By Madi Jobarteh
Since taking office this year, the new Ghanaian president John Mahama has been taking some crucial decisions and actions which demonstrate strong leadership, commitment, and awareness of his responsibilities to his people.
Here is one of those actions. His government has formulated a code of conduct for ministers and political appointees. The code was launched on May 6. The Foreword says, “This Code of Conduct clearly sets out my expectations of a government of integrity, honesty, impartiality, respect, decency, incorruptibility, competence, professionalism and standards of conduct that can withstand the closest public scrutiny.”
In his launching statement, President Mahama said, “This Code represents a bold declaration of the standards we must uphold as servants of the public … It is a living and enforceable framework that outlines what is expected of every individual appointed under this administration. This is a government of shared responsibility, and there will be no sacred cows.”
After decades of independence, if African governments had taken this approach and adhere to such standards without compromise, today Africa would have been in a far more developed, peaceful, and respectable position in the world.
It is therefore commendable that Mahama has come up with such a code. The significance of it is that since colonialism ended, the new rulers of Africa, for the most part, became a worse replica of the colonialists. African politicians and their technocrats who came to assume public office showered on themselves even more powers, privileges, benefits, incentives, and immunities than the colonial administrators they replaced. These new African administrators turned the state into a cartel where they hijacked the state and public resources to exist and serve only themselves at the detriment of their own citizens.
They consider the performance of their legal obligations and duties to their people as favour for which citizens must be grateful to them. These officials do not only fail to do the job for which they handsomely reward themselves but more arrogantly take great offense at citizens for merely protesting or criticising them. They would arrest, torture, prosecute and jail citizens just for that. Yet these officials fail to deliver. Check all human development indices and you will find African countries are in the worse positions.
Rather, since Independence, African governments and politicians have distinguished themselves only in corruption, violations, and incompetence. Go to any African country and you will see how public officials act with opulence, arrogance and living large as if they are god. In fact, in Equatorial Guinea, Dictator Nguema is god by law.
I hope President Barrow will emulate Mahama and develop such a code for his ministers, presidential advisors, ambassadors, regional governors, and other political appointees. Not only are most of his ministers underperforming but also several ministers have been adversely mentioned in corruption investigation reports while some have turned themselves into attack dogs. Meanwhile scandals have become the norm for many of the country’s diplomats.
On the other side, presidential advisors have not only become a disgrace to public office and public morality, but they are also unforgivable liabilities on the Gambian taxpayer. They do not perform the task for which they were appointed and are being paid for but rather go further to constantly insult citizens and sow seeds of division and hatred in our country, They have no regard for country or the Constitution but turn public office into both a circus and provocation, shamelessly.
Therefore, I urge President Barrow to look to Ghana’s John Mahama for guidance and inspiration.
For the Gambia, Our Homeland.
