| H. E. John Dramani Mahamah defied all odds and appointed Victoria Hammah as Deputy Minister of Communications but the President will leave to regret the day he made that decision as Ms. Hammah has become a liability to his administration! |
His Excellency John Dramani Mahama's administration has been bedevilled with one challenge or the other since the National Democratic Congress (NDC) took office for the second term.
Right from the inception of office, the Mahama administration encountered the biggest challenge in opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP)'s petition to the Supreme Court of Ghana challenging the outcome of the 2012 General Election.
Then came the power and energy crisis as well as shortage of treated water in many urban areas as well as perceived corruption within his administration and the public sector as well.
That was not all, the Mahama administration also inherited plethora of strikes and demonstrations by some organised work forces over disagreements of salaries and other emoluments.
As if that was not enough, the current government led by John Mahama had to deal with intra-party issues concerning derogatory remarks by some disgruntled senior members of the NDC who were, somewhat, over looked by the President during appointments for various key positions.
As if by design, the bold decision by President Mahama to over look a lot of senior members in order to give young members of the NDC a chance in his administration seems to have presented him (President Mahama) with further challenges.
One of such young and new faces in government has become a liability to the government as her comments in a secret conversation secretly recorded by someone purported to be her driver has further embarrassed the Mahama-led government.
On the said leaked tape, the dismissed Deputy Minister of Communications, Victoria Hammah indicated her determination to make one million dollars ($1000,000) before leaving politics.
She also claimed, among other things, that a minister played a role in the Supreme Court judgment of the 2012 election petition which confirmed President Mahama as validly elected president.
On the over 30 minutes tape recording of the deputy minister and her unknown friend, she (Victoria Hammah) blabbed about how politically connected she was and how a colleague deputy minister at the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Rachel Appoh, secured her appointment after having dated men in the governing NDC.
A snippet of the leaked tape has presented the President with a challenge to tell Ghanaians why he dismissed the crestfallen deputy minister. Is it because her comments in the said tape implicated the NDC of influencing the Supreme Court rulings on the election petition?
Or the fact that Victoria Hammah had ambitions to bag in $1000,000 before quitting politics?
Of course, if your minister is caught on tape insinuating the fact that somebody from your party influenced the Supreme Court on a land mark case like the election petition, then, as a President, you are challenged to tell us why we should not believe such a person.
It would have been a different story if Vicky Hammah was sacked before making such a comment. In this case, she was still at post and had no issue with any body in government so we can't say she was just bitter and decided to speak lies about the government.
One will not be far from right to say that the current Mahama-led administration would go down as one of the administrations with a lot of young or inexperienced members.
So if a minister is caught on tape alleging that her colleague minister was appointed because she has dated some big men in the party, then it calls for concern.
Once again, the challenge here is that the President will have to prove to us that all his ministers were appointed on merit and that they were not just cronies that he wanted to appease them with positions.
More so, if your minister is caught on tape with an avowed mission to make at least $1000,000 before she leaves politics, then, as a leader of such administration, you should prove to us that you and your members are not in politics to suck the nation dry.
Another challenge for the President and his government is to prove to the citizenry that his good friend and lawyer Tony Lithur does not control as many as three ministries as was alleged by Vicky Hammah in that tape. Because, according to the dismissed deputy minister of communications the fact that Tony Lithur controls at least three ministries makes his wife very powerful
No wonder the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur has started the damage control. She said in a statement that she has never met, communicated or had any discussion with any judge with a view to influencing the outcome of the presidential election petition.
Surely, there will be more damage control as issues discussed on that leaked tape cannot be swept under the carpet just like that.
As for the arrest and the alleged kidnap of the former driver of Victoria Hammah, we may have to leave that issue for another day.
A transcript of the whole conversation between the former deputy minister and that unknown lady at the other end is available on www.peacefmonline.com
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