For the umpteenth time I have had to write in this column that the President does not have good handlers or good speechwriters. The sad aspect of this is that the President himself swallows whatever they tell him to tell Ghanaians without double checking. Anytime he decides to speak extempore, he demonstrates clearly that he isn’t on top of issues.
A group of Muslim youth in the Western Region demonstrated against some heads of schools who refused to allow Muslim girls to wear their hijabs (veils) on campuses. The issue was a serious one because it was about religion, which could lead to chaos and possible bloodshed. When the story started making the rounds, I expected the government to douse the fire through diplomacy. That was not to be. Instead, the handlers and speechwriters of the President decided to include it in the speech to be delivered during the State of the Nation address. If the demonstration by the Muslim youth in the Western Region had taken a national dimension, the issue could have been part of the State of the Nation address as far as religious intolerance is concerned. In this particular case, a two-hour demonstration by a small group in one region prompted the President to add it to his State of the Nation address as if the Western Region represents Ghana.
And so there he stood on the floor of Parliament in his northern smock with made-in-China Kente at the background. When the President stated in his speech that he would sanction any heads of institutions who prevented Muslim girls from wearing hijabs, I nearly hit my head against the wall. I knew such a presidential fiat would fall flat. Even though all the three Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—believe in one God, they have different ways of worshipping the Almighty God. Where there are differences between them, Parliament is not the place to settle such differences.
Since independence Muslims and Christians and their idol-worshipping counterparts in Ghana have lived in perfect peace and have respected one another. If the wearing of hijabs becomes a controversy between the two great religions, the leadership of these religions can iron things out themselves instead of the President going to Parliament to stoke fire. I believe if the President had not made that sweeping statement and threatened to sanction heads of institutions who prevent Muslim girls from wearing hijabs, the leadership of the two religions would have been able to solve the problem amicably.
I want to believe that the order given by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ghana that heads of institutions under their church should disregard the presidential fiat was given out of anger. They say respect is reciprocal; and so when the President did not show them respect, they had no choice but to prove to him that they could also bite. If President Mahama thinks by issuing that presidential fiat he will get the votes of Muslims come 2016, then he has misfired. Such a populist instruction will only end up dividing the people and the President must remember that Muslims are in the minority in this country.
Since the NDC took over power in 2008, the presidency has been cheapened to the extent that orders given by the President of the country have been treated with contempt. The late Professor Mills gave orders on two occasions that nobody should pay any judgment debt to Mr Alfred Woyome but those orders were thrown to the dogs and the money was paid to the man on the blind side of the late President. To add insults to injury, those who defied the late President—the likes of Ebo Barton Odro and Betty Mould-Iddrisu—and paid the money are still walking the corridors of power.
About two years ago, President Mahama gave an order that all ministries, district, municipal, metropolitan and other government offices should use prepaid meters. Two years down the road, nobody has adhered to the order and the President too has not sanctioned those who have not obeyed the order. In other jurisdictions, heads would have rolled. Not so in God’s own country where the President can only talk and make promises without fulfilling them. The Catholic Bishops have bared their teeth, challenging the President to carry on with his threat of sanctioning heads of institutions who defy his order. Let us wait and see who is who. If the President fails to sanction any head of an institution who disregards his order, the President can be described as ineffective.
BAN ON POURING OF LIBATION
From the days of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah to Mr John Agyekum Kufour, libation was poured by our traditionalists during public events until Mills became the President of Ghana. During the swearing-in of Professor Mills, he decreed that no libation should be poured on that fateful day and the people clapped for him. That was the genesis of the religious intolerance that we are witnessing today. In fact, the ban was extended to all public events under his presidency until his untimely death. During those days, no one was heard criticising the late good old professor because we seemed to regard libation as idol-worshipping. Meanwhile whenever the man paid a courtesy call on any chief in Ghana, libation was poured to invoke our ancestral spirits to guide and protect him. The man never objected to such actions.
What was most surprising during those days was the silence of our traditional rulers. These are people who pour libation on their respective stools during festive occasions and during public functions but when Mills gave the order, they followed the instruction and never questioned the rationale behind the order. Like a standing order, Mills’ decree still stands since President Mahama also refuses to allow traditionalists to pour libation during state functions; and this is the man who thinks he has the moral right to sanction heads of institutions who refuse to allow Muslim girls to wear their hijabs on campuses.
When Mills gave that order, I expected those who matter in Ghana to remind him that before the white man came to the shores of Ghana to introduce Christianity, we used to worship God through our deities. That is why before the idol worshipper pours libation, he or she first raises the glass containing the water or wine to the sky and mentions the name of God before pouring the liquid on the ground. Our great grandfathers communicated with God Almighty through their deities and instilled the fear of God in their children when they were young. That is why the Akans say “obi nkyere akwadaa Nyame” (Nobody introduces God to a child). From the time the child begins to talk, he or she knows there is a God who is mightier than the deities his parents worship.
What John Mahama said is very unfortunate and dangerous. Can you imagine what will happen if the headmaster of a school like T.I. Ahmadiyya Secondary School in Kumasi decides to bar students from wearing crosses or holding the Holy Bible?
DEAD GOAT IS HARAM IN ISLAM
After declaring himself a dead goat in faraway Botswana, President Mahama has found himself in trouble with Muslim communities across the world. If a jihadist fighting for the Islamic State (IS), Al Shabaab, Boko Haram or Ansar Deen lays hands on President Mahama, he will either behead him or simply mow him down with his Kalashnikov assault rifle. Now that our President says he is a dead goat, no Muslim will touch him with a long stick. In Islam, haram can be applied to things such as alcohol, pork or any carcass. Even an animal slaughtered in an inappropriate way is haram. A true Muslim will never touch a dead goat with a long stick. If you even jokingly refer to a living human being as a dead goat, jihadists will never forgive you and will declare a ‘fatwa’ on you.
Our President must learn some few useful presidential habits anytime he gets the opportunity to address a crowd. Somebody must tell the man that he is no longer the MP for Bole-Bamboi but the Executive President of the Republic of Ghana. If Madam Hannah Tetteh, the Foreign Minister who accompanied the President to Botswana, had been the one who made this unfortunate statement, I would not have worried myself commenting on the issue. One of the most useful presidential habits is to talk less and listen more. This President talks too much. Habbah!!!
Excuse me while I puff my Constando Colombo top class cigar and just be.
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