A Disappointing Speech

President John Evans Atta Mills�s speech at Mantse Agbonaa last weekend was as disappointing as the absence of the former first couple at the muster parade of the ruling party. Not only did the President give up on convincing those disappointed in his stewardship so far to have hope about the halcyon days ahead, he insulted them as well. If there is one thing which we cannot take away from President Mills, it is his subtle manner of insulting those who fault his manner of running the government machinery. The glaring correlation between his attitude and the insulting posture of his young hounds makes interesting observation. There are two groups of people who are disappointed in President Mills, a situation which would persist because the president has lost hope in reversing it. Former President Jerry John Rawlings and his wife on one hand and the majority of Ghanaians on the other are those President Mills is referring to as the disappointed. The two groups have had their hopes dashed in President Mills at the helm and given the streaks of failures marking his stewardship, there is no way they would ever change their minds about him. In fact, some cynics think that President Mills�s remark about the disappointed was directed more at former President Rawlings who refused to be part of the rally. It was an absence whose impact on the morale of the party faithful is dampening, regardless of the sour grapes attitude of President Mills who asked, �Is this a party in disarray?� He reminds us about his boast of being a winnable candidate regardless of the withdrawal of support of somebody. If only President Mills could be a little more sincere by being realistic about issues than the way he handles them now, he could be doing the image of the Presidency some good. President Mills�s future admonitions to Ghanaians would fail to fly because his words are digested with pinches of salt. His question about whether this was a party in disarray was a direct sneer at the former President�s absence. President Mills appears to have perfected the art of responding to remarks about his non-performance with a touch of cynicism. Earlier, he told Ghanaians who claim they are unable to see any achievements under his stewardship that they were perhaps not looking in the right direction. Although NDC apologists such as the Greater Accra Regional Chairman, Ade Coker, claimed most of the remarks passed at the function were jokes, we think that governance is a serious business whose standards should under no circumstances be reduced to the level of a concert party. The President pleaded with those who were not disappointed in his stewardship to tarry a while since the next term of his presidency, should Ghanaians renew his mandate, would be better than the prevailing times. After a failed action year, both cynics and others would need another pinch of salt to digest this.