The President's Health Status

By Eric Bawah


President John Evans Atta Mills

There are three ways of dealing with one's health status – Acceptance, Confrontation and Denial. Acceptance is an aspiration, not a strategy. Confrontation means putting the disease at the centre of your life; learning as much as you can about it and vigorously exploring alternative therapies. Confrontation is like holding the bull by the horns. Denial means letting the disease affect your life as little as possible. You smile even when the pain is unbearable. In fact, it means pretending as best as you can, that you don't even have it. Sometimes you try not to tell outright lies about your ailment and along the line you try some sort of Clintonian evasions and prissy parsing (Question: 'You look so tired. Are you ok?' Answer: 'I feel fine')

Confrontation and denial seem like equally valid strategies, and the choice between them is one of personal taste. Few things are more socially disapproved than inauthenticity or a refusal to face reality. In choosing confrontation, you embrace the 'community' of your fellow victims -another socially approved value. You get sympathy, not from your 'community' but the whole society. In choosing denial, you are guilty of 'self-hatred', like a Jew or African American putting on wasp's airs, or worse still passing himself off as white Christian. If you fool yourself skilfully enough, you can banish thoughts of the disease but still retain a liberating sense of urgency. You desperately search for cures while pretending that you are ok.

So I recommend denial- and defend it as a legitimate option. To work effectively, though, denial requires secrecy and secrecy pretty much requires deception. It is simply easier to go through the day not thinking about your disease if the people who interact with you don't know you are sick. This however complicates the case for denial. Deceiving yourself may offend the cultural prejudice in favour of relentless self-knowledge. It may not offend you, the one carrying the disease. The reason is that what you do with yourself in the privacy of your head is nobody else's business. On the other hand, deceiving those around you is more troublesome. Am I pontificating? Probably, I am in a state of circumlocution, but wait a moment while I light my Havana Cigar.

When I say I recommend denial, I had in mind the situation of the president as far as his health status is concerned. Nobody can convince me that the health status of the president is nobody's business. We the tax payers pick up all his medical bills because the constitution says he should not do any other work apart from the one assigned to him by the Constitution. In the run-up to the last general elections, Hon. Michael Teye Nyaonu, an NDC MP, told the whole world that President Mills was ill and as such he could not withstand the rigors of the campaign. The handlers of candidate Mills vehemently denied the assertion. Once a while, the candidate will fly to South Africa to seek medical treatment and return to tell us that all was well.

Fortunately for him, he was able to withstand the rigors of the campaign, thanks to the hard work of the South Africa doctors, and he was eventually voted to power as the president of Ghana. When he was running for the presidency, we did not care about his health status because it was his own business. After all, was he not simply a candidate of a political party? Now that he is the president of the nation, the issue is no more his own business and we will not allow him to mind that business which is not his, anyway. Since holding the reins of power, the health status of the president is simply suspicious. His handlers make sure his face is always doused with ponds and powder to make him look fine; but if you watch him very closely, you can see that all is not well at all. The last time when his palms turned black, his Deputy Minister of Misinformation, Okudzeto Ablakwa, told us it was as a result of a certain medication the president used. Then there was this sore throat and the sinuses, which were all explained away as normal. As at the time of writing this report, our president was attending hospital in far away New York.

When Ghanaians started talking about the bad eyesight of the president, his handlers kicked like buffaloes. A cameraman who focused his lens on the extra ordinary font size of a script the president was reading was threatened. Anytime the president decided to read his speech, we could see him literally burying his head in the script and finding it difficult to read. That is why he normally delivers his speeches extempore. Before the president went to deliver a speech at the General Assembly of the United Nations, yours sincerely advised him, through this column, that he should not attempt to read the script. He did not take that advice and went there to read the script, which seriously exposed his bad eye sight. It looked as if two sentences were written on one sheet as the president kept opening the pages rapidly.

Dick Cheney, the former Vice President of the United States, adopted denial to survive his tenure of office. That is why I said I will defend denial as a legitimate option. This man had a heart attack but when he was interviewed by a journalist, he said it was not a heart attack but 'unusual heart throbs'. Another reason why I recommend denial is that in this part of the world, telling people the truth about your health status eventually invites stigmatization. Instead of helping you to get a cure for your disease, they capitalize on your predicament to make money. In this era of herbalists who have adopted the title 'Dr.', you would be convinced to pay huge sums of money to get a cure for your disease, which will not come anyway because every sick person is desperate to get a cure. So you keep denying while secretly looking for cure.

