By Cletus Kuunifaa
Without mincing words, I find this to be absolute political nonsense: it just does not add up to make any political sense to want to replace President J. D. Mahama as the flagbearer of the incumbent party for 2016. The gains consolidated so far outweigh any stupid talk of replacement. Make no mistake about this; his replacement will lead to a total loss, total calamity and party faithfuls are not ready for any calamitous situation.
It is even difficult to fathom any plausible premise for his drop. Drop him for whom? What will be the motivation in such a move other than desensitizing loyal electorates? Many a time, we hear this rumor peddled around and the earlier it be treated as pedestrian news, the faster it disappears as complete fiction.
Yet, it remains interesting to examine how such presidential replacement will even work, or has worked out in our political history.
But, politics being politics, as fluid as it is, granted that there is a bit of truth in this rumor, who will be at the losing end? Of course, Mother Ghana loses woefully.
Given that the President is building a path to prosperity, he has gradually endeared himself to the West and becoming a darling boy of the developed nations within 2 years at post!
Should he even decide to prematurely run out his second mandate, so to speak, by not running for a second term (God forbids), he would have stepped right into international stardom. Question becomes what international position might be okay for him as an ex-president, when former President Kufour, Rawlings, Obasanjo, Abdul Salam Abubkar are all globe rotting around in their advocacy work?
Anyway, revenons à nos moutons; did the rumor mongers think about why twice defeated Nana Akufo Addo is seeking a third time to lead the NPP? What about his immediate challenger Allan Cash? How many times did former President Kufour seek to lead and finally sought the mandate of the people? What about the late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills?
The number of times these politicians tried to seek power explains the need and informs the reason to maintain President J.D. Mahama. It is good for the nation and for us to see through with his policies.
Again, the President should not fear to construct a vision for the nation much as he should never construct a vision out of fear. As mentioned in my last article (see Feature Article of Thursday, 21 August 2014), he must think about massive infrastructural development in all sectors as part of a modernization drive. He wants to see Ghana’s economy grow as a result of increased agricultural productivity, tourism and government spending on infrastructure and housing. He wants Ghana to be the most attractive African market for investors.
Indeed, Ghana must be on the hunt for investors rather than donors. Ghanaians want to see and hear talks about start-up offices for Google, Intel, Microsoft, and GE, not to mention a much larger consumer market attracting foreign companies. He must craft ways intended for Ghana to be a rich frontier for business and make Ghanaian businesses to grow and expand.
With these laudable ideas, it is politically unwise to seek to replace the incumbent President for 2016. His policies are on track and surely need time to endure and materialize. The President has already put in place some home grown policies to turn the economy around. The fix to this economy will not be a nine day wonder. It is going to take long term measures to fix it. Therefore, his replacement will be arrested development in my perspective.
Cletus Kuunifaa
TMC Group