Editorial: Populist & Balderdash Diktat

President John Evans Atta Mills has ordered a suspension of the almost-completed demolition of structures in Accra. The exercise which commenced a few months ago was mostly carried out under darkness when owners of the structures were long gone to their various abodes. They wept when day broke and they returned to their places of business to discover what had befallen them. President Mills, cocooned in the confines of the Castle, was arguably oblivious to the demolition even as the exercise went on and attracted maximum publicity in the country�s vibrant media. We wonder whether President Mills did not read or hear about the physical attack on the Accra Mayor when he moved his demolition gang to Kaneshie last week.Little wonder many consider the �suspend the demolition� order as a charade and populist intended to win for the President, a cheap political point at a time when Xmas is almost here and the bulk of the trading activities has been done. If by the order, President Mills expects to alter the impression of the mostly market women, then he missed it.There is no way he is going to get a second chance to alter the impression registered in the minds of victims of the careless operation undertaken with characters who could only look like landguards. Ghanaians have not forgotten the encouragement President Mills gave relevant state agencies to demolish illegally-placed structures as a way of obviating the perennial flooding of some parts of Accra. This was endorsed by the NADMO boss who announced the readiness of his outfit to ensure that this is done. If President Mills would turn round today and pretend not to be part of the decision to demolish the structures and even refer the Mayor to what he calls a relevant portion of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto which abhors this approach to urban development, then we are at a loss about the sincerity or otherwise of the nation�s Number One Citizen. So where was the manifesto when the President encouraged the demolition exercise to go on only to order a suspension when the whole thing is over? The harm is already done and there is nothing that can reverse the painful effects of the action. The Mayor might have challenges in his inter-personal relationships with other state players but such an order, given the way it was issued, leaves much to be desired. But for the whole thing being a charade intended to throw dust into the eyes of Ghanaians, we would have considered the order an insult to the integrity of the Mayor.We observed the newly-appointed Minister of State at the Presidency doing a PR for his boss, the President, when he sought to suggest that President Mills was unaware about the demolition. He went on to condemn the action of the Accra Mayor as though his decision to demolish structures was without consultation with a higher authority. We cannot accept this position and wish to caution such state players to be mindful of what they put out in the name of defending the presidency. Not all of us are kids who would just swallow such lies, hook, line and sinker.Whatever happened to the Sodom and Gomorrah demolition brouhaha?