Rare moment: A lesson for our politicians

One such thing that many might have taken for granted is the exceptional spirit of nationalism and patriotism displayed between Naa Torshie Addo, the immediate past Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund, and her successor, Mr Harry Yamson.

For as soon as the vetting of Mr Yamson was concluded, Naa Torshie walked to him and they warmly embraced each other suggesting that they understood the Akan adage that Obarima beyee ebi na wammeye ne nyinaa or  the other one which says emmere yenni nka so which loosely translate into English as a mandate to do his part but nita,l and that we occupy positions for periods for others to take over.

More important, the atmosphere at the vetting was so serene and orderly that some people were heard commenting as to whether the vetting process could be that orderly and peaceful,including the advice to Mr Yamson by Madam Patricia Appiagyei that the choice of his father as his referee could be misappreciated in some circles.

Naa Torshie  was one of the people who accompanied Mr Yamson to the vetting as a show of goodwill and support.

And throughout the process, Mr Yamson never used a word or description to suggest that her predecessor had been inept or misconducted herself in any way for which he was coming on a redemption mission.

Could Ministers of State not find anything worthy in the work of their predecessors for  which there was need for  public acknowledgement?  

That could be the beginning of politics of mutual respect and recognition to enable the public not to see politicians at all times in the negative, as people who are there for their selfish motive but not to serve the interest of the people.

Most often what they condemn about their opponents are the same policies or programmes they pursue.

Free but limited

For instance, one of the issues about the Free SHS policy, which the National Democratic Congress flayed the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP Administration was the open-to-all approach of the policy.

The NDC equally faulted the policy for not being extended to private schools with some asking whether students in private SHS are not Ghanaian children.

And there were many within the NPP who agreed with the position of the NDC that the policy could have been strategically and tactically structured to favour the needy to allow for those whose parents could pay to do so.

However, eight years after what was considered a flawed policy, when the NDC took over, there is the introduction of free education for first year students at the tertiary education, open to all but limited to public tertiary institutions.

So, what is the difference between the policies of the NDC and the NPP with regard to the provision of free education in terms of the reach and range of beneficiaries in the cohort and the limitation to public sector educational institutions?

That is why we need to learn from what happened between Naa Torshie and Mr Yamson. After all, governance is a continuum and no government can do it all.

However, if at every change of government, all that is presented to the people is the failure of the past administration or old regime but  the glittering hope and promise of the new regime but we see discredited policies being implemented without any modification, we become disillusioned and  conclude that all governments and politicians are the same.

But, objectively,  we can see and observe some of them who are glaringly there to serve the interest of the people. Indeed, if I were to be  asked to name one such selfless politician, I would not hesitate but readily point to Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, who did a lot to transform the Ministry of Defence.

Patriots vs nationalists

My views are that the time has come for our politicians to learn to respect and acknowledge one another such that we the citizens will learn to differentiate between those who are patriots and nationalists  irrespective of the political parties which give  them the privilege and platform to offer themselves to serve the nation at the political level.

Naa Torshie and Mr Yamson have demonstrated that we can represent different political parties but appreciate that we serve a common purpose by working to satisfy the needs of our people and that it is only what we offer that is good or useful, mindful that we can serve for only a limited period.

More important, we need to understand that if we baselessly condemn our opponents, merely because it us our time, we must know that they will have their day.

For as a historian is noted to have said, "what I was you are, what I am now, you shall be". 

Our elders say that akyea na emmui sen abebuo nyinaa and also sankofa yenkyiri.

Therefore, it is not too late to end our ways by appreciating and recognising what is good about previous regimes even if in our opinion, they could not meet our expectations because we felt they should have done more than they did.

As Tony Blair said of the Thatcher administration, "we are not saying that they did nothing, what we are saying is that they could have done some more". 

Therefore, we need to commend the Mahama Administration for reducing the size of government so drastically in as much as we need to appreciate and commend the able manner with which the Akufo-Addo Administration managed the COVID-19 epidemic to protect lives in our country.

Thank you Naa Torshie and Mr Harry Yamson, in reminding us that political opponents are not enemies and are not necessarily performing adversarial  but complementary roles and thus must be ready and willing to compliment each other where necessary, and even when criticising, to do so out of  goodwill for the national interest but not parochial, selfish and devious reasons.