Will the critics that went silent regain their voices?

One person I really respect in this journalism business is Manasseh Azure Awuni, for his double-edged sword which cuts irrespective of the government in power.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) made political capital out of the Mahama-ford saga that Manasseh published prior to the 2016 elections. Despite everything that happened and John Mahama eventually losing the election, he (Mahama) was the Special Guest at Manasseh’s book launch where he bought the first copy at the highest price.

But when power changed hands and Manasseh took the NPP on, he had to run for his life under the President who touts himself for giving breath to the criminal libel law and a staunch human rights advocate.

So, with the two incidents under Mahama and Akufo-Addo, it tells you the kind of journalist Manasseh is and the kinds of leaders we’ve had under the regimes in question.

This does not mean there are not other equally objective journalists in the country that I admire. But I cited him because many can relate to his experience with the two different political regimes.

It is exactly one month today when Mahama was sworn in as President. There are some journalists whose inks become liquified and their microphones powered when there is a certain government in power and goes off once that administration goes to opposition and another assumes the mantle.

The Ghanaian media, as I heard as a young boy and growing up to experience it myself, has always vilified the National Democratic Congress (NDC) with iron fist when they are in power compared to the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Evidence abounds for what John Dramani Mahama endured in his first term as President compared to the criticisms of Akufo-Addo, despite the latter performing woefully in many spheres of governance than Mahama. The loudest criticism the citizenry gave the Akufo-Addo administration was the outcome of the December 07, 2024 polls.

In as much as one cannot determine when another should air his views and when to be silent, I believe it beholds on us as the fourth estate of the realm, together with Civil Society Organisations, opinion leaders and the likes, to maintain some consistency in our criticism irrespective of who is in power.

As far as I remember, almost every media house in the country was critical of the then Mahama administration, but things changed when power changed hands. Many critical voices remained silent and we never heard from them again. And in the rare times a few of them did speak, it was just to clear their conscience on some feeble attempt to maintain some consistency, but not for the sake of critiquing for the better.

I couldn’t agree less with Captain Smart if he says some senior journalists in this country will have him to battle with if they dare attempt criticizing Mahama. He believes they should leave the criticism of the President for those who criticized Akufo-Addo. According to him, if such persons found nothing wrong with Akufo-Addo’s administration to speak up, they should equally find everything right with Mahama’s.

Some CSOs that were so critical of the then Mahama administration went on hibernation when Akufo-Addo took over, and I quite remember in one interview granted Captain Smart by Franklin Cudjoe, the founding President of IMANI Africa, he said they’ve been overwhelmed with Akufo-Addo’s deeds and words when they are juxtaposed.

This was his response when he was asked why the CSOs have become silent under Akufo-Addo’s tenure despite the glaring mismanagement of state resources coupled with corruption and corruption-related activities.

Although Mr. Cudjoe and his team were doing their bit at the time, but just as he said, they were not out there as expected because they got overwhelmed. But I can say for sure he was out there later than earlier, together with a few others whose voices became amplified on the ills that were swallowing us under Akufo-Addo.

As usual, the name-calling was there and I remember having to ‘fight’ some people on Facebook at a time when people took him on for critiquing the government.

Many will remember the infamous ‘Anyansafoɔ eeeeei, mowɔ he?’ to wit ‘where are the wisemen?’ statement and how all those voices became silent upon the change of government, only for the voice behind the statement to say he now criticizes with text messages instead of voicing out his criticisms. These were men of God whose criticisms shouldn’t have been limited to a particular regime.

Those who are not ‘indomie generation’ will remember the popular reading text in Primary 6 which we enjoyed some three decades ago, with Unit One covering the popular story about; “The Elephant and the Tsetsefly” where the little insect had to inject some sense to the largest mammal in the forest.

The tsetsefly told the elephant to use its strength to work to make a living for himself than lazying about and going hungry. In the tsetsefly’s words, “if I had one-tenth of your size, I would have turned the whole forest into a farm…”.

It is just coincidental that the emblem of the NPP which brought Akufo-Addo to power is also an elephant. But I dare say that if Nana Addo had suffered one-tenth of the vilification Mahama did in his time, he might not be able to survive it. In the story alluded to above, the elephant heeded to the little insect’s advice and worked it out. But did Akufo-Addo listen to the few advice that were given him? That is a question for another day.

Although the sins of Akufo-Addo which was worth the criticism of all minds were obvious, I know there are many who would question what the old man actually did wrong for me to be talking as if his administration was utterly marred with incompetence and nothing to write home about.

On TV3’s NewDay on Friday, January 03, 2025, a stalwart of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and private legal practitioner, Nana Kwame Jantuah, listed many of the things Akufo-Addo said prior to assuming power and asked whether he was able to live up to those words or otherwise.

This was prior to his final State of the Nation Address (SoNA) where lawyer Jantuah demanded that he provided account of those comments and/or policies to Ghanaians as he was exiting office. In the midst of all these promises, the then critical minds were still silent.

