Poor President John Mahama; the man never seems to get a break from the constant vilification and condemnation from his political enemies. With the elections so close, the verbal onslaught on Mr Mahama, predictably will continue.
As it goes, the president’s critics don’t shy away from tearing into him on everything he does. They seize on every misstep — if I can call it such — of the president to pile on, to launch blistering attacks.
Truth be told, criticizing the president has, sadly, become a cottage industry, enriching the most virulent among the critics. Some engage in it to expand their political base, and yet others do it just to be counted as Mahama critics.
His tour of the nation to tout his achievements two months ago was roundly criticized and it did not stop there; take his recent campaign stop at Abossey Okai for instance; the president was endlessly assailed for allegedly distributing money to supporters. Some called his action vote buying, and described the entire episode as the desperate act of an unpopular president trying hard to retain power.
Then there is the case of the Ford Expedition vehicle gift the president allegedly received from a Burkinabe contractor. Critics immediately pounced after an investigative report on the matter by Manasseh Azure. They called for the president’s political scalp, with some even going as far as to suggest that Mr Mahama be impeached—this parliamentary manuever, thankfully never panned out as the idea was quickly killed by the majority.
The Commission for Human Rights and Justice (CHRAJ) took over the matter and launched an investigation, but found that the president had not broken the law. Yet, this was not enough to please the critics, who once again, and not unsurprisingly, jumped on the commission, accusing it of being in the pockets of the NDC. Amazing.
Even when travelling overseas on official business, Mr Mahama is still the target of attacks from his foes. His appearance at the United Nations last week where he gave a passionate speech extolling the rest of the world to give the African continent a chance to improve its fortunes with good trade deals, was assailed. Critics were out in their numbers shamelessly asserting that the president should have said this, or said that.
I guess if you are a sitting president, invariably, you become the target of coordinated attacks from your opponents…..it goes with the territory, I suppose. But Mr Mahama’s political enemies have taken the art of criticism to extremes. They have called him incompetent, clueless, corrupt and an embarrassment to the country.
They do it for political expendiency, for political advantage and that is understandable, however, to constantly attack the man for every little thing he does is just plain lunacy. Political criticism is an endless game, but at some point, it gets stale, outdated and ultimately backfires on those who perpetuate it.
