JUST before President John Agyekum Kufuor left for Tokyo, Japan, to attend the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), he dropped two significant lists, each with its own ramifications. The first was a list of names to fill some ministerial and ambassadorial positions; the second was a list of distinguished Ghanaians to receive national awards in July this year.
As party members were worrying themselves as to why certain names should be missing while others should be on the list, it was rather the second list which attracted national attention.
I am referring to the mention of Professor John Evans Atta Mills, a former Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana and presidential aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Election 2008, as a recipient of the Companion of the Star of Ghana award, alongside the incumbent Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama; Otumfuo Osei Tutu II; Nayiri Naa Bohugu Mahama Shirigu, the Paramount Chief of the Mamprugu Traditional Area, and Yagbon Wura Bawa Doshie, the Paramount Chief of the Gonja Traditional Area.
For a country that has been yearning (or is it crying?) for national reconciliation, I thought this was a welcome piece of news and that many would agree that President Kufuor was on track, sending strong signals that the people of this nation can live in unity, notwithstanding the varied shades of political opinion, and that those who deserve recognition, no matter their political affiliation, will get that recognition.
Prof Mills’s nomination, following closely the presidential pardon granted Mr Daniel Abodakpi, the MP for Keta, who was serving a 10-year sentence for causing financial loss to the state, should be seen, under normal circumstances, as a move towards national reconciliation.
However, the debate triggered by Prof Mills’s name on the list indicates that we are yet to separate politics from the national agenda.
There are those, mostly supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who opposed Prof Mills getting the award — the highest in the land — for various reasons.
One reason was that the award was a tacit endorsement of Prof Mills by President Kufuor or at least it will give the NDC presidential aspirant a psychological advantage over the other contestants in the race. What might have deepened the fears of those holding on to this line of thought was the conspicuous absence of the name of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the NPP presidential aspirant, from the list (at least the initial one). It is to balance the equation that some people who belonged to this group are calling for the inclusion of Nana Akufo-Addo’s name in the honour list.
There are those who think that purely on matters of merit, Prof. Mills does not deserve the award. They claim the man has not achieved much in his public life to merit the highest honour of the land. I am yet to hear from any big name in the NPP who has been able to judge the issue impartially and come to the conclusion that Prof. Mills deserves the honour.
On the NDC side are some fanatics who are giving all sorts of interpretations to Prof. Mills’s nomination for the award. As if to taunt the NPP, some NDC supporters see President Kufuor’s gesture as a snub of the Akufo-Addo candidature, while others see it as a silent admiration for Prof Mills by the President.
A clear departure from this kind of reasoning was what came from Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, the former Member of Parliament for Kumbungu in the Northern Region and running mate of Prof Mills in the 2004 presidential elections, who, in his judgement, saw the nomination as an exhibition of mature leadership and a positive step towards bridging the gap between the government and the opposition.
To place value on the President’s nomination, it is necessary to strip the exercise of any partisan garb. First, it must be accepted that the national honours are the prerogative of the President, even though he is assisted in the selection of the candidates by a committee of distinguished personalities. Second, the honour list has never met with the approval of the whole population. While there is no question mark about some of the winners, others always draw queries as to how they came to be nominated in the first place.
The question, then, is, does Prof Mills deserve the national honour, regardless of who is the President of the Republic? The measure could be subjective, since there could be differing opinions on how to judge the man. However, it should be possible to establish some common ground rules in order to come up with a fair and unbiased assessment of the man.
Prof Mills’s public service can be put into three or possibly four compartments — first, as a university teacher who rose to the position of professor; second, as a public servant who served with the Internal Revenue Service; third, as a politician who became the Vice-President of the Republic. He also had his social and private life as any other Ghanaians.
In the first instance, the public is yet to be fed with any adverse information about his performance as a teacher while at the University of Ghana, Legon. In the same way, nobody has come out openly to question his integrity while he was the head of the Internal Revenue Service and those who knew him at close range describe him as a simple, nice, competent and hardworking person.
