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Opinions of Friday, 29 March 2024

Columnist: Adnan Mustapha

To the First Gentleman of our motherland Ghana

President Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo-Addo President Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo-Addo

On the occasion of your birthday, I join many well-wishers in wishing you a glorious happy birthday Sir.

A greater part of your life has been dedicated to the service of our dear nation. As a lawyer, you contributed significantly to shaping Ghana’s jurisprudence. Not only that, you mentored many young lawyers who later turned out great.

In parliament, you fiercely fought and resisted any attempt to abuse power by previous opposition governments and defended the constitution against abuse.
The aforementioned, together with your flowery promises as then opposition leader, convinced many Ghanaians that you were the badly needed Messiah to salvage and take Ghana to the next level, that is, place our country in its rightful place among the League of Nations.

This resulted in an overwhelming victory against all odds, termed, the one million votes sweet victory in 2016. A new era brimming with hopes for a prosperous Ghana, where opportunities will be available to all on an equal basis, unemployment curbed, cedi stabilized, elitism and nepotism expunged, institutional interference abhorred, MMDCEs elected among other things.

In your Eighth (8th) year, coinciding with your 80th birthday, Ghana is anything but what you promised. Your words as opposition leader, are sweet and promising as they are in sharp contrast with your actions as President.

Ghana is in its worst position and at an all-time low. The cedi has since plummeted steeply and is now ranked as the third worst in the continent, our economy is in ICU but the return of Dumsor or whatever name you call it portends danger to the regular flow of oxygen to bed bedridden economy, corruption has become pervasive whiles you look on. The education and health sectors are in a sorry state. There is a general moral decay in your government.

Mr. President, at eighty, with barely eight months to leave office, the question is, have you ever had time to think about your legacy as President? The chaos your stewardship has occasioned and how that will play out for the rest of history?

While I hold the view that your tenure is beyond redemption, I hope that you will at least exit without jeopardizing the peace of our country. Ghana is all we have, home to many who sought refuge when theirs were in turmoil. You at least owe us this and you can’t fail. Any attempt will be fiercely resisted.