On Transitional Matters; Mustapha Hamid Should Hasten Slowly
15th December 2016
I wish to admonish our new kid on the block, the very eloquent, Mustapha Hamid that, there will be so much for him to talk about in the immediate and near future and so should not run at every opportunity as a 'presidential' spokesperson to the press to speak, just for the sake of it.
In as much as his position may require of him within this transitional period, to fill-in the gaps of communication issues, especially from the camp of the president-elect to the media, I will implore him to hasten slowly on his penchant for sprinting to the media with matters that possess the semblance of subtly initiating a negative and needless publicity stunt against the out-going government.
I am completely at sea with the provisions of the Transitional Act, because I'm yet to read a sentence from that act itself, but I'm not sure that there's any aspect of the provisions that bars or better still prevents an outgoing government from performing its constitutional mandate of exhausting its tenure in full just because it lost elections.
The NDC government led by H.E John D. Mahama will be handing the reigns of power over to Nana Akufo-Addo on the 7th of January 2017, and rightly so, that's when The NPP led administration can assume the reigns of power as per the 1992 constitution.
This new theory by Mustapha Hameed and the co-chairman of the transitional team on the NPP side, Hon Osafo-Marfo, suggesting that "in the spirit of good faith" government should not sign contracts, not undertake any recruitment programmes that have been captured in the budget, in effect government should not take any decisions on behalf of the people of Ghana because it doesn't engender "good faith". Woww! What logic!
My question is, by whose standards do we measure "good faith"? Is it not emerging that the NPP is always whining at simple issues and making them appear so complicated? Or It is a matter of selective amnesia, otherwise Mr Osafo-Marfo should only have contacted President Kuffour to find out what he did during his last three days in office as the then president.
Mr Osafo-Marfo would have found out that the now famous Single Spine Salary Structure was signed off on the 6th of January 2009, one CLEAR day before handing over. Was that in "good faith" or not? Several government Landed properties were signed off to cronies and all manner of decisions that was meant to put spokes in the wheels of the Atta-Mills government right from the onset. We all know how Ghana's wage bill skyrocketed overnight and for well over six years those decisions never gave the NDC government any breathing space till now.
President John D. Mahama as I know him, does not fall in the category of such wicked acts, let alone take a decision that may end up injuring the country that he so wanted to lead again for another four year term.
That notwithstanding, he will continue to follow due process in taking appropriate decisions that will inure to the benefit of Ghanaians, whether it is recruitments, signing of contracts, etc, etc, I think once it falls within the remits of law and due process, I have no qualms about it and that should not be misconstrued to mean a decision in "bad faith" as is being made to appear by Mustapha Hameed and his cohorts.
Ghana is not divided into two factions, we are a unitary State and can only be governed at any point in time by one elected government to serve a full tenure. Our friends in the NPP should help us obtain a smooth transitional period devoid of suspicions and bad faith at this stage. The magnanimity displayed by the outgoing NDC.
Government so far rather deserves commendation to a large extent and I implore the spokesperson of the president-elect not to be in a haste to address the media at the least opportunity since he will have so much to talk about and may even be fed up sooner than later. He may even develop hatred for the microphone.
Let the Peace of God Reign over this Nation. Stay Blessed.