'Mills Not Incharge'

In the mature democracies of the world, opinion polls are very central to governance and democracy. Some are meticulously conducted by well resourced establishments specializing in polling, while others are more perfunctory, relying more on “take away” perception. A lot of the time opinion polls provide accurate assessments of goings on in the polity and reveal spot on evidence of the public mood regarding one thing or the other. Governments often pay close attention to the figures, even if they do not agree with them or choose to ignore them. An opinion poll, says a definition on the web “is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals.” The same web source says “The first known example of an opinion poll was a local straw poll conducted by The Harrisburg Pennsylvanian in 1824, showing Andrew Jackson leading John Quincy Adams by 335 votes to 169 in the contest for the United States Presidency. Such straw votes—un-weighted and unscientific— gradually became more popular, but they remained local, usually city-wide phenomena. In 1916, the Literary Digest embarked on a national survey (partly as a circulation-raising exercise) and correctly predicted Woodrow Wilson's election as president. Mailing out millions of postcards and simply counting the returns, the Digest correctly called the following four presidential elections.” In Ghana such polls have been conducted every now and then and in the run-up to last December’s elections, they were as whimsical as they were varied – often carried out by partisan news media. Did the NPP for example rely too much on the polls from a reputable polling agency that predicted victory for the party? Did it ignore to its peril some local polls that suggested otherwise? With the advent of the internet, polling public opinion has become much simpler and easier. With an active website, opinions can be sought on any subject from A-Z. Last week, Ghana News Monthly newspaper and its related website, www.ghananewsmonthly.com conducted a poll of readers on a number of issues on contemporary Ghanaian politics. Not surprisingly, the answers to some of the questions were not surprising! The authors were careful to point out that they do not represent the views of Ghanaians in general, but some of the results were remarkably close to current “conventional wisdom”. Reader’s views were solicited between July 1 and July 12, 2009 and 247 responses were received online. President Mills has been suffering the perception that he is not his own man may be on the instructions of more powerful forces within the party that made him. It is a perception he has been fighting hard to rid himself of. Matters were not helped recently, when in the full glare of local and international television cameras, he was seen “taking instructions” from party founder Jerry Rawlings after President Obama’s speech to the Ghanaian parliament. Instead of closely staying in step with his host to greet the dignitaries waiting in line, President Mills was pulled aside by party founder for some pep talking. It was as baffling as it was revealing about who really is in charge… So, the first question: Is President Mills in charge of affairs in Ghana? Yes – 45% No - 54% Do you see the hand of JJ Rawlings in the background? Yes – 67% No - 32% How would you grade the NPP in opposition and in power? In Opposition Well below average – 10% Below average - 30% Average - 38% Above average - 13% Well above average – 9% In Power Well below average – 20% Below average - 9% Average - 25% Above average - 31% Well above average – 13% How pleased are you with the direction Ghana is taking today? Very pleased – 11% Moderately pleased – 31% Not Pleased – 56% Do not care – 0% Do you think recent “invitations” by the BNI has damaged our international reputation? Very much – 37% Not that much – 39% Not at all – 23% In your opinion was Mutaka Mubarak guilty or innocent of the accusations made against him? Guilty – 56% Innocent – 4% Undecided – 40% Do you believe that civil servants in our ministries are out to frame their political ministers? Yes – 32% No – 67% Do you think it is time for JJ Rawlings to stay out of politics in Ghana? Yes – 71% No – 28% How do you rank former President JA Kufuor’s 8 year term as president? Well below average – 3% Below average – 10% Average – 32% Above average – 35% Well above average – 19% Looking at the way things are in Ghana today, would you go back (if you are in the Diaspora) or leave Ghana (if you are in Ghana) as soon as you get a chance to do so? I want to go back to Ghana – 31% I am going to stay abroad – 39% I want to leave Ghana – 10% I want to stay in Ghana – 22% Source:Accra Mail