The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. ~ Plato
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I have voted in four out of Ghana’s 8 general elections; 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2024. Twice, the Presidential candidates I voted for lost the election, and twice the candidates I voted for won.
In 2009, I wrote “Protest” an article in which I established my dissatisfaction with Ghana’s political system, citing the rising levels of corruption and political greed among others. Consequently, I abstained from the 2012, 2016 and 2020 general elections. If I had voted in 2012, I’d have voted John Mahama; in 2016, I’d have voted Akufo-Addo, in 2020, I’d have voted John Mahama. In December 2024, I finally gave Mahama his well-deserved vote!
Goodwill for Akufo-Addo
I had a lot of goodwill for Mahama. His charisma and communication prowess endeared him to me, like most Ghanaians. All of that changed suddenly after my 2009 article.
The erratic power supply known to many as dumsor made President Mahama a bit unpopular. Many of us took to social media to devour him (and on some occasions, his innocent wife – Lordina Mahama).
As we tore Mahama down, we projected his rival, Akufo-Addo, a man many believed was portent of bad omen for the country’s presidency. Sociology did not give Akufo-Addo a dog’s chance as President. Power favours height (and sometimes complexion). The man is short and dark and his style of politics didn’t help him either. The arrogance tag, his bourgeois posturing and aggressive demeanor had put a lot of people off. His remarks that he hadn’t eaten [credited] koose before gave him out as someone who was out of touch with the suffering of the masses. As if that wasn’t enough, nature appeared to be fighting him too; a campaign platform he and others were on collapsed once upon a time to the delight of his critics. Yet, I wanted him to win though I did not back my support with a vote for him. In spite of all the backlash, he won the 2016 elections.
The Good Early Days
There were indeed some promising early signs. The Free SHS programme, whatever its shortcomings, showed genuine commitment to expanding access to secondary education. The digitization agenda, including the Ghana Card and mobile money interoperability, demonstrated forward-thinking governance. The Planting for Food and Jobs initiative suggested serious attention to agriculture. These were concrete policy interventions that ordinary Ghanaians could touch and feel.
For a moment, it seemed the intellectual president we had hoped for was emerging. His inaugural address (though partly plagiarized) was dignified, his early appointments appeared merit-based, and the promise of a different kind of leadership felt tangible. This was the Akufo-Addo many of us had projected in our minds—the human rights lawyer who would restore dignity to governance.
The Later Days
But power, as they say, corrupts. What followed was a systematic dismantling of the very principles that had made us believe in the possibility of change.
Arrogance: The man who once spoke eloquently about democratic values began displaying the very arrogance his critics had always accused him of. The most shocking display came when he went to parliament to address the nation, put his thumbs into his ears gesturing to the opposition like a three-year-old kid. Here was the President of the Republic of Ghana, in the hallowed chambers of Parliament, behaving like a petulant child. The office deserved better, the nation deserved better.
“Sky-bathing”: He picked up a habit of sky-bathing—that Ghanaian term coined for his penchant for expensive private jet travels around the world. His defense minister revealed once when pressed by the opposition that the President required private jets in which he could shower. While ordinary Ghanaians queued for hours to buy fuel and struggled to afford basic transportation, the President was jet-setting across the globe at taxpayer expense, literally bathing in the sky while his people bathed in poverty.
Banking Sector Cleanup: What began as a necessary exercise to clean up the banking sector turned into a politically motivated witch-hunt. Millions of cedis were squandered collapsing businesses belonging to political opponents while protecting those aligned with the ruling party. The selective application of regulatory standards exposed the exercise for what it really was—a tool for settling political scores rather than genuine financial sector reform.
National Cathedral: Perhaps nothing epitomizes the misplaced priorities of the Akufo-Addo administration like the National Cathedral project. Here was a government sinking our hard-earned tax money into a stupid, useless hole to redeem a personal pledge to a god. While hospitals lacked basic equipment, schools operated under trees, and roads remained death traps, the President was obsessed with building a monument to his own religious vanity.
