<<Print>>

When President John Evans Atta Mills took office on 7th January, 2009, he declared that he would be �Father For All�. He said he would be fair to all manner of people in spite of their political affiliations, tribe, religion, occupation and colour, among others. "I will be president for all Ghanaians, whether they voted for me or not. I'll heal wounds and strive to ensure unity," President Mills said in his inaugural speech at the Independence Square in Accra. This to me is a summary of the qualities of a good leader and good governance as well. The President�s declaration is very important and that is what will determine the longevity of NDC government in power. But for me, it is not enough for the President alone to be the �father for all,� but his Ministers, MPs, DCEs, party activists, Security Agencies, Presidential Staffers, other government officials and NDC apparatchiks should live by that dictum. If this is done, it will be in line with the 1992 Constitution which frowns on discrimination and cheating. Ghanaians are very much wide awake and insightful about how politicians govern and behave. For sometime now, some politicians from the camp of NDC, NPP and CPP, who are believed to be arrogant and incompetent, have been rightly �punished� by being voted out. Now back to the main topic, one can say that to some extent the President has been the �father for all�. Firstly, President Mills has been a �father for all� by honouring invitations to attend festivals of different ethnic groupings in the country. For example, the President was at Ada, Cape Coast, Kumasi, some parts of the Northern region and other areas to either celebrate festivals or undertake official assignment all over the country. Furthermore, President Mills� frequent pronouncements on the need to unite the nation and forge ahead in peace are a clear manifestation of his quest for peace for all Ghanaians. Thirdly, the fact that the President does not take per diem whenever he travels abroad is an indication that the nation�s poor financial state is of great concern to him and would not want to �blow� the nation�s money through frequent presidential trips abroad. Another area that the President and his government has been a �father of all� is the fair selection of both Pro-NDC and Pro-NPP media houses to cover presidential assignments at the castle and beyond. President J. E. A Mills has also demonstrated his love by cutting down on government expenditure for the benefit of all. Last but not the least, the President has been receiving all manner of people from across the country to the seat of government at the Castle, Osu, without any form of discrimination whatsoever. However, these positives aside, it is difficult to conclude that the President is really the �father of all� based on directives in terminating the appointments of some civil servants. Since independence, it has been the practice to change some key government appointees, but since President Mills promised to be the �father of all� one expected him not to follow the norm, but after replacing the IGP, and some key political appointees, the proceed on leave galore was extended to civil servants, including the Executive Director of the School Feeding Programme, Mr. Michael Nsowah. In fact, personally, I strongly hold the view that asking caterers to re-apply, was uncalled for; the simple reason being that they are also Ghanaians, besides the decision was too close to the re-opening date of the schools. The Ga Mantse, King Tackie Tawiah III�s case where the shrine was locked up, is a big negative and does not augur well for the respect for our traditions. The argument that intelligence reports called for the shrine to be locked up, as a result of possible mayhem, is untenable. Well, be the judge. Has President John Evans really lived up to his own words of being a �Father For All?� The ball is in your court.