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For one reason or another the thought of any one illegally uprooting our democracy since the "Asomdwehene" took over has never occurred to me. But scanning through Wikileaks cables, I came across a cable that brought up memories of the failed coup attempt under President Kufour about a month before the 2004 elections. The cable noted that none of the big wigs in the P-ndc expressed any "significant doubt" ( quotations mine) about the attempted coup though a pro P-ndc newspaper had written - quoting an anonymous source - that the coup had been a fabricated story cooked by the NPP to garner sympathizers prior to the election. I shuddered after reading the cable and for the first time the thoughts of an improbable impossibility of coup floored my mind. Quickly did I try to cast away such evil thoughts and with all the mental powers of an exorcist. But the thoughts refused to go away. After a tortuous self hypnosis I finally unearthed the cause of the nagging thoughts: Mills is not in charge. The PNDC Chairman has said so; the PNDC Chairman's wife has said so; FONKAR has said so; P-ndc MP for Lower Manya has said so; P-ndc Vice Chairman, Kofi Adams has said so. After factoring in footsoldiers seizing toll booths, burning down private properties; citizens arrested for free speech; the near hijack of our gas pipeline infrastructure; the invasion of our courts by the BNI; Dr Frimpong's firing etc, all major events that have happened without the president's initial knowledge and approval, I doubled shuddered. Naturally I thought of whether Mills had so far being as vigilant as Kufour was throughout his governance, in light of the above evidences. Giving the President's skills in addressing - and reversing - events only after the fact, I automatically thought whether the president.......would he be aware of a brewing.........I won't even finish the evil thought. The president's worshippers say he can't possibly know everything under the sun in his administration. And that his skills in interceding after the fact show his humility and magnanimity - after all he had freed Kumah, giving Dr. Frimpong a month etc. But I find the assertions of the PNDC Chairman and his wife, those of FONKAR and of MP for Lower Manya that "every minister is a president" more to the point than the excuses of the president's men. Others, on the other hand, say the President is just a hypocrite. For they say he knows everything that goes on in his government. He just pretends not to be in the know so that he can descend like the Savior to save the day... in order to perpetuate and maintain his fake piety. In spite of my belief, I 'm not positively sure which of the two, the hypocrite or the "not in charge", is the true and actual state of the president's reign. Honestly I'm not one of the many Ghanaians who believe that our democracy is untouchable. I believe that our democracy is safe only if and when it is diligently guarded by the government in power and without any complacency. (The incessant reference to inevitable coups in the Wikileaks cables by the PNDC chairman has added insomnia to my catalogue of worries. He might be too old for a coup. But as long as he remains unpunished he will always serve as an inspiration to would be coup makers. And because of my fears and reservations and considering the topic under discussion, I would rather prefer the President being a hypocrite to "not in charge." Thus I'm praying Mills is a hypocrite instead of not being in charge. At least it gives me comfort that he always sleeps with one eye open. AFTERWARD Despite my dream to see the PNDC Chairman in The Hague, some of the cables I read about him were too personal and embarrassing for my taste. Never thought a foreign diplomat�d stoop this low as to include such stuff in diplomatic cables. I enjoyed reading them though...guilty pleasure one might call it.