The frequent calls on the president of late to be firm and resolute in his administration of the country are anti-egalitarian and dangerous to the young striving democracy of the country. It has almost assumed a state of normalcy for one to rise up in the morning and call the president a wavering leader especially if he is in opposition or looses his political appointment. But what is very baffling and highly unfortunate is the fact that leaders that might be fired on grounds of non-performance, incompetence or other wise, rage at the president and make all sorts of deprecating remarks calling him to be firm and not allow himself to be influenced unnecessarily by others. But if we are involved in this ‘personal-political interests gymnastics’, are we actually practicing the democracy we preach every day? Can the president sit in the castle and know all what is going on at the grass root level of administration without being informed by the people? Simply no! One thing we should not forget is that, every democratically elected government must always have a listening ear to the petitions and grievances of the people laid before him if he really wants the tenets and frontiers of democracy of the country to soar higher. After all, borrowing from a one time scholar and president of the United States of America, democracy means government of the people, for the people and by the people (Abraham Lincoln). The simple but shameful message left behind by these ‘raging’ political appointees—though they might not be aware, is always that people will not be far from right to believe that they unnecessarily influenced the president in to giving them the appointment when they sought for it, that is why they know the president was unnecessarily influenced in to sacking them. Let it therefore be made clear to our political leaders both opposition and incumbent that as much as we preach democracy in this country, there is the urgent need for an attitudinal change towards the helm of administration of this country. One thing that should not be forgotten is that whether we voted president mills in to power or not his title is now ‘the president of Ghana’ and not that of a facet of the Ghanaian society and therefore must be regarded as such for the general integrity of the country. Enough of the insults of the presidency if we actually love this country!
The frequent calls on the president of late to be firm and resolute in his administration of the country are anti-egalitarian and dangerous to the young striving democracy of the country. It has almost assumed a state of normalcy for one to rise up in the morning and call the president a wavering leader especially if he is in opposition or looses his political appointment. But what is very baffling and highly unfortunate is the fact that leaders that might be fired on grounds of non-performance, incompetence or other wise, rage at the president and make all sorts of deprecating remarks calling him to be firm and not allow himself to be influenced unnecessarily by others. But if we are involved in this ‘personal-political interests gymnastics’, are we actually practicing the democracy we preach every day? Can the president sit in the castle and know all what is going on at the grass root level of administration without being informed by the people? Simply no! One thing we should not forget is that, every democratically elected government must always have a listening ear to the petitions and grievances of the people laid before him if he really wants the tenets and frontiers of democracy of the country to soar higher. After all, borrowing from a one time scholar and president of the United States of America, democracy means government of the people, for the people and by the people (Abraham Lincoln). The simple but shameful message left behind by these ‘raging’ political appointees—though they might not be aware, is always that people will not be far from right to believe that they unnecessarily influenced the president in to giving them the appointment when they sought for it, that is why they know the president was unnecessarily influenced in to sacking them. Let it therefore be made clear to our political leaders both opposition and incumbent that as much as we preach democracy in this country, there is the urgent need for an attitudinal change towards the helm of administration of this country. One thing that should not be forgotten is that whether we voted president mills in to power or not his title is now ‘the president of Ghana’ and not that of a facet of the Ghanaian society and therefore must be regarded as such for the general integrity of the country. Enough of the insults of the presidency if we actually love this country! The author, Solomon Anzagra is in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology – Kumasi, Ghana [email: [email protected]]