• I shall protect the public purse: “Would you say the public purse is protected?”, lawyer Jantuah questioned, explaining that the man who came to meet an IMF programme he criticised, wantonly dissipated state funds and had to resort to the same IMF. With the usual cliché of new governments complaining that the previous administration wasted all the state resources, he said Akufo-Addo complained of being bequeathed with a bone without meat when he took over. But the lawyer asserted that Akufo-Addo but broke the remaining bones he inherited and sucked the marrows out before exiting office.
• I’m too old to steal your money, I already have my money: According to the lawyer, the state capture witnessed under this administration was unprecedented, with members in government selling state lands to themselves at prices relatively cheaper than they cost. I couldn’t have agree with him less when he said Akufo-Addo’s silence over those deeds makes him complicit as the Akan adage puts it that ‘Opanin a ɔtena fie ma nkwadaa we nankã no, sɛ yɛrebu nankawefoɔ a, ɔka ho‘ to wit an elderly person that watches on whilst children consume a python is counted amongst python eaters. It is believed that corruption was poorly fought under Akufo-Addo which was evidenced in the manner he was clearing people of corrupt deeds, making him earn the titles “clearing agent” from Ghanaians and “mother serpent of corruption” as accorded him by Martin A.B.K. Amidu, the very person he appointed to spearhead the institution he created to supposedly fight corruption, ie, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP). It is also worthy of note that his best performance on the Corruption Perception Index was the worst in Mahama’s time, which was 43.
• ‘Yɛte sika so, nanso ɛkɔm de yɛn‘: To wit ‘we are sitting on money yet we are hungry’, is one of the most profound statement made by Akufo-Addo according to Prof. Ransford Gyampo of the University of Ghana. But did Ghanaians become well fed after Akufo-Addo took over as President?
• Try me and see: What became of the verdict after trying him? The votes the NPP got in the 2024 elections says it all. People actually think it was good that Akufo-Addo had his turn as President, otherwise, like Manasseh puts it, he would have been regarded as “The President Ghana Never Got.”
• I’m not corrupt and I’ll never be corrupt: Captain Smart asked if anyone ever heard Akufo-Addo saying he is not corrupt and will never be corrupt again after becoming President. “You might not be corrupt, [but] have you been able to stem corruption? You’re the leader, the buck stops with you. So far as the people around you are corrupt, you’re also corrupt because you failed to handle corruption,” were Kwame Jantuah’s words.
• I can develop Ghana without borrowing: Akufo-Addo told Ghanaians that the money is here. In the lawyer’s words, he questioned what happened to the bonds since his administration used bonds and loans in the short term to secure the cedi when it was actually needed in the long term.
• I’ll move Ghana from taxation to production economy: He told us he was doing away with nuisance taxes but ended up introducing a whole lot more. Although Covid-19 has been over for years, Ghana is still paying covid levy whilst the name of the virus is even prohibited in China where it emanated. And the worst part of it is that, Ghanaians don’t know what the money is being used for, not to talk of how much has been realised since.
• I’ll transform Ghana in 18 months: Has Ghana been transformed after eight years? Your guess is as good as mine.
• I’ll not operate a family and friends’ government: Nepotism under Akufo-Addo was at its apogee with friends and relatives occupying various positions.
• I’ll make the Korle Lagoon and the Odaw River tourist sites: Are they tourist sites now?
• I’ll give each constituency US$1 million every year: Local government decisions were being made at the Jubilee House while the assemblies were left crippled. They couldn’t make any major decisions on their own.
• I’ll arrest the dollar: After inheriting the country with the exchange rate at GHC4.00 to the dollar, he took it to over GHC17.00 and managed something above GHC15.00 before leaving office.
• The hikes in fuel prices will be a thing of the past: A litre of fuel was sold for as low as GHC3.00 when he assumed office but exited with over GHC18.00.
• I’ll build 111 hospitals in 18 months: I believe we all can point to some of the hospitals in our respective districts. Those under construction, those that have been completed and those that have been commissioned. The NPP was just interested in sloganeering, thinking they would just be mentioning them during elections so that Ghanaians would vote for them. But they forgot people have now wised up and grown above such cheap politics.
• Ghana’s debt stock: To sum it all, Akufo-Addo became President when Ghana had a total debt of GHC120 billion since independence to Mahama’s exit in 2017. But in just 8 years, the debt stock ballooned to GHC761 billion.

Let me just end here, although there are many things I could have talked about. But before I go, some friends of mine in the NPP have said from Day One that they are going to make this country ungovernable for Mahama regarding the promises he made and how they will be on him to deliver.

In all honesty, it is not a bad thing and that is what is expected of everyone to ensure the government of the day delivers. But I still want to know what changed overnight? I’ve been asking myself that, if you found nothing wrong with Akufo-Addo, why should you find anything untoward in Mahama’s era?

I believe what is good for the goose is equally good for the gander, and those who kept quiet yesterday should remain silent today.

And even for the NPP faithful, Professor Gyampo has a message for them. He said whilst on the KeyPoints on TV3 Saturday, January 11, 2025, that, “the relevance of the NPP now won’t lie in its failed officials forcing themselves to quickly criticise the administration of John Mahama when they themselves they don’t know how to govern.

“Will you be able to critique the administration and governance style of John Mahama when you yourself you don’t know how to govern? When clearly you have shown that you have no clue when it comes to governance? Then, respectfully, you must keep mute.”

The writer, Felix Anim-Appau, works with the online unit at Media General. The views expressed in this piece are his personal opinions and do not reflect, in any form or shape, those of The Media General Group, where he works. His email address is [email protected], @platofintegrity on X.

PLATO’S FOLDER: Dear Member of Parliament, do you think you deserve the ‘Honourable’ title?