When governance is reduced to reckless political gossip bordering on the amoral and amorous by immature government appointees, citizens have sufficient grounds to be concerned about the quality of the President�s discretion.
Ghanaians were stunned by the latest political scandal to bedevil the Mahama administration after a revealing political gossip went viral on social media and on the front page of one of the country�s leading private newspapers yesterday.
The multifaceted conversation consisted of romance, administration of justice with particular reference to the recent election petition hearing, influence peddling, fortune-making as a function of local politics and many more: we would for the ease of presentation break the anomalies into various compartments in a series commencing from this edition.
President John Mahama would now appreciate the importance of considering as critical requirements, maturity in age and work experience when making appointments. When the issue was raised by many, he too, out of political naivety or sheer bluff, ignored the good counsel of Ghanaians who found his choice and pairing a bit awkward and counterproductive.
President Mahama has learnt the hard way that making two female political appointments for one ministry is a flawed chemistry, evidence of which abounds in the Vickyleaks under review.
We have been treated to an exhibition of ignorance by a deputy minister who does not even know the husband of her boss, according to Victoria Hammah, who has already earned for herself the �the gone too soon� tag in the political category anyway.
Ms. Rachael Florence Apoh, we have learnt from the Vickyleak, earned a verbal query from Victoria after expressing admiration for the President�s own lawyer, the man who wields unusual control over three ministries under a Mahama government.
Beauty is a critical requirement under the Mahama administration, it would seem, and Victoria Hammah endorsed it when she damned the looks of Deputy Minister Rachel Appoh in the smelly leaks.
For a lady who made notorious headlines when she crudely disowned a speech she was reading to an educated audience recently, but had the President defending her, she must be a jinxed case which is what the Mahama administration is anyway.
She encouraged �fun-fool respect� for those who seek to gain foothold in local politics in order to make monetary fortunes: dreaming of directing a whopping amount of $1 million into her accounts is not a pipedream. After all she is in the Communications Ministry where �making it big time� under an NDC government is a possibility worth exploring.
There are limitless fortunes in an NDC government, especially when you are a woman, well-endowed and ready to go to all lengths to get what you want.
Victoria Hammah has unambiguously narrated this via the leaks.
She had her job already reserved for her when for others, it required exciting the tear ducts in Parliament House to have the legislature okay an appointment.
VIKILEAKS (2): Beyond The Thriller
The Supreme Court segment of the Vikileaks series is being touted as the most stunning part of the Victoria Hammah expos�; and it is our position that any dealing which has the proclivity to impugn the integrity of the Judiciary in a democracy should be interrogated thoroughly, more so when corruption has assumed a crisis dimension in the country.
We think that the revelation has afforded the country a rare opportunity to put under the microscope, the verdict of the Supreme Court on the 2012 election petition. Ignoring the calls to do so is not an option under the prevailing circumstances.
The Chief Justice should not provide impetus for further questioning of the integrity of the Judiciary by ignoring the calls for an interrogation of the leak regarding the alleged meeting between Oye Lithur and some judges�an engagement which allegedly altered the verdict.
No efforts or even resources would be too much if these are intended to restore the integrity of a fractured Judiciary.
These are challenging times in the history of the Judiciary which should prove beyond reasonable doubt its readiness to address such issues as the allegation under review.
Her Ladyship�s promise to deal with corruption whenever it rears its head under her jurisdiction is something she has the opportunity to make good now.
There is no doubt that the Judiciary, as it stands today, is in a limping mode, having lost credibility among many Ghanaians. It is unfortunate that things have taken this turn because the bench, as it is constituted, has some of the finest ladies and gentlemen manning it, and whose output have endeared them to many in this country. For some of its membership to therefore compromise the high position they hold as implied by Victoria Hammah, is something that should not be countenanced as an effective means of addressing the corruption contagion eating away at its integrity.
For a country fighting a running battle with endemic corruption, this is a revelation which should trigger action on the part of the Chief Justice, to unravel the truth and arrest the Judiciary�s ebbing integrity.
These are not the issues which should be merely and tersely denied on the pages of newspapers with the expectation of government minders that these would pour cold water over the political inferno.
An allegation by a deputy minister of state that a government minister had influenced the verdict of the election petition is not the kind of subject to be brushed aside as a nonsensical gossip.
The questions which clouded the integrity of the verdict when it was finally delivered make an interrogation even more profound.
Mrs. Oye Lithur, the lady at the centre of the allegation, as part of a coordinated response, issued a denial.
Only a probe can unravel the veracity or otherwise of it and not the word of Mrs. Oye Lithur. Not even a denial by the arrested driver under duress can sweep the matter away.
Source: Editorial/Daily Guide
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