You see, if this Earth Angel Gabriel is sick, it is no big deal because that is my own business. After all, who picks my medical bills as a private citizen? In fact, what will the nation lose apart from the fact that I may not be able to contribute to this column, which I have been writing for 10 years now. (Yet, see how time flies?). But if an executive president who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces is sick, that is a big deal. It is not for nothing that countries all over the world hire psychiatrists for their Heads of State. Can you imagine what a mad president can do when confronted with a decision to go to war or not to go to war with a neighbouring country? Just travel down memory lane and see what Heads of State like Emperor Bokassa of the Central Africa Republic, General Iddi Amin Dada of Uganda etc. did to their people. Under a lunatic called Adolph Hitler, Germany was blamed for the Second World War. The president is the number one civil servant of the nation and so if he gets sick, he cannot serve us well.

The handlers of the president are not doing him any good at all. When the president was able to bear the pain and went through his first term of four years in office, they should have impressed upon him to step down for John Dramani Mahama to carry on with the fight. John is comparatively youthful, vibrant and very energetic to withstand the rigors of the job of a president. The handlers of the late president of Nigeria made a similar mistake and drove the man to his untimely death.

When the evidence was clearly written on the wall that Shehu Umaru Yar'Adua was sick and dying, his handlers, for reasons best known to them, played the ostrich until the man was rushed to a foreign country, where he died. If he had stepped aside to seek medical treatment somewhere, I believe he would not have died.

For now, the president is fooling himself so skilfully while he continues to seek for cures for his multiple ailments abroad. Anytime he appears in public, he smiles so broadly to portray that everything is ok for him, but to some of us who have known him for many years, we know this is not the Mills that we used to know. We need him to share his experience with the younger generation so when he follows his handlers and dies untimely, (God forbid) we the people of Ghana would be the losers. Just look at the good things that we are getting from ex-presidents Kufuor and Rawlings. These are the only former Heads of State that the country can boast of and their contributions to the world are so immense that one is always proud to be a Ghanaian. While Kufuor was awarded a prize by the World Food Organization for his ability to fight hunger in Ghana, Rawlings is charged to bring peace to the people of Somalia and stop the famine in that failed state. But if President Mills thinks power is sweeter than honey, so will he continue soldering on till he dies, so be it. Can't those who are close to the president hear that sound of clocks ticking? Tempus fugit, assholes!!!

By Eric Bawah

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Ghana Telescope.Com. The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). Ghana Telescope.Com will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article.

Is Mills A Hypocrite Or Simply Not In Charge?

Akwasi A.Afrifa Akoto

GhanaWeb

ls he or is he not, that is the question. And that what citizens have been trying to find out three year into Mills' presidency.

In fact, this question could easily be settled if we were to go by P-ndc MP for Lower Manya, Teye Nyaunu's famous and eye opening quote that under President Mills "every minister is a president." But it behooves on us to dig further into the matter.

Now, the president's Janus-like attitude can be broken down as such: things which happen contrary to what he preaches; things which happen in his absence; and his ability to find himself out of the country any time unfavorable news is on the way; especially when his people are to embark on the most offensive of attacks. While on paper the president's dilly-dally can easily be categorized, in reality, it is very hard to pinpoint where one starts and the others end. The following examples would help share some light on the issue under discussion.
When the P-ndc lost its first vindictive court case brought against NPP officials , the president was not in town; when he knew his party would lose the Atiwa by-elections, he skipped town to avoid the humiliation-and also to avoid being held responsible for the pre-planned violence his party visited on the constituency; when his party chairman threatened to "kill" the judges, he was not in town.
In more recent times, he scheduled his - current- vacation to coincide with the reading of the worst budget in the history of the 4th Republic. When his spokesperson threatened to "kill" opposition leaders -if they misbehave- he was not in town. When his party communicators insulted the head of the Ahmadiyya mission and the Catholic bishops, the president was no where to be found.
Then who is not aware of the violence and insults that have descended upon the country since he took power; even though he constantly preaches about peace and vehemently condemns insults. One would never had expected the by-elections meant to test his approval ratings to be characterized by such violence - including voters being run down and over by his party's women's organizer's car - judging by his peaceful posturing. Even the founder of his party and his wife have not been spared; not to forget the physical harassment of his party founder's wife by the president's own people in the president hometown simply because she dared to contest him. Nor must we forget the arrests of political pundits for exercising their constitutional rights to free speech though he claims to be the number one upholder of the Constitution.
So when one takes a critical survey of the president's actions -or lack thereof- it is as if he privately instructs his people to be as violent and insulting as possible while he pretends to preach otherwise publicly. Or his people simply don't respect him - since he is not in charge- and thus do whatever they want in spite of the president's constant call for peace and his abhorrence for insulting behavior.
It therefore comes down to this: the president continues to tell the whole world that he intends to oversee and ensure a violent free and fair elections in 2012. Yet for the past three years, he has not been able to restrain his people from violence and insults. None of his people on public payroll has been fired. Nor has he condemned any one for going against his expressed and explicit wishes.
So given the above examples and evidence, should we take the president's word for it and at face value when he tells the world that next year's elections would be violent free and fair? Is he a hypocrite or simply not in charge?
Is he or is he not, that is the question. And that is precisely what citizens would like to know with less than a year left to go.