Galamsey: The environmental pollution escalated dramatically under Akufo-Addo with reports of his appointees being deeply involved in illegal mining activities. The very man who had promised to put his presidency on the line to fight galamsey became the president under whose watch the menace reached unprecedented levels. Our water bodies turned muddy, our forests disappeared, and our agricultural lands became wastelands—all while government officials allegedly profited from the destruction.
Corruption: Corruption levels flew through the roof under this administration. The Cecilia Dapaah scandal alone exposed the rot at the heart of government. Here was a sanitation minister with millions of dollars stashed in her home, and the president’s response was characteristically weak. Investigators tracked $5 million and GH¢48 million moving through Dapaah’s Prudential Bank accounts, while the Special Prosecutor found $590,000 and GH¢2.7 million in cash while searching Dapaah’s Abelemkpe residence. Yet, this was just the tip of the iceberg in what became known as the most corrupt administration in Ghana’s Fourth Republic.
Police Brutality: The Akufo-Addo years witnessed unprecedented levels of police brutality against ordinary citizens. From the killing of innocent protesters at Ejura to the routine harassment of citizens by security forces, the promise of protecting human rights became a hollow slogan. The very man who had built his reputation as a human rights lawyer presided over one of the most repressive periods in recent Ghanaian history.
Economic Hardship: The economic mismanagement reached catastrophic levels. Inflation soared to levels not seen in decades, the cedi became practically worthless, and basic commodities became luxuries for many families. The government’s response was to blame COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, conveniently ignoring the reckless borrowing and spending that had begun long before these external shocks.
Regret and Reparation
My goodwill for Akufo-Addo had cost me dearly. I had been part of the mob that tore down a decent man to make way for someone who turned out to be far worse. The irony wasn’t lost on me—in my righteous indignation about dumsor, I had helped usher in an era of comprehensive darkness.
Unable to take it anymore, I decided to do the most reasonable thing: take down my earlier comments criticizing JM on social media. After all, it’s only a dog that abandons its owner in his hour of need.
All Hail Santa Mahama!
President Mahama’s overwhelming electoral victory in the 2024 elections signals the goodwill of the people towards him. Ghana’s electoral commission declared him winner of Saturday’s presidential election with 56.55% of the vote, according to provisional results. This wasn’t just a victory; it was a resounding rejection of the Akufo-Addo legacy and a plea for redemption.
Mahama’s NDC also controls two-thirds (66%) of the seats in parliament, giving him the mandate to implement his agenda without the obstruction that characterized his first term. The Ghanaian people have spoken with unusual clarity—they want change, and they want it now.
The man many of us had written off as a failed president because of dumsor has been handed the biggest electoral mandate in decades. The voters have forgiven him for the power crisis, recognizing that incompetence is preferable to active malice, that honest mistakes are better than calculated wickedness.
Mahama’s victory is not just a personal comeback; it’s a national statement of values. Ghanaians have demonstrated that they still believe in decency, humility, and basic human dignity in leadership. They have rejected the arrogance, the corruption, and the callous disregard for public welfare that defined the previous administration.
Conclusion
I criticized Mahama when he was President, but I never raised a word against Akufo-Addo during his 8-year reign. This silence, I now realize, was complicity. By remaining quiet while the country burned, I became part of the problem I had once criticized.
The lesson is clear: protest without engagement is mere intellectual masturbation. My 2009 article and subsequent electoral abstinence might have satisfied my conscience, but it did nothing to improve the country. Worse, it created space for those with less noble intentions to shape our collective destiny.
So let me be clear: I have no intentions of criticizing Mahama again. I have criticized him enough. If it becomes necessary, I’ll offer constructive suggestions rather than destructive criticism. The man deserves the benefit of the doubt, not because he’s perfect, but because he’s human. And in a political landscape increasingly dominated by narcissists and megalomaniacs, basic humanity has become a rare and precious commodity.
The 2024 election has taught me that democracy is not a spectator sport. Good men who remain indifferent to public affairs will indeed be ruled by evil men. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, and vigilance requires engagement, not just criticism.
John Mahama is not our messiah; he’s just a man with another chance to serve his country. But sometimes, second chances are exactly what nations need—not just for their leaders, but for their people to rediscover what they truly value. Welcome back, Mr. President. Let’s make this one count.