We have been here before. Big slogans. Big promises. A government comes in shouting “Reset.”
But what has been reset?
Not the price of kenkey. Not the cedi. Not the attitude of those in power. Only the bank accounts of loyalists have been reset.
The evacuation of 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa exposed it all. GH¢49.72 million spent. GH¢5,000 given to a man who lost a shop he built for 10 years. A Foreign Minister telling citizens from America, “We will forgive them.” Forgive them for what? For losing everything?
That is not a reset. That is a sham. It is old wine, arrogant wine, in a new bottle.
So Ghana’s next conversation cannot be about NDC vs NPP. It cannot be about who shouts loudest on the radio. The next election must be about CHARACTER.
The next President to get it right for us must have three things this current lot does not have:
1. Good Character Over Good English
We don’t need a President who can speak big grammar at the UN while insulting citizens at home. We need a person of good character.
A person who understands that public office is not a chiefdom. That a Ghanaian who has lost his livelihood in South Africa is not a beggar to be forgiven, but a citizen to be restored.
Good character means you tell us the truth the first time, not after the Minority exposes you. Good character means you don’t hide that a private businessman paid GH¢16 million for a state evacuation. Good character means GH¢5,000 is not called an achievement.
2. Courage to Choose Merit Over Loyalty
The reason Ghana is not developing is not lack of ideas. It is loyalty over merit.
Both NPP and NDC do it. When in opposition, they cry about protocol. When in power, they do worse protocol. They sack a competent director because he was appointed by the other party and replace him with a loyal youth organizer who cannot manage a district budget.
The next President must be prepared to do what it takes: Keep the competent Ghanaian even if he wears the other party’s colours. Sack the incompetent loyalist even if he followed you in opposition for 8 years.
If your child needs heart surgery, you will not choose the most loyal surgeon. You will choose the most competent one. Why then do we give the heart of Ghana to loyalists?
3. A Unifier, Not a Divider
The reset we have seen is divisive. It is “us versus them.” If you complain about GH¢5,000, you are ungrateful. If you ask for audit, you are unpatriotic.
A country cannot develop when half the country is treated as enemies.
The next President must bring us together as Ghanaians. Ewe, Akan, Dagomba, Ga, Frafra – we are all suffering the same economy. The next President must be a President for the returnee from South Africa, the nurse who wants to travel to Canada, the trader at Makola, and the farmer at Ejura.
We are tired of leaders who forgive us. We want leaders who serve us.
The sham reset will end, as all sham projects end. When it ends, Ghana will need more than a politician.
Ghana will need a person of good character who is prepared to do what it takes to get it right.
Not for his party. For all of us.
By Ato Bonful