Akwasi A.Afrifa Akoto


Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Ghana Telescope.Com. The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). Ghana Telescope.Com will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article.

Ghana’s Volatile Economy and Bad Governance

By Ato Aidoo

GhanaWeb

I have no doubts at all, that since 2009 when the reins of government changed in Ghana, decision-making on problematic areas of the economy have been submerged in uncountable controversies.

The government is underperforming. It has woefully failed in immeasurable instances; where it has sidelined the needs and aspirations of majority of the population, who for no palpable reason have to grapple with one more year of deception, and public display of wealth by government officials.

There has been too much of rhetoric, counter-accusations, lies, and commentaries based on nothing but extreme mudslinging that carries the burden of unsubstantiated facts. This has become the hallmark of the present administration in Ghana, a country that started benefiting from oil revenue in the latter part of 2010, but has nothing much to show in terms of practical economic benefits.

New challenges emerging in Ghana, and the ones that appeared to have been met by the introduction of not-too-good interventions had also translated into slow mismanagement of the country’s economy. This presents to the world a portrait of deficient leadership, and bad governance.

The approach to economic growth due to oil production, and yet to be trapped gas, has been sub-standard, and it had become pretty clear that policies for sound economic take-off have been severely affected by beggar-thy-neighbor attitude. Ghana lacks strong leadership, and unless that changes, the country’s poor economic management, and recent debacle of new borrowing and lending would remain a disincentive for rapid growth, as domestic output decreases.

The government’s desire to protect its appointees and party interests appear to be dominating its interventions, as evidenced by a new $20 million party headquarters being built by the Chinese in the capital, Accra, where land acquisition attracts astronomical prices. Inevitably, the people suffer from the impression that this government lacks the ability to govern. The engagement in self-deception, and sweeping statements which the president of a country does not condemn, are not only shocking and demeaning, but help to define how far Ghana’s democracy is deteriorating gradually, but surely into a volatile posture. When will sanity prevail?

Bad governance cannot foster development, and it is imperative the government begins to design and implement development strategies geared toward individual needs and circumstances, while ensuring improvement in the government machinery. Ghana is on life-support against the backdrop of failed promises and trivialities that represent a mockery of the government and its paid commentators who have disengaged their attention from “bread and butter” issues.

If some developing countries enjoyed good governance that facilitated rapid economic growth, it was due to their truthful engagement with the citizenry, and solving problems. Ghana lacks this vision; the broader repercussions are that poverty and unemployment have increased. This has been the bane of the people’s existence. There is lack of a driving force for good economic management, as the government fails to recognize that there is a correlation between development, the impoverished and badly governed.

The demand for fresh thinking and change is legitimate, partly moved by the fact that the people have been short-changed and micro-managed by deception. It is important the people learn and work toward change, and good governance. They should intensify the demand for policies tailored to basic needs, quality education, infrastructural development, functional health system, gender equality, incentives for the disadvantaged and the elderly.

To the people: “power lies in your hands, you have to determine which direction to go, but continually ask yourselves, if this is the type of governance you voted for”. This would help define what Ghanaians could become, if people really aspire to free themselves from these disturbing manifestations of a bigoted government.

In these three words: inconsistencies, intolerant, and unrepentant, Ghanaians can sum up what they have learned about the ruling government, its actions and inactions.

Ghana Goes Auto-Pilot, As President Goes To Rest His Lazy Bones

Source : VibeGhana

BY YAW P. K. MANU

Since our President, John Evans Atta Mills left the shores of Ghana on November 12, 2011, his itinerary has become a mystery, with state-funded newspapers fabricating stories and pictures as to his whereabouts. NDC-funded radio stations have also come alive with the president’s voice, to tell Ghanaians where he has been hiding. But with the “Action year in its last month, with nothing to show for it whilst Professor Mills retreats to nobody-knows-where to “rest is bones”, the question being asked by Ghanaians is, where is our president?
Hosted by Yaw Buaben Asamoa, Minority Caucus, Multi TV’s flagship current affairs programme examined the mysterious absence of the President from the political scene whilst the country moves in a clueless direction.

