I am certain in my mind, that come January 7 th , 2025, one of two gentlemen would be the President of Ghana. The
person would be either John Dramani Mahama, or Mahamadu Bawumia. Without fail, we would swear in one of the
two men as President come January 7 th , 2025.
I am also quite certain in my mind, that the governance of the country would not experience any marked difference in quality in the four years that would follow. The nation would still be a net international borrower. The Cedi would
continue to depreciate. Inflation, the rise in the prices of goods and services, would continue to skyrocket.
The destruction of the environment would continue apace.
Development would be continue to be at a snail’s pace, and much of what we would see, dubbed ‘development’,
would be highly over-priced monuments that we would build, and fail to maintain. Like the Agenda 111 hospitals.
The streets would continue to be dirty; human rights would still be nothing to write home about, and the corruption
we are seeing today, in comparison to what we would experience between 2025 to 2029, would be like a child’s
play.
We are truly caught between two stones. Describing our situation as between a stone and a hard place, would
suggest that we may have it easier with the ‘hard place’. Any such hope, would however be misplaced.
And I say so for obvious reasons. Bawumia’s sole platform for ascending to political power, was his promised
miracle of bringing about an economic transformation. He first came to attention during the era of ‘redenomination’,
when he was credited with the idea of wiping off four zeroes at the back of the Cedi, to bring it on a par with the
dollar. Nearly two decades later, that artifice, that propelled him to the view of the then New Patriotic Party (NPP)
flag bearer Nana Akufo-Addo, has turned out to be a false hope. Wiping off the four zeroes behind the Cedi, has
proved as much of an economic miracle, as describing a rabbit as a stallion. And in this case, at least we can cut up
the rabbit for food.
Since the decision to ‘redenominate’ was taken, the Cedi (now dubbed Ghana Cedi), has seen a rapid decline in
value. It is still plummeting. Today, at least one of the zeroes is back. The Ghana Cedi exchanges at GHC16.00 to
the dollar. In 2006, it was GHC0.98 to the dollar. In 18 years, the Ghana Cedi has taken a truly horrendous beating.
And the promise is that it would be worse. In the 18 years, both Bawumia and the other choice, John Dramani
Mahama, have had opportunity at economic governance. Neither have proven to have a panacea for the woes of the
Cedi.
The situation is so bad, that even Bawumia has become shy about speaking about the economy. These days, he has
adopted a new fad; digitization. He is busy ‘digitizing’ any and everything in sight. Show him a cassava, and he will
show you a digitalized version.
And it is understandable. The failings of the NPP government, of which he is the number two man, has been
legendary. His boss, Nana Akufo-Addo, himself came to national attention as an advocate for human rights. With
the sun setting on eight years of truly unremarkable rule, human rights is hardly mentioned, and with reason. Under
his watch, Ghana has experienced unprecedented rights abuses. Like Bawumia on the economy, Nana Addo hardly
ever mentions human rights.
The pair have performed so badly and abysmally, that they are about to hand over power to a certified bribe taker,
John Dramani Mahama.
Eight years ago, the name and brand ‘John Mahama’ was so badly damaged, that he lost elections by over one and a
half million votes, the worst electoral drubbing in Ghana’s history. And there was a reason for this. The scandals
that erupted when Mr. Mahama was president, were so many, that many Ghanaians lost count. I can remember a
few; bus branding saga. GYEEDA, SUBAH Info Solutions, the guinea fowl scandal, the four by four gift scandal,
and many, many more.
Yet John Mahama is back; not because of anything useful or sensible he has promised Ghanaians, but because the
current governance has been so abysmal, that many Ghanaians are prepared to try anything, even handing
themselves over to John Mahama with the potential that he would bring about another international disgrace by
buying an aeroplane.
And speaking of aeroplanes, under Mr. Mahama, there were other scandals apart from Airbus, with regard to the
purchase of aeroplanes. Many Ghanaians recall the Airbus Scandal. But many have forgotten that there was a similar
scandal with regard to the purchase of another aeroplane from Brazil. The Embraer Matter.
Anyway, with less than two weeks to December 7, 2024, I can only express how deeply sad I am, that we are so
bereft of choices, that we can only contemplate living four more years under the administration of one of two these
two men.
Ordinarily, choosing between two gentlemen, selecting who is better suited to lead, should not have been a difficult
choice.
Between Bawumia and Mahama, we are going to select one, who we know definitely would be a non-performer, and
who, predictably, would make life. But what choice do we have?
(PERISCOPE DEPTH of 25 th November, 2024. Periscope Depth is published every Monday in the Daily
Searchlight).
