Ato Kwamena Dadzie: Fire 'em, Mr. President

President Mills Hello Mr. President, When the leader of a country tells his followers that he knows that he has bimbos and airheads in his administration, what does he expect the citizens to do? Laugh it off? Applaud his honesty? Or vote him out of power? Mr. President, you are reported to have conceded in a village near Cape that you are very much aware that there are some incompetents in yours administration. Most Ghanaians have known this from the very beginning – when you appointed so many ministers (and deputies) and claimed that you had formed a “lean” government. When some of your appointees appeared before the appointments committee of parliament and made it clear that they didn’t even know how to write CVs, we realised that you had offered important positions to some nincompoops – in true ‘job for the boys’ fashion. So what you are saying now is no news to those of us who have not been blinded by political fanaticism and sycophancy. In any case, what do you want us to do? Applaud you for appointing airheads and suddenly coming to the realisation that you’ve faulted? Do you want us to organise a national day of thanksgiving to thank God for the small mercies that have brought our president to the knowledge that he needs to fire some of his ministers? I don’t get it. A few days before you got this epiphany about the incompetence of some your ministers, Mr. President, you were asking Ghanaians to give you more time to deliver on the promises you made. What you fail to realise is that we don’t have time. You don’t have time. I remember the day of your inauguration like yesterday. The chaos at the Independence Square and your stumbling, rumbling and fumbling is all so fresh in my memory. Yet, it’s been nine months already. You think you have time? You don’t. You said you will “hit the ground running” and now it’s hard to tell whether you’ve even hit the ground at all. Mr. President there is a lot of work to be done. The ‘ecomini’ should become an economy again. People need roofs over their heads, water to drink, hospitals to heal their wounds and schools to attend. We need roads to cart food from the farm-gates to the market centres, electricity to keep our factories open and an efficient transport system to move us from one end of town to another. Our catalogue of needs (not wants) is endless. We don’t have time to waste on you and the incompetent ministers in your team. We don’t have time for trial and error. And we certainly can’t afford to train your ministers on the job. It’s good that you have identified the under-performing team members. Speaking about them in public (without offering any specifics) is not good enough. Now is not the time for you to stick to your guns and proclaim that you will reshuffle “at the appropriate time”. There is no appropriate time than now. If you had the guts to hire those incompetents, you should have the balls to fire them. We won't accept your excuses. We don't care if you met this country turned upside down. You said you will change it for a "Better Ghana". Just do it. Get rid of the incompetent ministers if you really want to take this country forward and deliver the change you promised to Ghanaians. Otherwise, please, feel free to keep your incompetents at post. 2012 is just around the corner. Credit: Ato Kwamena Dadzie (Visit Ato here)