I agree wholeheartedly! He lived in the Castle as president with a leaking roof (because he did not want to inconvenience Ghanaians with a back-and-forth motorcade), he did not give “contracts” to family and friends leaving them in abject poverty, he flew commercial all the time thus diminishing the prestige of the presidency.
As President, he refused to act decisively and to make Innovative and Bold decisions, preferring instead to consult widely (NDC and NPP friends alike) before acting. On every front, he set up commissions or advisory councils (the Economic Advisory Council, the EMT, the Constitutional Review Commission, etc.) whose advice he would mull over before acting. He was a listening president, not an Action President and, therefore, rightly earned the sobriquet: “President do little”.
He hated witch-hunts and eschewed the many ways of “belling a cat”. He dared Ghanaians to look him in the eye to determine if he was a cat hunter/catcher. As a result, there was no retribution against the “thieves” in the previous regimes. But was this because he thought those thieves were only exploiting the weaknesses in a dysfunctional governance structure which sorely needed reform?
He is credited with impressive economic performance under his presidency: spectacular growth in 2010/ 2011, longest stretch of single-digit inflation, stability of the exchange rate, etc. However, everyone knows that the performance was due to “good fortune” coming on steam of oil production, favourable externational environment of very low interest rates due to the global financial crisis, etc.
Worst of all, he took the easy way out by dying in office before he could complete his pet project: a Constitutional Review to make government more accountable, and efficient, and to level the playing field for all Ghanaians.
It is not a curse on Ghana but let us all pray that we (Ghana) get a few more such “bad presidents”. Cheers and Happy Election 2024!
