Open Letter To #FixGhanaNow Campaigners
Dear #FixGhanaNow campaigners,
I wish to begin by congratulating you for your relentless war against ‘mediocrity’; for your call for accountability from our leaders; for the pressure you are putting on our government, under the stewardship of President Akufo-Addo, to fix the problems of Ghana. I commend you more importantly for awakening the political consciousness of Ghanaians through your famous #FixGhanaNowMovement, which began on twitter and now metamorphosed into an actionable Movement.
I was persuaded by your resilience and impregnable determination in pushing through your demands and seeking immediate answers. My only concern is that, you appear to be demanding too much from a government that is not even yet fully constituted. Is been only 4-months after the inauguration of the President, he is yet to constitute Boards of State Institutions; he is yet to appoint CEOs of State Institutions; he is yet to appoint Deputy Ministers; he is yet to appoint his staffers; he is yet to appoint MMDCEs and so on and so forth.
And yet, you tell me that you want this 4-month-old government to IMMEDIATELY fix ALL THE PROBLEMS of Ghana. You want this 4-month-old government to IMMEDIATELY fix all the legacy challenges bedevilling this country, from the precolonial days; to the colonial days; to the days of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah; to the days of Prime Minister Busia; to the days of Kutu Acheampong; to the days of Hilla Limman; to the days of Rawlings; to the days of John Kufuor; to the days of Atta Mills; to the days of John Mahama. How realistic are these demands of yours?
Notwithstanding my reservations, I was still sympathetic to your cause, and I was getting ready to join you in the much talked about #FixGhanaNow demonstration. I had prepared both physically and psychologically to join you because I still thought you had some genuine concerns, until I saw the tall list of your specific demands; whereupon I came to the conclusion that you do not deserve my support.
You want this 4-month-old government to construct all roads in the country; to build schools and hospitals in every part of the country to meet the educational and health needs of Ghanaians; to immediately resolve the recent power outages being experienced in some parts of the country; to pay contractors, etc… and yet, you say the government should not borrow.
You also say the government should reduce taxes drastically, and not tax Ghanaians because of hardship. So, I ask, where do you expect the government to get money to meet the tall list of your demands? Where…? To go rob the IMF or the World Bank? You also want this 4-month-old government to provide decent jobs to Ghanaians, and yet, you want him to sack all his Deputy Ministers Designate (Question: are the Deputy Ministers Togolese?).
Notwithstanding the frivolity and outlandishness of your demands, the listening Vice President of the Republic, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, still made time to respond to you. He had explained among other things that the Akufo-Addo government has made significant commitment to fixing all the problems it inherited, and it is still fixing them. Indeed, there cannot be a mention of any problem of this country that is not being fixed by the Akufo-Addo government.
Together, we shall build this country and resolve its problems to the glory of ALLAH. In the meantime, we need to cut out the hypocrisy and face our very reality. I thought as civil society and middle-class citizens, you are supposed to be a reflection of the conscience of the Ghanaian society. If this is what moral society has to offer, then I dare say, moral society itself needs immediate fixing. You cannot approbate and reprobate, nor can you have your cake and eat it; for he who seeks equity, must not only come with clean hands, but must also be ready to do equity.
You and I know that the debilitating effects of Covid-19 on the world economy cannot be overestimated. Indeed, the world economy had contracted by more than 4%, and Ghana cannot be an exception. Seasoned economists have submitted that prior to the outbreak of this deadly pandemic, the Ghanaian economic fundamentals were looking good. With the kinds of outrageous demands you are making, I dare say that, even in normal times, without Covid, the almighty American economy cannot meet those demands in the immediacy.
When the President asked us to be citizens and not spectators, he really meant we should be citizens; genuine citizens; citizens that are real; citizens that can demand what is demandable and achievable. Certainly, not citizens that will demand their President to walk on lake Bosomtwe or the sea of Galilee; not citizens who will ask their President to turn a man into woman without undergoing surgery; not citizens who will ask their President to turn water into wine;
Not citizens who will as ask their President to raise the dead; not citizens who will as ask their President to heal the deaf and dumb as well as the blind; and certainly, not citizens who will ask their President to feed thousands of people with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. What you [FixGhanaNow campaigners] are asking of President Akufo-Addo and his 4-month-old government, is not any different from these biblical prophetic wonders.
You may have to come again.
Assalamu alaikum
#ForGodAndCountry