{"id":71128,"date":"2014-12-04T09:31:14","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T09:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=71128"},"modified":"2014-12-04T10:38:48","modified_gmt":"2014-12-04T10:38:48","slug":"act-age-mr-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/12\/act-age-mr-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Act your age, Mr. President"},"content":{"rendered":"
Dear President Mahama,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Happy Birthday, Sir. As I read through the numerous messages wishing you well on your birthday, I couldn\u2019t believe you were just turning 56. You were so young when you were campaigning for the presidency.<\/p>\n
Now, you seem to have aged faster in the last two years than the preceding 20 years. The grey hair (and all the other curious decisions) made me forget, as your campaign team kept insisting, about how \u201cyouthful\u201d you were. I had almost settled into the belief that you were as old if not older than some of your predecessors. It\u2019s a relief to be reminded that you are not as old as your looks and decisions suggest.<\/p>\n
I noticed you were working on your birthday. I hope you got more than Facebook wishes from your ministers and Ghanaians. Was there some sort of celebration? Or you planned to celebrate in Qatar instead?<\/p>\n
Whatever it is, I hope you had time to celebrate fifty-six. I wish you all the best.<\/p>\n
As everyone does on their birthday, I hope you also had time to reflect on your life and legacy.That\u2019s the hardest part of growing up no one warned me about. You are running a country, if you haven\u2019t done so already I suggest you take a moment to go for a walk by the sea or at Peduase Lodge and reflect, especially on the kind of president you’ve been.<\/p>\n
I am asking you to do this because I wish you well. I speak for most Ghanaians when I say we all want you to succeed. We need you to be more than the guy who won the presidency by shouting \u2018edey be keke.\u2019<\/p>\n
Sir, your performance as president so far has been disappointing (to say the least) and at the current rate of one scandal per week, you might end your first term without achieving anything.<\/p>\n
In 2008 when you and your former boss, late President John Mills were elected, many believed you would influence the government with your youthful ideas and help move Ghana along. As you know, you both failed. We knew it wasn\u2019t your fault. Vice presidents don\u2019t wield as much power as the campaign teams claim.<\/p>\n
In 2012, it was said that one of the things you had against the opposition was your youth. They said being youthful meant you knew \u2018what\u2019s up\u2019 and you\u2019d do things differently. Unfortunately the only youthful thing you seem to have done well has been to surround yourself with more young people, use an iPad and address Ghanaians with a teleprompter.<\/p>\n