Respect the President

By William Antwi Asiedu

When Mr John Agyekum Kufuor became President of Ghana in the year 2000 many were those who said his character was too cool for a Head of State. Before him was Flt. Lt. Jeremiah John Rawlings, who was described as too hot for the Presidency. Now, we have President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills, who people say is too slow for a country whose development is already too ‘snaily’.

It is obvious that the governed are not just interested in what a leader can offer them but are also very much interested in the personality and leadership style of the ‘governor’. It is also quite clear that leadership and leadership styles are not easy to define. Indeed, according to management theorist, Crainer, there are over 400 definitions of leadership and “it is a veritable minefield of misunderstanding and difference through which theorists and practitioners must tread warily”.

According to Laurie J. Mullins, a former principal lecturer at the Business School, University of Portsmouth, there were many ways of looking at leadership and the many interpretations of its meaning. Leadership might be interpreted in simple terms such as ‘getting others to follow,’ ‘getting people to do things willingly’ or interpreted more specifically, for example as ‘the use of authority in decision making’. It may also be exercised as an attribute of position, or because of personal knowledge or wisdom.

It might also be based on a function of personality, or it can be seen as a behavioural category. It may also be viewed in terms of the role of the leaders and their ability to achieve effective performance from others. 

Please forgive me if I’m getting a bit too academic, but this intellectual exercise had become necessary as I tried to find out why Presidents Rawlings, Kufuor and Mills continually receive public bashing for their individual leadership styles. I have now come to the conclusion that even if Ghanaians, one day, elect the much revered diplomat, His ‘Excellent’ Excellency, Kofi Annan as President, some people will say he is too diplomatic to be President. 

So, the question is; what kind of leader at all do Ghanaians want? Some say Flt. Lt. Rawlings is too authoritarian and that he loves power too much so he always wants the focus of power to be on him and that all interactions within his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) must move towards him. In spite of the harsh criticisms, Ghanaians voted twice for him to rule this country.

For President Kufuor, some said his style was too laissez-faire and that he gave too much room for members of his government to work on their own, allowing them freedom of action. That, it was alleged, led to a situation where some people in his New Patriotic Party (NPP) government ‘chopped’ money waa waa waa.

And now, people are saying that Professor Mills, being a lawyer, is looking into issues so critically that he cannot take decisions on time and everything is at a stand-still...slow but sure! But the point is, as a leader, whether you are dictatorial, bureaucratic, benevolent, and charismatic or ‘slow but sure’ people will criticise your leadership style.

The most important thing is that one must note that there is not one best form of leadership. The human relations, people-oriented style and the ‘hard’ no-holds-barred Rawlings type of leadership can all be effective in a democratic setting if the focus is always on development, so we should spend less time and energy criticising the styles our leaders adopt. If their actions are democratic and constitutional, hey, let them be! After all that is why every President has a fixed term of four years renewable only once, making it a maximum of eight years.

However, whatever it is that we want to say about our leaders, we must show them a lot of respect in order not to undermine their authority, for if they fail we all fail; if they succeed, we all succeed!

Sekou jabs Mills. Prof, Return to classroom!

Dr Sekou Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President’s third son and a member of the NDC has given a damning verdict on the leadership of President John Evans Atta Mills. He said President Mills lacks the charisma, dynamism and strong will to lead Ghana. He was reported to have said that it was almost impossible for the NDC to succeed in its ‘Better Ghana’ agenda because the President was too weak a leader to take bold decisions.

Aaaaahhhhhh, Sekou too why did you describe Prof Mills as a weak leader? Don’t you know that now inflation is falling like a parachute? It is now a single digit, i.e. 9.52 per cent (but is 9.52 a single digit, please the lotto forecasters should tell us. They deal a lot in single numbers).

There is also hope that Prof Mills will soon convince the PURC to reduce utility tariffs DRASTICALLY? I am very, very hopeful that the price of konkonte too will soon come down DRASTICALLY; pure water – DRASTICALLY; trotro fares – DRASTICALLY; pestodent – DRASTICALLY; krupot – DRASTICALLY; ajos pipe at Abossey Okai – DRASTICALLY. 

Just forget about Prof Mills’ slow-but-sure leadership style and concentrate on the DRASTIC fall of inflation and the INCREASE in the volumes of oil that Ghana is continually discovering. Me, I have hope in Ghana papapapapapa! After four or eight years, Prof Mills will slowly but surely leave power and Ghana will still exist, so I am praying that prices of goods and services as well as INFLATION keep falling DRASTICALLY before he leaves office so that Ghana will be a better place to live long after he has left office and returned to the classroom as Sekou suggested. But Prof; please is it true that you have FIRED Sekou for criticising you DRASTICALLY?

Mandela Steals show

While we were here bashing our leaders, and some of the leaders fighting among themselves, another leader, former South African President, Madiba Nelson Mandela was bringing joy to his once ‘troubled’ country as he made an emotional appearance at the closing ceremony of the just-ended FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

South African President Jacob Zuma, FIFA President Sepp Blatter and CAF President, Issa Hayatou and other dignitaries honoured Mr Mandela by escorting him off the field in an emotional farewell by one of the world’s most loved and revered leaders.

I wonder if all Ghanaians can at any one time collectively receive President Mills, or former President Kufuor or ex-President Rawlings with warm and emotion like the way the South Africans treat Mr Mandela. The partisanship in Ghana is killing us. Kufuor nie, NPP nie, Jerry nie, NDC nie, Mills nie, NDC nie. So where is Ghana?