Leadership is the most valuable part of any group or society. That is why leaders wield authority, are accorded high respect and under normal circumstances, compensated over and above everyone else.
Consequently, those who hold leadership positions at every level have the responsibility of serving as the driving force that motivates team members forward and towards attainment of a collective goal despite challenges.
People in authority who put their selfish interests above the collective goal are not leaders. History confirms they are dangerous men and women who have brought devastation to nations, societies, organisations, family and individuals with the powers they wield.
Ghana:
When confronted with the down sides of our leaders in Ghana, we are given to believe that they were good people who surrounded themselves with bad people. And it is the bad people who did those things that make the leaders in question look bad.
This has been said about Presidents Nkrumah, Rawlings, Kufuor, Atta Mills, Mahama; General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong; Prime Minister Busia and yesterday a senior academic from the University of Ghana, told me President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo means well – “but the people around him have already tainted his government.”
Before I could express my surprise, he explained that, “there is a certain mafia that captures our leaders regardless of party in power and dictate to them, how the country must be run in key sectors to meet their selfish interests.
The mafia has built a wall around the President where “they collect gate fees before granting access,” he said.
Following the conversation, I decided to verify for myself, connecting some dots on the way.
Presidential endorsements:
Anti-corruption groups and individuals have taken on the President for his recent endorsement of the Jospong Group of Companies. They are questioning why the President could do such a thing in the face of evidence that the Group’s dealing with government is a subject under investigations.
Was the endorsement orchestrated by this so-called mafia? How? Why? And what interest do they have in the Group?
Contaminated fuel:
It is believed that our energy sector is also controlled by the mafia regardless of which party is in power. When the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) scandal of sale of contaminated fuel broke this year, government response was slow and weak. It was for a reason.
The transaction is believed to have been made public because the mafia was realigning turfs and space following regime change as well as change in leadership at BOST. As soon as they agreed, the matter was resolved. The ministry ensured that BOST was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Electoral Commission:
Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Charlotte Osei, and her two deputies, Georgina Opoku-Amankwah, who is in charge of Corporate Services, and Amadu Sulley, in charge of Operations, are facing imminent impeachment hearings following allegations of abuse of power and corruption levelled against them.
The allegations contained in at least two separate petitions came as a result of poor show of leadership at the EC; making the organisation to become openly dysfunctional for the petitions to kick in.
Appointment:
When the embattled EC chair was appointed ahead of the 2016 general election, it was met with a lot of misgivings. While some believed one of the two deputies who had been there for years should have been appointed head, others saw nothing wrong with the former President Mahama’s appointment.
But the grapevine had it that she had been imposed on the President for appointment by the mafia. The conduct of the EC chair before, during and after the elections confirmed the assertion. Did the former President do the right thing by appointing her? Should she be blamed for Mahama’s faults and vice versa? No!
She occupied a huge leadership position in her own right. She could have done better on her own without the support and partnership of the mafia. Leadership is cause, everything else is effect.
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