‘Those whose palm kernels were cracked by benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble’ – Chinua Achebe.

Mr. Abroenye: Good day to Prof. and his three musketeers. I admire your loyal and frank friendship. Prof., how are you reading all these newspapers before you?

Professor Nkwantabisa: Hey! Mr. Abroeneye; long-time long-see. I thought you have forever abandoned Ghana for the United States of America. It is very heart-warming to interact with you face-to-face. I am neck-deep in reading these newspapers because they are pregnant with salient information about Ghana’s 2024 General Elections.

Dr. Basabasa: Mr. Abroeneye, ‘akwaaba’ to Ghana. I hope Donald Trump’s resounding comeback is not threatening you to relocate to Ghana. I am legally living in the states. Americans are seriously building their nation; it is high time we seriously build ours.

Mr. Abroenye: I primarily came to Ghana on 6^th December 2024 to participate in the general election. I have always been a great believer in Ghana. Our nation will definitely resurrect from the economic, political and social mess it unfortunately finds itself. The stars of Ghana will rise again in glory.

Opanin Wisdom: Well said, Mr. Abroenye. Hope, love and faith are key commodities that will always remain. We need to keep hope alive despite the systemic leadership failures in Ghana since the country’s independence from the British.

Mr. Abroenye: There are several parallel key lessons we need to draw from the glorious comeback of Trump and Mahama in the USA and Ghana respectively. What caused the electorates in these nations to offer these written-off and rejected political leaders unprecedented second chance?

Dr. Basabasa: I think Trump and Mahama are mere victors of circumstances. Their palm kernels have been cracked by the ever-merciful God. The prevailing socio-economic, political and religious atmosphere in USA and Ghana have also paved ways for their glorious return. The fallen elephant in Ghana, for instance, was increasingly becoming proud, insensitive and stubborn hence its embarrassing fall! It didn’t make sense to maintain an elephant-size government and flamboyant expenditure in a post-COVID-IMF economy. Ghana was already a debt-stressed nation prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war yet the country was being ran as if the ordinary Ghanaian can always be taken for granted. The elephant consistently blamed COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine War for Ghana’s socio-economic woes. It totally turned blind eyes to the glaring corruption, political opulence, balloon public spending and the continuous implementation of policies that clearly needed revision. The elephant also poorly managed the sensitivity of some Ghanaians concerning e-levy and other taxes, the LGBTQ+ banter, illegal mining and a number of cases taken to the corridors of the judiciary. I think the excruciating debt-exchange programme and the so-called banking cleaning exercise are the straws that broke the camel’s back.

Professor Nkwantabisa: I have read several pieces, opinions and editorials on the 2024 elections in Ghana and the USA. There seem to be some common threads running through the post-election public discourse. Electorates know the truth and there comes a time when they will punish some political leaders for dishonesty. Honesty is always the best policy.

Opanin Wisdom: Democracy tends to look like an ugly demon when its focus is shifted from satisfying the genuine interests and welfare of the people. Democracy eventually becomes unattractive if it is reduced to building partisan and personal empires. In such instances, the best of political campaign strategies and last-minute political projects cannot savage a fast-sinking government. Like a shooting star, the centre of a political party cannot hold once it begins and continues to disconnect from the realities bedevilling the ordinary citizenry and the masses.

Mr. Abroenye: Just like Donald Trump, John Mahama and his Umbrella Party must clothe themselves with utmost humility and honesty before God and humankind. They need to also learn and relearn from their own previous failures and from the failures of the Elephant Party in Ghana. One of the worst past failures of both the Elephant and Umbrella Parties is their inability to pay attention to the recommendations in the Constitutional Review Commission’s report which was submitted to the Government of Ghana on 20^th December 2011.

Professor Nkwantabisa: Year 2024 is ending in the coming days. The space between 2025 and 2028 is a fleeting-tiny shadow which is quickly approaching a beaming light. The very people who crowned the Elephant Party in 2016 and 2020 with victory clothes and honour have just stripped the party of its glory. Like a resounding rushing and revival wind, unguarded victory is transient! Victory can only be sustained by humility, honesty, grace, truth, selflessness, purpose-driven, real transformation, and daily connectivity with God and humankind.

Opanin Wisdom: The early concession to defeat in the 2024 General Election in Ghana by Dr. Bawumia has already ingratiated him in the heart and sight of well-meaning people as a true statesman. The same God and Ghanaians who have prepared a table for the Umbrella Party can also prepare it for another party in the future. God is neither a respecter of persons nor political parties. We need to reiterate the fact that no person or institution is indispensable in this life.

Dr. Basabasa: The decisive confidence reposed in the Umbrella Party is a clarion call for transformative, visionary and honest leadership. Ghanaians are not interested in blame-game and excuses; they are only interested in a transformational-economy that creates and sustains an atmosphere of decent living and human dignity. No more create, loot and share. No more senseless loyalty towards the Umbrella Party against the common interests of Ghanaians. To hell with blind and unaccountable leadership.

Professor Nkwantabisa: History and recurring events appear to show that politicians and political parties hardly learn from their past failures and mistakes. They are often sober and sensible when in opposition but suddenly grow horns when exercising political power. There is nothing wrong with political power in itself. Political power only becomes destructive when its purpose is abused by politicians and political parties. It is said that leadership will destroy a person whose heart or character is not prepared for it. A corrupt heart and a dead conscience can never use political power purposively and sensibly. It is not too late for Ghanaian politicians to seek God’s face for a clean heart and a renewal of a loyal spirit within them. To all newly elected political leaders, always remember that victory is just a means to a good end. The glory of a political victory resides in its glorious and transformational outcomes.

Richard Obeng Mensah, author of If You Think of Your Opposition You Lose Your Position. The writer is an award-winning prolific author of 8 books, and over 250 articles and op-eds on legal and non-legal themes. The writer is also a Fellow of the Brew-Hammond Energy Centre, KNUST, Kumasi. He is also a pastor, lawyer, law lecturer, certified life and leadership coach, and a blogger.

Email: richardobengmensah@gmail.com

Mobile: +233 (0)246 556 774.

Blog: https://richard-obeng-mensah.blogspot.com/?m=1

Google scholar link: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zh3DbrkAAAAJ&hl=en 

Publication History: Authored on 10/12/2024 and published on the author’s blog on 10/11/2024. 

Acknowledgement: The writer appreciates the critiques and valuable comments of his Editorial Team to this write-up. He however holds the sole responsibility for the content of this write-up.