Stop it!

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has promised to make Ghana work again

Apparently a lot of unfortunate incidents have been happening of late in the country that cannot be allowed to pass without commenting.

I bet, Ghana, your country, my country, will never see any meaningful progress, unless you and I, learn how to be accountable, and more importantly, hold our incompliant public officials accountable at all times without fear or favour.

I am afraid, it would appear that some people who have been given the opportunity to serve in the current NPP administration are regrettably taking things for granted, judging from the unfortunate, albeit avoidable happenings at their work settings.

Much as some of the allegations are mere flimsy work of the lousy opposition, the appointees cannot and must not keep opening themselves to obdurate tattletales, who are ever ready to pounce on insubstantial issues.

Perhaps, more than anything else, the appointing authority may have to put its foot down and do the unthinkable in the Ghanaian political landscape by dismissing the incompliant appointees.

Indeed, I am of the firm conviction that the right curative for a possible attitudinal and behavioural change is to resort to stringent disciplinary measures.

Why must an unrepentant appointee hold on to his/her position despite an admissible evidence of gross misconduct?

By way of a brief digression, albeit pertinent to the topic under discussion, in a desperate attempt to quell the unrelenting impishness of their wayward children in most advanced countries, more specifically, the United Kingdom, where I have long-standing passing acquaintance, most parents often resort to the ineffective admonishing tool such as ‘stop it’. Certainly, it won’t work on an impenitently naughty child.

The apparent Labyrinth of rules and laws have invariably tied the hands of the usual disciplinarian African parent.

And in contrast to the teachings of the holy book, parents have rather been instructed to spare the rod and spoil their children.

Personally, I do not accept the notion that a naughty child can only be reformed through corporal punishment. Other disciplinary measures such as ‘carrots and sticks’ (rewards and sanctions) can be used to discipline unrepentant brats.

In a great scheme of things, the appointing authority must not and cannot continue to spare the rod and thereby jeopardising the bigger political project.

Let us be honest, though, some appointees are unfortunately refusing to accept the fact that the NPP government does not have absolute right to remain in power. Indeed, President Akufo-Addo and his appointees have to work towards their re-election.

Discerning Ghanaians, so to speak, voted the NDC government out of power in the 2016 general election largely due to the presence of arrogance of power, wanton corruption and sheer negligence.

Thus, we could conclude that discerning Ghanaians will not forgive the NPP government if they failed to perform exceedingly better than the erstwhile NDC government.

And what is more, the few lucky NPP appointees must not turn away from their brassbound party loyalists, many of whom worked their socks off to ensure the electoral victory in the 2016 election.

Make no mistake, dearest reader, indeed, one cannot be far from right for asserting that during the 2016 electioneering campaign, the vast majority of the supporters at the lower end of the ladder worked extremely hard than most of the people who have landed government appointments.

So, let the NPP government appointees look down upon the ordinary hardworking and selfless men and women at their own peril.

Even though the vast majority of the supporters knew very well that they’ll never in a million years get appointment in government, they persevered and worked strenuously to ensure victory in the 2016 election.

They are indeed the real patriots, who want nothing but the prosperity of Ghana. I, for one, will ever admire their unparalleled patriotism and altruism.

To me, the best the NPP appointees could do for those party loyalists and the millions of discerning Ghanaians who rightly brought the party into power is to stay focus and hit the ground running so as to ameliorate their lives.

Indeed, the good people of Ghana found in NPP, a redeemer, in whom they trusted to set them free from the NDC government’s economic bondage.

Thus, President Nana Akufo-Addo and his appointees must not and cannot disappoint discerning Ghanaians, whose invaluable efforts brought about the needed change.