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Opinions of Sunday, 25 December 2016

Columnist: Daily Guide

Transition bad blood

President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo with President John Mahama President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo with President John Mahama

The simmering bad blood between the outgoing government and the waiting one is as unnecessary as it is avoidable. The idea of a transition arrangement is to ensure a soft take-off by the new political administration and a hitch-free disengagement by the outgoing team.

Unfortunately what is being witnessed leaves much to be desired. There is mistrust between the two groups and it does not augur well for local politics and the necessary sincerity required in governance.

The outgoing government appears to have a lot to hide and is therefore not forthcoming with issues it does not want to come to the public domain. These would eventually hit the public space with a telling effect.

Two or so days were lost in the early stages of the transition team’s meeting and that was when Ghanaians began posing questions about what exactly was going on and whether sincerity was underpinning government’s so-called commitment to a smooth transition.

We have observed bizarre appointments being made and we think that President John Mahama could have saved his compatriots, especially, his successor the ado.

There are more pressing issues which President Mahama could have managed in the twilight of his tenure – Ghanaians having showed him the exit in the most humiliating fashion.

We have learnt about how students in second cycle schools in the Northern parts of the country have had to be sent home earlier than normal because funds have not come from central government. Shouldn’t he be more concerned about this than appointments which would stoke controversy later?

He claims to be empowered by law to do such appointments but commonsense should be applied under such circumstances if he is really sincere about what he is doing. Why now? It is a subtle way, of throwing spanners into the spokes.

It is a revenge operation but we thing his anger at losing the elections is a decision by the Ghanaian people and not the incoming government something he appears to be missing.

Many think that the Mahama- led administration is yet to come to terms with the humiliating defeat it suffered at the polls and we cannot dispute their stance given the odd decisions the president is taking at the eleventh hour.

Someone quipped that the President could be preparing to reshuffle his government as part of the many odd decisions at his disposal. Given his current state of mind and desire to do maximum political mischief, he is not far from doing something along those lines.

Governance is about decency in the decisions taken by those at the helm especially the President himself.

If President Mahama wants to be remembered with deference he should avoid such decisions. Anyway he has done his worst; the appointments of the headships of the NCCE and CHRAJ standing prominent and so he has blown that opportunity already.

Appointment letters have been issued to recruits for the Ghana Immigration Service and other quasi-military establishments. Going by what happened when the Kufuor government had completed the engagement of some recruits which was nullified by President Mills, Nana Akufo-Addo could also do same. Should a country be managed this way?