Prof Mills’s problem lies in his life as a politician. I believe if the man had remained in the academia, very few, if any at all, would have raised objection against his nomination as a national award winner. So what has he done politically? Some claim he was part of the human rights abuses under the Rawlings government, since he never raised a finger against those abuses. Some also say he was part of the government which saw the collapse of the economy.
We all know that under the Executive presidential system, as is being practised now, the President is the sole Executive and the Vice-President is at best a President-in-waiting. Until that day comes, the Vice-President is more or less an errand boy. It will, therefore, be unfair to make it look as if Prof. Mills had an executive or constitutional power which he failed to use to check the excesses of the President.
By the way, will someone tell us whether there has been any occasion when Vice-President Mahama openly or publicly challenged, opposed or condemned any decision, action or inaction of President Kufuor. That is how the position is as of now.
Today, we credit President Kufuor and Vice-President Mahama for being a good pair and having given the Presidency the needed nobility and respectability which were missing in the past. Alhaji Mahama has further been commended for giving President Kufuor the needed support and co-operation in his task of managing the affairs of state simply because there had neither been any open confrontation between the two nor any known major disagreement, as was the case between the late Mr Kow Nkensen Arkaah and Flt Lt Rawlings. That may not mean Vice-President Mahama and President Kufuor are unanimous on all matters.
The Vice-President is to help the President to administer the state machinery and not to run a parallel administration nor serve as a check nor act as an opposition within the Executive. The Vice-President can advise or counsel, but even that could only be done in private and behind closed doors.
For instance, it was possible that at Cabinet or in-house meetings Prof Mills might have advised against certain presidential or governmental decisions or actions. But that was as far as he could go. The final decision rested with the President. Can we imagine a situation where our vice-presidents will be calling regular press conferences condemning the decisions of their Presidents or governments?
The only recourse to a vice-president would be to resign if he felt strongly opposed to an issue on purely moral grounds or as a matter of principle. We are yet to see anything close to that in our part of the world.
Can there be anything positive about Prof Mills as a politician? Yes. Some say he is a voice of moderation in a fiery environment. Many agree that he preaches peace and unity, instead of fire and brimstone, much to the discomfort of some of his own party members. That is why they think he is weak and cannot act independently.
So, has President Kufuor acted well by nominating Prof Mills for the national award? Whatever the reason that informed President Kufuor’s decision to nominate Prof Mills, one thing is very clear: It was a decision that will serve the national cause. It was a decision which will bridge the yawning political divide and get us closer to the much-expected national reconciliation we have been yearning for.
We cannot talk about national reconciliation without upholding the virtues of some key words, which include tolerance, accommodation and recognition. President Kufuor is judging Prof Mills not as a politician but as a Ghanaian who has distinguished himself in public service. That is RECOGNITION. In doing so, he is conveying an important message: That this country belongs to all of us and those contributions should be recognised, no matter one’s political affiliation. That is a sign of TOLERANCE and ACCOMMODATION.
The full list is not out yet, but there are indications that personalities in previous governments who excelled in national duty will be recognised. What more elixir do we want for national reconciliation?
We always talk about national unity, tolerance and reconciliation. However, whenever a move is made to bring these national dreams into reality, some people are quick to find something negative about those moves. Any time there is a beacon of light leading us towards the goal of national unity, there are those who do not see anything positive about that signal and they do everything to dim it.
Our life is not just about politics. We have more worthy things to live for and not just the politics of hatred, acrimony and winner-takes-all.
May be we need to take inspiration from the words of Peter Tosh, the reggae superstar, who, in his song, EQUAL RIGHTS, sang:
Everyone is crying out for peace, yes none is crying out for justice ……
Everybody want to go to up heaven but nobody want to die …
What is due to Caesar, you better give it onto Caesar, and what belong to I and I
You better give it up to I.
Peter Tosh died many years ago but his words must remind us that we cannot talk of national unity, peace and reconciliation if we shun the things that can bring those things to us.
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