In The #OccupyGhana Era Is Dr. Nduom The Perfect Leader For Ghana?

A sleeping giant, middle-class Ghana, has finally awoken.  #OcuppyGhana's activism is a manifestation of that new reality in our national life, today.

 A fence-sitting demographic has finally decided to get off the fence and take a stand against the mediocre who are slowly destroying the nation with their incompetence.

Fed up with having to  live in a nation in which even the  basic requirements of modern life - such as the provision of treated water on a daily basis, reliable electricty supply and a network of good roads - are lacking, a mostly apolitical and traditionally conservative demographic, has simply had enough.
  
#OccupyGhana's determination to exert a positive influence on the course of events in our country, is an attempt by middle-class Ghana to rid the nation of incompetent, self-serving and corrupt leadership, at all levels in the public sector.

In a sense, it is a demand for a new type of politics, in today's Ghana. They want their homeland Ghana to be governed competently by honest leaders who are world-class individuals.

They want to be led by wise leaders who, like Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah,  understand the importance of unifying the nation - by appointing the best-qualified individuals to fill positions in the public sector regardless of their political background: because they know that that is the only way we can make progress as a people.

That yearning for a united, well-run and disciplined nation, results from the decades of broken promises and ever-increasing levels of corruption that have characterised the periods in power of both Ghana's two biggest political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) - pastmasters of the old-style politics of divisiveness and the dark arts of endless corruption.

The natural leader that will satisfy the yearnings of middle-class Ghana will be a principled, world-class individual who has successfully created thousands of jobs and considerable wealth,  in a personal capacity - and can demonstrate that he or she, and the political party or grouping that they lead, will not be bought by the vested interests that prosper from the continuation of a Byzantine system underpinned by massive corruption.

That yearning is particularly strong amongst the younger generation that has grown up with broadband internet access and mobile devices that connect them to global networks of personal contacts.

That well-educated demographic  wants the enterprise Ghana to work well  and to excel. They want Ghana to be led by a leader who understands the need for zero red-tape, is an advocate of a regime of low taxes and is passionate about the creation of an entrepreneurial culture in Ghana.

For nearly two decades now, I have been an advocate of the principle that Ghanaian politicians ought to publicly publish their assets, as well as that of their spouses, and for political parties to openly publish their funding-sources. It is the only way we will create an ecosystem of honest  politics in our country.

Dr. Nduom has shown that commitment to openess - and demonstrated it in practical fashion by publishing his filed tax returns and revealing the source of funding for the Progressive People's Party (PPP) he founded before the 2012 elections.

That is a first in Ghanaian politics. For that reason, in my view, Nduom is the perfect leader to begin the era of the new politics Ghanaians now seek.

That is why  I have humbly called on Nkrumaists to form an alliance of all the Nkrumaist parties in Ghana, each keeping its identity, and, putting aside personal ambition and animosity, select Dr. Nduom to lead it - and ask him to fund all the Nkrumaists parties and select him as their presidential candidate for the 2016 presidential elections: with Samia Nkrumah as his running mate.

If Nduom - who, incidentally, began his political career at the grassroots level, by opting to stand for election as an Assembly member in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem (KEAA) Municipal Assembly - serves just one term as president, he can hand over the baton of leadership to Ms. Samia Nkrumah - and begin the much-needed  generational shift in Ghanaian politics.

Unlike his main opponents for the 2016 presidential election, President Mahama and Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom was not born with a golden spoon in his mouth. A self-made man, who knows what it is like to struggle in order to succeed in life, Nduom is the perfect leader for the #OccupyGhana era.

For the sake of Mother Ghana, it is time Ghanaians saw him - and each of the other patriotic and nationalistic leaders of today's followers of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, from the midst of whom he emerged - in that light: a good and honest leader who seeks the common good, not elite enrichment at Mother Ghana's expense.