To whom much is given, much is expected

As we welcome President John Dramani Mahama to office, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to him on his decisive victory in the recent presidential election. 

This marks a significant milestone in Ghana's democratic journey and we acknowledge the immense responsibility that rests on the President's shoulders.

This being our first edition of the year, we deem it fitting to extend our warmest felicitations to President Mahama, the 4th and 6th President of Ghana under the 4th Republican Constitution. 

We wish him and his administration all the best as they embark on this critical journey. Winning a presidential race anywhere in the world, especially in our environment, is an arduous task. 

Therefore, President Mahama's decisive victory is well-deserved. The onus is, however, on all of us to ensure that our new President succeeds. 

Haven been the 4th President of the country and having made a remarkable comeback, we are not in a position to postulate to the President and his incoming ministers what the challenges are and what is required of his administration. 

In other words, it is not lost on the President and his team that the demands of Ghanaians are clear: bread and butter issues, transparent governance, upholding the rule of law and provision of critical social services.

It is easy to be swayed by the massive victory in both the Presidential and Parliamentary election and take the concerns of the ordinary Ghanaian for granted, as many politicians tend to do. 

However, recent lessons across the globe and in Ghana have shown that a key determinant for many voters is their ability to afford the very basic necessities of life: food, clothing and shelter.

Indeed, His Royal Highness Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, put it succinctly in a remark to the outgone President, Nana Akufo-Addo, upon his ascension to the presidency in 2017. 

To paraphrase the Asantehene, who spoke in Twi, "Ghanaians voted out the previous government (Mahama's government) out of hunger. They tell me to inform you (Nana 
Akufo-Addo's administration) that the same hunger will be the reason for your administration to be voted out." History indeed has a point of repeating itself. 

There is, therefore, no need to reinforce the point that the economy is stressed and that ordinary Ghanaians have been made poorer over the past three years. 

Even though one can point to the fact that under the previous administration, we saw one of the most audacious social interventions in the history of this country, which is the Free Senior Secondary High School education, as well as massive infrastructure development in schools and other projects across the length and breadth of the country. 

This is aside from some very critical investments in social infrastructure in the country. However, the Graphic Business has had cause to caution that infrastructure development means nothing to the ordinary Ghanaian if they cannot afford three square meals a day. 

Don't get us wrong; infrastructure development is critical to our economic development as a nation. Indeed, we need huge investments in what some economists call economic infrastructures that pay for themselves.

Admittedly, the events of the global ecosystem haven't helped. The after-effects of the global pandemic crises are still very much with us.

That notwithstanding, we owe it to ourselves as a people to take bold decisions that will insulate us from especially escalating food prices. We have no excuse if, after almost 70 years of independence, we cannot produce food to feed ourselves.

So, while we welcome President Mahama to his new or rather old office, we wish to reiterate the point we have shared over the past years: Ghana is not a poor country. 
It will take deliberate and decisive leadership to turn things around. 

For us at the Graphic Business, ours is a collaborative approach. We will support every government that means well for the ordinary Ghanaian. In the end, if the quality of life improves, businesses also grow. 

We wish to also use this occasion to remind President Mahama of his statement in 2007, when he, as Vice Presidential Candidate, at a meeting with his party faithful at the National Theatre, re-echoed the famous statement that "to whom much is given, much is expected." 

President Mahama's decisive victory must, therefore, count for something.