Opinions of Thursday, 14 February 2013

Columnist: Pobee-Mensah, Tony

President Mahama, look in your pending box

Late President Atta-Mills commissioned a Constitution Review Committee in January of 2010. The committee took almost two years to finish the task and present its report to President Atta-Mills in December 2011. The Late President didn't reveal the report to the people of Ghana before we lost him.

President Mahama, you have been President of Ghana since July 2012 and have since been elected to the position. I can understand if you were busy running to be elected, but that is over. We are waiting for you to deal with some of these issues that were left in President Atta-Mills' pending box. The issue of citizenship cannot be swept under the rug and it cannot be kicked down the road while some of us remain in limbo waiting for you to reveal and to act on the report.

As I have said before, I believe that taking another Ghanaian's citizenship from him should not be so casual to do as was done in 1992. Unless someone takes up arms against the country, (I do not include coup d'etat in this otherwise Rawlings should have been the first to lose his citizenship) no one should have the right to take anyone's citizenship from him without showing beyond all doubt that it is in the interest of the country and a super majority of the country agree.

Mr President, please look in your pending box. We are waiting to hear from you. The people of Ghana paid for the constitution committee and paid for them to fly around the world gathering information for the report. The people of Ghana own that report. They paid for it. It should not be something that only a privileged few get to see.

Again, Mr President, we are waiting.

Tony Pobee-Mensah