Making his submission on the matter, John Boadu, a Deputy Director of Communication of the opposition NPP expressed his disappointment at the President’s way-bellow-average-performance in his “Action Year”. “We are in the second week of the last month in the “Action Year” and not a single target has been achieved, yet the President says he is tired and so is going t o rest his bones”. It will be recalled that in the last month of last year (2010), President Mills declared the year 2011 as his action year. According to the President, 2011 is the year in which Ghanaians will see the physical manifestations of the ‘Better Ghana’ agenda. It will be the year when Ghanaians will see the government making judicious use of the country’s resources, especially in the area of infrastructural development, to give meaning to the lives of the citizenry. Actual construction will start taking place all over the country”. But according to John Boadu, government is in total disarray with everybody doing what he or she likes without any checks. He cited the recent court ruling which directed the National Petroleum Agency (NPA) to stop imposing illegal taxes on Ghanaians and to refund the monies collected so far. The NPA has so far not heeded the directive of the court. On November 2, 2011, the Minister of Energy announced the dissolution of the ECG Board but by the afternoon of November 6, 2011, a counter directive had come for the Office of the Presidency, superseding that from the Ministry of Energy.

The Deputy Director of Communication also questioned the President’s wisdom in going to rest his lazy bones abroad. For a president who is constantly calling on African countries to take their destiny into their own hands and strive to indecently develop their economies, John Boadu was of the opinion that the President could have relaxed his lazy bones in any one of the country’s tourist resorts; a move which would definitely have a positive impact on the tourism sector, a sector which the President has managed to run down to -11% growth. He described President Mills as the most expensive head of state Ghana has ever had, with his presidency overloading the country with debts at a rate, faster than Usain Bolt. Currently, the country’s debt is over $14billion, with more than $4billion before Parliament for approval; yet projects to be undertaken in the “Action Year” never materialised. He revealed, that a number of Presidential Aides do not have offices at the seat of government. “this president has so many aides that the Castle cannot accommodate them so they are scattered in a number of offices housed by Ministries, Departments and government agencies, whilst collecting fat salaries and riding in V8 Toyota Land Cruisers. In the 2012 budget, the office of the President alone was allocated a whooping GH¢236,000,000 to carry out its programmes. This compares to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture which was allocated a paltry GH¢262,239,746 to finance its core programme of ensuring food security for the whole country.

The former National Youth Organiser also lambasted the Committee for Joint Action (CJA), a pressure group clothed in NDC colours for being hypocritical about the legion of corruption in government. Instances he cited included the “loan given by the head of Venture Capital Fund, to his girlfriend; the struggle for contracts between Central Regional Minister Ama Benyiwa Doe and her party’s regional communications director, Allotey Jacobs and the embezzlement of NYEP funds by the Mampong-Ashanti MCE among others.

Also on the programme to offer his in-depth contribution was Justice Abeiku Newton Offei, a political analyst and columnist for the Daily Guide newspaper. He expressed worry at the President going “underground”, until the general Ghanaian population started asking questions. “Considering the general suspicion that all is not well with the president’s health, mystifying his whereabouts will not help. I heard his frail voice on Radio Gold saying that he is in on leave in the USA, but how do we know that’s true”, he quizzed.

According to him the attire won by the president as captured on the front page of the Daily Graphic of Monday November 5, 2011, was the same as the one he wore when he recently attended the UN summit, leading to speculations that the picture was meant to throw Ghanaians off. Citing the U. S. A. as an example, Justice Offei stated that the whereabouts of the U. S. president especially when he is on annual leave is never shrouded in secrecy. He criticized government’s communication machinery for being dodgy about the president’s whereabouts advising, that where the impression is given that the president is not in control of affairs, it can seriously undermine the functioning of state structures

He called for a thorough medical check-up of presidential and parliamentary candidates as part of the criteria to qualify one to stand for election, pointing out that in a society where the impression is being given, that issues concerning the health status of a politician should be shrouded in secrecy, it is important to give meaning to Article 69 of the constitution in order to avert a situation where the country will be saddled with an invalid as president.

YAW P. K. MANU
Yawp.kmanu@gmail.com


Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Ghana Telescope.Com. The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). Ghana Telescope.Com will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article.