of discussion on this very brouhaha. Acolytes of the government, apparatchiks of President Mahama and members of the National Democratic Congress are on one side defending the actions of the President and trying everything possible to let Ghanaians know that the" Ford Gift” was not a bribe and that President Kufuor received same whiles in office, which we know the two are incomparable.

The opposition parties as well view this saga as a "Bribe" and a corrupt practice by the President. To them, they believe that the actions of the President, the circumstances to which the contractor gave out the Ford as a gift to the President, the timing and all to them show a level of interest from both sides.

They believe that the contractor was given the contract because of his relationships with the President and automatically leading to the giving of the Ford as a Gift. They believed that even though to them the President might not have asked for it but so far as he accepted it and even called the contractor to thank him ostensive shows a level of a corrupt practice or bribe.

I am of the view that both sides should take away their political opportunism from this particular issue Both the NPP and NDC must criticize and analyse the issue base on what will be of interest and benefit to this nation as we move on rather than to be grooved with partisanship to defend this action or act of gift in its rightful or wrongful way as it might be.

The Opposition must criticize the issues based on what they know would guide the actions of public officers as we move into a deeper and learned democracy for the future. Enough of the politics from both sides. Enough of the politicking.

Do not defend it because you are an NDC or an acolyte of the President and do not attack and make a mockery of this brouhaha because you think it would be a political benefit to you.