I would have loved to touch on myriad of issues regarding your [ads1]administration but time and space would not permit. In consequence, I would limit myself to those outlined below for now:
Mr President, may I remind you of your foremost duty to the teeming youth and unemployed people across the length and breadth of our motherland. Job creation should be at the heart of all of your actions and inactions. This is where I propose that planting for food and jobs as well as one district one factory should have taken precedence over the FREE SHS program.
Much as I largely agree to FREE SHS program in principle, I am opposed to the wholesale nature of its implementation. My reasons include the fact that the spine of our economy is just too weak to support this humongous responsibility of taking care of all senior high students by 2019. It could have been tailored to cover needy students and deprived schools. Again, we should be more interested in quality education more than anything else if we want to accelerate our national development.
On the issue of the fight against illegal mining and galamsey menace, I salute your gallantry in pursuit of the national good and interest. In fact, generations yet unborn would praise and honour your memory even up to a century to come. I would have even loved that we take the fight a notch higher by barring all mining activities because mining whether legal or illegal has not yielded any worthy dividends beyond the paltry foreign exchange Ghana earns.
Mr President, I however beg to differ when it comes to the handling of the fight against the menace across board. First, I recommend that the taskforce against galamsey should target and eliminate foreign involvement in the menace.
Until the Chinese and other foreigners came aboard the galamsey caravan, local people had mined on small scale without any major threat to the environment. If small scale mining or galamsey was as destructive as we have it today, Ghana as a country would have ceased to exist centuries ago. In reality, small scale mining is more than five hundred (500) years old in Ghana. Additionally, no alternative livelihood has been provided before and after the proscription of the menace across Ghana. Operation Vanguard is a nonstarter because their deployment and funding is unwarranted since local authorities could be deployed at a cheaper cost and could be even more effective. Would Operation Vanguard last forever or is a contingency measure? Would the use of unmeasured force go unchallenged in the long run?
Agriculture is the backbone of all strong and sustainable economies across the world. Until we attain self sufficiency in agricultural production and create surpluses for export, our economy would remain weak and beggarly. The ‘planting for food and jobs’ mantra must quickly translate into tangible reality on the ground.
Honesty and building trust in the institutions of governance should be your number one focus. You assumed office at a time public confidence in state institutions was at the ebb. This could be achieved by ensuring transparency and accountability among public office holders. Again, national interest must override all partisan considerations and patronage. Focus on one term and wean yourself from party interest and control. You cannot satisfy two masters and interests at the same time.
Bribery and corruption are the twin nation wreckers. Our country has hemorrhaged and continues to bleed till today. One thing all Ghanaians have lost sight of is that Ghana loses more to corruption than any other budgetary allocation to any state agency and department. Corruption must be tackled at the root and not the flowery and cosmetic approaches we have adopted over the years. No single leader might be able to deal decisively with corruption without getting the fundamentals right. Crack the whip in your own party first and it will give you the moral courage and impetus to whip the rest of the country in line. Disinfection of your cabinet and appointees is key to your success in office. Prosecute all past and present government appointees who have embezzled and misappropriated state funds without fear or favour.
Positive work ethics should not be compromised. I am vehemently opposed to the annual clichés at annual workers’ day parade addresses where president after president only complain about the negative work culture which has perpetuated itself in our civil and public service. It is sad that you were caught in the same web in your maiden address to all workers of Ghana on May Day. I firmly believe it is time to crack the whip on nonchalant and nonperforming public workers. We cannot continue to pretend and play the ostrich with our poor national output and productivity.
I would like encourage you to deemphasize external loans and external assistance by blocking loopholes in the financial administration of the country. No nation thrives and develops by leaps and bounds by hopelessly depending on other nations. We need as a matter of urgency shed the borrowing and aid tag to become self reliant and self sufficient in managing our own affairs not only politically but more importantly economically. Other people and nations cannot take care of us better than ourselves.
Focus more on the legacy you would leave behind tangibly for generations yet unborn rather than popular decisions which will call for applause today but leave sour taste and memory afterwards. Act more than you talk. Your deeds would speak for you even after you have left office. Welcome criticisms whether positive or negative and glean the best out of them. Remember, opposition and detractors would continue to oppose and detract but your focus should be on the ball and the goal.
Build ‘brain trust’ around you as a fulcrum for your administration. You need intellectual inputs in your decisions which would bridge the gap between party interest and national interest. You need a collection of the best brains in academia, business and industry as well as ordinary citizens on the streeet to help you stay in touch with the reality on the ground. Core party faithfuls are often praise singers, bootlickers and sycophants who only tell you what you want to hear and not what you need to hear.
My final thought is that leadership is about responsibility. Leadership and excuses do not go together. Leaders do not determine the circumstances or exigencies of their times but they brace up and tackle hurdles head on. Leaders always stand at the threshold of history bearing in mind the huge responsibility resting on their shoulders everyday they live and serve. Leadership is the defining moment in the life of an organization or a nation. It holds the key to the rise or fall of a nation or a group. Mr President, Ghana stands or falls on your leadership. I wish you well and may God bless you. May God bless our homeland Ghana and make Ghana better and stronger under your watch.
Yours faithfully,
Clement Adjei Sarfo
(The Crusader)