To be given the power, authority, legitimacy, and showered with all the comforts and luxury under the sun as President to govern a nation and manage its resources for the benefit of the ordinary citizens, is a rare and noble honour very few people get the opportunity to realize throughout their lifetime.
This privileged position must be seen as a means to effect positive change in existing economic development of the ordinary people. Anything short of this, is a hellacious wayward path along the dark alleyway of obnoxious insanity; self-aggrandizement is pure evil and must be duly jettisoned.
Executive Orders
Directly after his inauguration, Donald J. Trump went to the Oval office, sat behind the famous Resolute Desk, and appended signature to numerous Executive Orders to either quash and endorse existing policies he campaigned against or promised to introduce, respectively, when voted into office.
Naming key appointtees and constituting a government to manage the affairs of over 360 million people does not go beyond a period of one week. Decisions with immediate direct impact on the lives of the ordinary Americans are swiftly taken within weeks. It tells you the preparedness in-waiting.
Hitting the ground running
Similarly, Andy Burnham, on the very day he took office as the Prime Minister of Britain, named all his appointments to key positions of government, and they got to work straightaway. Within 24hours of taking office, he announced a £2-cup bus fare, abolished intended electronic ID system.
He channelled the budget earmarked for the implementation of the electronic National ID system into social services to lessen economic pressures confronting ordinary British. Additionally, he has announced policies to roll out affordable housing, water, electricity, and transport fares.
It tells you an individual with sincerity of heart, genuineness of patriotism, clarity of vision, and readiness to leave a legacy; it is not about peddling lies for political power to amass ill-gotten wealth by looting State coffers with his family and friends, while leaving the ordinary citizens poor.
Manifesto
In opposition, a potential president outlines in a manifesto, clear policies and programmes to make the lives of the people, much better than the incumbent. Whatever the incumbent would be doing is portrayed as useless, hopeless, and unproductive. Megaphonic propagandists go into nonsensical drive.
Solution to every single problem confronting the country is expertly proferred; every shortcoming of the government is laid bare; and every reason for the incumbent to be thrown out and bring in the opposition is beautifully articulated. Hopes of egalitarianism is sold to the people.
Ellusionary promises
Promises that even Jesus Christ and the Holy Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon Him) did not dare made to their followers, are made, with expressed-purpose of hoodwinking unsuspecting voters. And with streets paved with gold, and milk and honey flowing through the taps, is promised.
With this posture, it stands to reason that, a prospective President is to hit the ground running. Appointment of ministers and heads of key State Institutions shouldn't take more than a week, since these people would've been penned down well-in-advance. That should be the acceptable norm.
You don't use about 4 or 8 years campaign and making promises to the people, only to win power and turn round to claim you need a whole year to constitute a government. That is deception from the start, and proof of incompetence in the long run. This is a scenario we must abhor.
5-year term
The increase of Presidential term of office from existing 4years to 5years, is very stupid, senseless, and foolish, because it serves only one purpose of rewarding incompetence, laziness, visionlessness, and provides an armed robber who finds himself as president, to loot the nation's coffers.
This 5-year term, making it possible for a foolish corrupt tyrant to stay in office for one decade in the lives of the people, brings nothing positive to the citizens, but everything to greedy, incompetent, visionless, and armed robbers masquerading as politicians. The recommendation is stupid.
When a president performs and Ghanaians chose to give him a second term consecutively, making 8years, and the people are still happy, his political party can still be maintained in office beyond 8years. In this way, the length of time a president or his political party remains in office tied to performance.
The ordinary people whose sweat and toil pay for the comfort of the president and his appointtees, then become real determinants of how long a President stays in office, depending on how their personal economic well-being is enhanced, strictly, through his good policies and programs deliverables.
Sloths at the Presidency
This 5-year term of office for the President is nothing, but, an endorsement for packing the presidency with completely useless and hopelessly unproductive sloths.
Incompetent Ministers
His ministers and all key appointtees of the administration have proven to be incapable of differentiating between their very nostrils and the dark hole situated at the back sides. Loose talk and despicable notoriety of public conduct have become their hallmarks, and the appointor is looking on.
Zero impact
Such characters are not making any useful contributions to have impact on the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian, yet, they are enjoying all the hefty monthly salaries and obscene comforts. Their only stepping-stone to current positions is constantly spewing putrid vituperative obscenity in the media.
Not even 1000 years
The main reason for increasing the existing 4-year term of office of the President to 5years, is that, at present, it takes a year for the President to form a government. So, should we have a President who takes 2 years to form a government, it would stand to reason that the term must be extended again?
A President and his appointtees start taking salaries from 7th of January, and it is on this day their work begins. Any argument in favor of extending the term of office because it takes a whole year to form a government, is a foolish and nonsensical endorsement of hellaciously crass incompetence. Simple.
What would be the sense in extending a term of office of a President from the existing 4 years to 5 years, when he promised Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) in opposition, and delivering Operation Protect All Looters (OPAL) in power? This constitutional amendment is a totally foolish endeavor.
Clearly, the extension of Presidential term of office is complete nonsense. The extension of the same to Members of Parliament is even worse because our parliament, in recent times, has been overpopulated.
By Justice A. Newton-Offei
