An Open Letter To Ghana's First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo

Your Excellency,

Surprising though it might be to you,  you actually have it within your power to help secure a second term for your dear husband,  our nation's leader, President Akufo-Addo.

There are a number of vital steps that if you encourage your husband to take, will change the nature of our nation's politics permanently - for the better - and make his position in Ghana's political world unassailable.

Your Excellency, to begin with, you must act swiftly to prevent the possibility of your husband  suffering the political equivalent of warzone-collateral-damage from arrant wrongdoing by members of his
extended family clan, and yours.

To do so, you must get your husband to follow the example of former President Rawlings.

It might  interest you to learn that once upon a time, former President Rawlings made it plain to his relatives that if they messed up, they would be on their own: and suffer the consequences of their own foolishness by themselves  - as he would not come to their rescue under any circumstances.

It worked a treat for him as it happens - and will do so for your husband too.

Secondly, you must constantly remind your husband of the Asantehene's friendly advice to him that he must never forget that it was to him that voters gave the mandate to govern the Republic of Ghana - not those around him in his inner circle and  government.

In effect what the wise Asantehene was implying was that the president's  appointees serve at his pleasure - and only  on condition that they deliver the results he expected from them when he appointed them to their positions in government.

Naturally, no one in Ghana expects your husband to usher in rule by saints - for heaven is the only place where saints inhabit: not the planet Earth.

However, he can occupy the moral high ground in our nation's politics for the next eight years, if both of you publicly publish your assets - even though there is no law compelling the two of you to do so.

That will strike a major blow against high-level corruption in Ghana - since nothing else can pierce egregious grand-larceny's extra-hardened armour so to speak.

Above all, when the two of you finally make up your minds to publicly publish your individual assets, you must take the whole nation by surprise  - and, crucially, no one but the two of you must know that
you have indeed decided to do so.

Alas, if any of the leading figures in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and your husband's inner circle get wind of such a decision by the two of you, they will move heaven and earth to prevent you doing so - by coming up with all manner of  excuses as to why it shouldn't happen.

Ignore all of them, Your Excellency: For you will both be securing your place in history if you publicly publish your assets - and will earn the respect of the whole world on top of that too.

And wherever  you travel officially to in the world, you will find that you will both experience virtually the same kind of admiration from your hosts that more or less the entire human race had for Nelson Mandela whiles he was alive.

Doubtless, you will be besieged by many 'concerned' individuals  from your party, and your two extended family clans, when word about this missive to you gets around - most of whom will try and convince you that it would not be a wise move for you and your husband  to publicly publish your
assets.

Ignore all of them, Your Excellency - for they are actually only thinking of themselves and how such a move by you and your husband the president will ruin their secret wealth creation agendas at Mother
Ghana's expense.

Finally, food for thought for you, Your Execellency: If former President John Dramani Mahama and his wife Lordina, as well as his brothers Edward and Ibrahim, and their respective spouses, had publicly published their assets as some of us suggested they should, John Mahama would still be President of the Republic of Ghana as we speak. For sure.  Such as life.

I wish you and your courageous husband well.

Thanks.

Yours in the service of Mother Ghana,

Kofi.