The Devil himself has just stepped off the stage with his Demons and Principalities. The canopy of dark political cloud that enveloped Ghana for the past 8 years is beginning to dissipate.
But like a pungent emission from a hydrogen sulfide, the effect of 8 years of nation-wreck may linger in the atmosphere for a while. It has been a ragged 8 years of crass Incompetence, Corruption, Ineptitude, Arrogance, Dishonesty, Impunity, Vindictiveness and Lawlessness.
As I watched President John Dramani Mahama (JDM) swear the oath of office, a cold air of nostalgia gripped my being and for a moment, I felt I had traveled in time to the Black Star Square in 1957 when Ghanaians from all walks of life populated that space in one accord to witness the end of the oppressor’s rule and freedom from colonial strangulation.
The atmosphere at the Black Star Square on January 7, 2025 was charged with a sense of RELIEF and HOPE. A relief from the strangling choke of a malevolent flawed ‘democrat’, and a hope for a better Ghana. A better Ghana where no section of Ghanaians will be persecuted, victimized, hounded or disrespected; merely on the basis of their ethnicity, perceived political affiliation or for simply speaking truth to power.
A Ghana; where there is value for money; where our nation’s resources are not criminally fleeced into building a family empire; where citizens critical of government are not seen as Sanballats and Tobiahs and treated as enemies of the State; where our senior citizens can be assured of their pension benefits after serving their country for years; where official appointments are based on merit and hard work, and not on cronyism and political patronage; where the health of our water bodies is not sacrificed on the altar of “party hiaa sika”; and where the President and his appointees serve with humility, dignity and integrity, and not obsessed with arrogance, wealth accumulation and self-aggrandizement.
Indeed, the mess caused to our national economy by the 8-year rule of Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo-Addo and his New Patriotic Party (NPP), is so deep, the damage to our state institutions and our national pride is devastating, and certainly the expectations of the citizens for a quick RESET by the John Mahama’s administration are very high and rightly so.
And thus, the agenda to RESET our nation cannot and should not be an empty rhetoric. The looming energy crisis which greeted the newly installed JDM administration, artificially occasioned by the reckless, treacherous, intentional and unpatriotic act or omission of Nana Akuffo Addo and his government should be a timely reminder that the task ahead is an arduous one.
I am left in no doubt that JDM’s promise of resetting our country goes beyond the task of Recovery. To my mind, a reset at this juncture also implies Retribution and Restitution.
Recovery
Thus far, the dashboard shows a national economy on its knees, buckling under the weight of unprecedented national debt portfolio of approximately US$51.0 billion; energy sector debt of over US$3.5 billion; fast depreciating cedi and high inflation rate; unemployment rate of over 14%; more than 32 tax handles; comatose cocoa sector; and the list goes on. Recovery in this sense will require that JDM puts his best of men to work. The task is huge and cannot definitely be limited to only men of political loyalty. All hands must be invited on deck targeting competent technocrats and economic experts as well. The situation confronting us today is a real national disaster that must not be handled in a business-as-usual fashion.
Recovery will also mean retrieving all looted state assets and resources including huge sums of stolen monies fleeced from the State through various acts of corruption, day light thievery and insider dealings by the functionaries, appointees and cronies of Akuffo Addo’s administration. Of course, wastages and various forms of financial losses caused to the State must equally engage the attention of duty bearers of JDM’s administration.
Lest we forget, a scan through the long list of corrupt acts that must be investigated include but not limited to: the Ghc25 Billion Banking sector clean up; the US$58 Million National Cathedral heist; Ghc21.3 Billion Covid 19 sordid expenditure; US$2.8 Million Sputnik V Vaccine scandal; US$108 Million Ambulance scandal; US$130 Million Frontiers Covid Testing scandal; US$36 Million Covid-19 Smart Workplace Project scandal; Luxurious Presidential Private Jet travels, US$ 8.5 Million Blackstars Afcon Budget; Unconscionable US$48 Million (GHS602 Million) “Operational Expenses” for the 13th African Games; Ghc85 Million Stadia Renovation scandal; the US$3 Billion SML scam; US$ 190 Million PDS scandal; the US$2 Million failed Skytrain project; Cecilia Dapaah Ghc43.7 Million Odo/Kole Dredging scandal and the US$1.0 Million scandal; etc. The list of the scandals is disgustingly, a long one indeed.
The recalibration of our state institutions which have been deliberately desecrated by the Akuffo Addo’s administration should also constitute a thematic area of Recovery. The entire Justice system, the Security sector and the Electoral Commission, are among the topmost victims of state power abuse and overreach.
Recovery cannot be complete without confronting the Galamsey menace head-on in order to restore the health of our water bodies
Retribution
The agenda to RESET Ghana must necessarily encompass Retribution. Individuals who took advantage of state power, official positions or proximity to state power to inflict this excruciating pain on Ghanaians must not go unpunished. The overwhelming endorsement of candidate John Dramani Mahama and the NDC in the December 7, 2024 election, was not only a May Day call by citizens for a rescue mission but a demand for accountability from and punishment for those who for 8 long years (2017-2024) had betrayed the trust imposed in them by the Ghanaian people.
When that day comes however, it is to be expected that those who are called upon to account for their stewardship and their associates will be crying from atop the mountains, complaining of being Witch-hunted. This, we all know, is an old trick deployed by such characters to whip up public sympathy in their favour in order to escape accountability. Regardless, if indeed they are ‘witches’ they must be hunted and hunted down properly. These nation-wreckers, severally and collectively must suffer pain of punishment for their sins they committed against the Ghanaian people.
Restitution
Arguably, state institutions are not the only victims of 8 years of misrule under Nana Akuffo Addo. Individuals, most of whom suffered in silence, also felt the claws of injustice and indignation, wrenching through their hearts, under Akuffo Addo’s administration. Some individuals were either dismissed or demoted or intentional frustrated to abandon their jobs, in their respective places of work, not for any legitimate reasons or stated wrongs, but merely because they either belong to a particular ethnic group or perceived as associates of the National Democratic Congress. Others had their otherwise vibrant businesses destroyed or closed down by the powers that be, not because they had breached any laws or regulations but merely because they were considered enemies and undesirables to the ‘Cabal’ or the ‘Establishment’. Of course, even a group of people belonging to certain ethnic extraction were not equally spared. To all these groups and individuals, RESETTING Ghana means Restitutive Justice. It is their expectation that the administration of JDM will ensure that what the years of ‘Political Locust and Cankerworms’ had taken away from them would be restored. This indeed is a tall order but definitely achievable.
Caution
With the overwhelming endorsement of JDM and the inception of a new era, there is every justification for the high expectations held by citizens. However, may I be quick to remind us all that a time to reset also implies a time for citizens to be measured in their expectations. It is also a time to nurture and exercise a deep sense of patriotism, unity of purpose and patience to build the Ghana we all want together.
Like the dark cloud that fades off gradually at the dawn of a new day and like the dissipation of a lingering odor of a hydrogen sulfide, so shall the devastating effects of 8-year rulership of Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo Addo disperse gradually from our beloved country.
While at it, I wish to admonish the new administration of JDM as follows: Nana Akuffo Addo’s Enemies are not Necessarily your Friends and His Friends are not Necessarily Your Enemies.
God Bless Our Homeland Ghana and Make Her Great and Strong Again!!!
My name is Jake Semahar. And me ‘I no wan talk anytin’
