It was rather unfortunate that the President did not acknowledge the presence of former President Kuffuor and Chief Justice Woods at the Chamber of Parliament when he delivered his State of the Nation Address a couple of days ago. However what is most regrettable and unacceptable is the behavior of the minority and the ensuing protracted discussion of the President’s omission in the media. This year seems to be an exciting year for Ghana as the government has promised “an action year”. A major housing project has just begun, two new universities are in the pipeline and our oil sector seems to be taking off. So I was looking forward to what the good people of Ghana are going to say with regard to President’s State of the Nation Address. I was particularly interested the discussion that will follow as to whether the government has set the right tone for the country.
However, the President’s failure to observe protocol has consumed the whole nation while the issues in the State of the Nation address have been relegated to the background. How is observing protocol or failure thereof going to put food on the tables of the millions of hungry Ghanaians? Too much political capital is spent on unnecessary discussions that have very little positive effect on the state of affairs of the nation. Yes, we take great pride in our culture and it is always respectful to acknowledge the presence of our elders, but for goodness sake we spent too much energy on these CULTURAL LEGALITIES. I wish such energies and strong passions would also be channeled to address the real problems that this nation faces. In any case the President realized his mistake right after the speech and quickly apologized. This should have ended the matter so that we could move onto the real issues. Yet 3 days after the President’s address the matter is still lingering in the public domain.
It is interesting that all the attention seems to be focused on the conduct of the President. As far as I am concerned, the spotlight should have been on the unruly behavior of the minority MPs in the Chamber. They heckled and shouted on the president whiles he was still on his feet preparing to deliver the address to Parliament. These MPs should remember that the Presidency is an institution that represents all Ghanaians. Irrespective of whoever assumes the Presidency, we must treat the highest office of the land with the necessary respect it deserves. In any case what happened to giving a person the benefit of doubt? The President could have made a genuine mistake and yet the MPs quickly pronounce judgment on him and start behaving like school kids. It is a shame to think that these are the Representatives of the People. As far as Presidents of Ghana go, this President has distinguished himself as a gentleman and he will do everything possible to avoid a confrontation. The MPs could have at least exercised decorum in the Chamber and then registered their protest after the address. We would have applauded them for their sense of maturity.
I believe that mistakes in such high charged situations are very common. Seasoned public speakers and TV personalities make similar simple mistakes all the time. Imagine having the onerous burden of delivering a speech to the entire world- literally (thanks to the internet) - with 24 million Ghanaians with different expectations all waiting to hear you address their 24 million different problems. Master, it is not easy at all and mistakes under these circumstances are not surprising. This debate should end. The President has done the right thing. He has apologized publicly and he has also called the affected persons privately to express his regret.
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