By Herbert Krapa

The language and agenda of the NDC, call it campaign message, as we draw closer to the 2012 general elections, concerning marketing President Mills, as a brand, is a shame. But it will seem obvious however, to serious watchers of our country’s politics, and the reason is simple: Mills has been a total failure. Is it not pathetic, that, in spite of the opportunity to be president, seeking re-election, the only message the NDC is taking back to the Ghanaian people is still that: Mills is a Christian and he is humble, so vote for him again. The NDC is just trying to pull a fast one on us again, but we should not allow them this time round. Ghana is a highly religious country and that is not in doubt. The Ghanaian people believe strongly in the existence of the Supreme Being: God or Allah. The statistics say, about 63% of Ghanaians are Christians, 16% Muslims and 21% have indigenous beliefs.

I am a Presbyterian, and an avid believer in God. I believe God loves me, he has the best plans for me and by His Grace, what He has said about me will come to pass. But I also know that all these won’t just happen. I know I have to do what is expected of me: work hard and have faith, and whilst at that, continue to read my Bible and pray every day.

The Bible tells us in Proverbs, about the end in store for the lazy: A lazy person becomes a servant (or debtor): “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor” (12:24); his future is bleak: “A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing” (20:4); he may come to poverty: “The soul of the lazy man desires and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich” (13:4 KJV).

The apostle Paul wrote in a letter to Christians: “Brothers and Sisters, keep away from Christians who are lazy. Such people do not live in the way that we taught you. We tell you to do this by the authority that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to us. You yourselves know very well that you should live as we did. We were not lazy when we were with you. We did not depend on any of you for our food without paying for it. No, we worked hard night and day. We earned what we needed. So we did not have to charge you anything at all. We did this, not because we do not have the right to expect such help. But we did it so as to be an example of how you should live. Because when we were with you, we gave you this rule: Whoever refuses to work should not eat.

We say this because we hear that some among you are lazy. They talk about other people but do not work themselves. By the authority that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, we urge them to work quietly. They must earn the money to buy their own food. But you, brothers and sisters, must never tire of doing good things.” 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Has Mills worked hard as a Christian? What use is it, if a president is God fearing and not poverty fearing as well? President Mills was voted to power to take the development and growth of our country a step further and not to keep reminding us that he is a Christian and he is humble. It is good to have a Christian as a leader but the people will not forgive a lazy Christian who sits back to watch them suffer under his watch, and so must Mills not be forgiven. Three days ago a GNA report revealed that about 80% of children under age two in the Central Region are severely malnourished, a situation that is affecting their growth as well as intellectual development.

People living in the north are crying for the NDC to fulfill their promise to inject an initial amount of 200 million Ghana Cedis into a SADA fund at its start and subsequently, to put in 100 million cedis annually for 20 years. In addition, they said they were going to organize a donor conference on SADA to raise an additional 200 million Ghana cedis for the fund. To this day, they have only injected 25million Ghana cedis.

According to latest Gallup poll on Ghana, 12.7million (53%) of the population can’t afford the cost of food. Those living comfortably have dropped from 20% in 2007 to 4% in 2010. 34% of the population can’t cope at all with the suffering, a drastic rise from 11% in 2007. The World Bank says Ghanaians have gotten poorer since 2009. The NDC Government admits that LEAP benefit has not increased since they came to power.

The people are crying for jobs, businesses are complaining of cost and lack of sales. Hopelessness has gripped young graduates and corruption is on the rise. The better Ghana promised us has become a mirage and yet all the NDC continue to tell us is that Mills is a Christian so vote him back to power. That is simply not good enough.

But for President Mills and his aides, I had never heard anybody say about themselves that “I am a humble man.” If a president is humble, but not hardworking, the result is the poverty and deprivation, the suffering and pain that Ghanaians live in today. The NDC should stop wasting our time and ears with the Christianity and humility card. Everybody has a belief, and we hope to find our ultimate salvation in that faith, but we still go to the polls to elect leaders to help run the country and make our lives better and comfortable and your responsibility as president ends there. It is not your place as president, or director of communications at the presidency or whoever you are, to try and show us what to do with our spiritual lives. That is why we have Pastors and Imams and fetish priests to help us with building and growing our spiritual lives. As for you, as president, your primary responsibility is to make sure that our country makes progress and the people feel the progress. The people need you to institute programmes that will address the little things that matter to us in our communities, like safe neighbourhoods, clean gutters, hygienic food, streets with names, flowing tap water, reducing road traffic, and making sure that rules and regulations are obeyed. Programmes that address the fundamental issues of our time, the urgent need to tackle widespread youth unemployment, good skills, good jobs and good pay, industrialised economy, modernised agriculture, a modern, integrated public transport system that links every corner of our nation and our country to our neighbours. Programmes that will enhance the quality of life, like universal access to quality education and quality healthcare. What the people need are programmes that will establish a public sector that serves them with efficiency, respect and at value for money and not a constant reminder of how religious and humble their president is. What good is it, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food and one of you says to him, “go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? Faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:14-17 (NIV).

hkrapa@gmail.com