Besides the many troubles that come with Presidency, the late Professor Atta Mills was a quiet man and left a clean sheet. He didn’t talk much and stayed out of the unnecessary partisan debate.

He was a very peaceful man and preferred the slower way of doing things to the tougher and harshest ways. This is what Dr. Kwabena Duffuor will do when he gets the nod.

President Mills never compromised on his principle of keeping a clean moral character and led a regimented way of protecting his name. Dr. Duffuor is already known for this attribute as a custodian of morals.

Mills was advised by his Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Duffuor on revenue leakages in the country. President Mills issued an executive fiat to protect his name when he ordered thus: “Arrest anybody who ‘trades’ in my name”. President Mills was very much aware of the use and misuse of the names of public officials for mischief. He would have none of it; and declared.

Advised by his Finance Minister once again on tax leakages and Anas investigations, he stormed the Tema Habour saying: “There are people who come here throwing their weight around; dropping names of so-called higher-ups. I have General Mordey and I am telling you, if anybody comes here with the president’s name, the first thing you should do is to arrest that person,” late President Mills said.

I expected President John Dramani Mahama to have taken a cue from his predecessor and insulated himself from political miscreants who used his name for mischief and, at worst, committing a plain crime. Such people were not flushed out immediately.

We should remember that the late president Mills knew that, in politics, you can have the angel and the devil by your side at the same time. So he had to do the disclaimer publicly so that Ghanaians would be aware of those throwing his names around.

He did so because the country was being denied of due revenue by corrupt officials who colluded with private companies and individuals to under-declare the value of imports so as to evade tax. Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, an Economist and Tax Expert was President Mills’ Finance Minister who teamed up with him to deal with the situation.

Under you President Mahama, there were a lot of imposters in town who pretended that they were with the government and used your name to do all manner of things.

Some of them owed taxes to the state; others owed unpaid debts; others used the name of the presidency for lobbying for positions that they didn’t deserve and were not qualified for; while others misused the name of the presidency for scams. Some claimed family relationships to obtain political patronage. Yet, all these turned out to be lies but sometimes they succeed in their act and went scot-free.

This, they did so by putting fear in many public and civil servants and sometimes threatening members of security agencies that they can change their positions overnight. This they did by throwing the name of the President around. The rate at which some Ghanaian politicians invoked the name of the President for electoral lobbying and influence in their favour during your tenure your time was at an alarming rate; a thing already considered as a ‘menace’ to our society.

This hypocritical display became pertinent in the face of our elective office seekers using the name of the President in vain. Some set of political hypocrites refused to accept and appreciated the fact that election victory is not only by using the president’s name but more of hard work and good records.

Mr. President, this you did not do to further demonstrate your physical political bravery. What do you want again? This is in response to a story titled it will be a terrible mistake for John Mahama not to go unopposed as flagbearer – by Former Member of Parliament(MP) for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini.

According to him, the former President must be allowed to run unopposed as the party remains united solidly behind him for victory in 2024. Explaining that this is not the time for the NDC to be experimenting on who to lead the party because former President John Mahama has built a solid record as a President for the party.

“If you check the records of the former President, it remains unchallenged so any new person who will be elected as flagbearer will be campaigning on those achievements and records. That is his opinion. But for the records under late President Mills, Ghana was in tandem with the commanding dogmas of international finance and business, Led by an experienced Economist Dr Kwabena Duffuor who was his Finance Minister and a former Governor of the Bank of Ghana and a major player in international finance circles.

More also President Mills didn’t have an Economic management team led by his Vice President. He had an Economic advisory Council on which Dr Kwabena Duffuor as a Finance Minister was the only government appointee on it. No other Government appointee was part. The President knew why. After his death, his predecessor John Mahama didn’t follow his path. Dr Kwabena Duffuor was a Finance Minister for a considerably short period. This manifested in the diverse socio-economic and political sectors of the country, notably, Health-Care, Agriculture, Power Generation, Education, Works and Infrastructure, Housing, Roads, Communal Integration, Transportation, and the overall shape of the nation’s economy.

All these sectors wore a new look! His performances are evident in job creation, power reforms, agricultural transformations, road construction, aviation, transportation, economic growth, education, water, pension reforms, oil industry reforms, electoral reforms, and port reforms.

The period between 2009-2012, with Dr. Kwabena Duffuor as Finance Minister, the country’s inflation rate remained in the single-digit brackets.
Longest single-digit inflation for 30+ months. SHS Project.

1. Reduced SHS from 4 years to 3 years
2. Provided 600 emergency school facilities in SHS-Dormitories, Assembly Halls, Classroom Blocks, Libraries
3. Established Hila Limann SHS in Gwollu
4. Established the                                                                                                                                                University of Health and Allied Sciences-UHAS-Sokode Lokoe near Ho
5. Established University of Energy and Natural Resources-UENR-Sunyani
6. Secured 3 CBD Loan out of which 1bn dollars was used to construct the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant
7. Implemented Single Spine Salary Structure
8. Completed the Gang of Six Project inherited from Kufuor
9. Polo Ground-Spintex By-Pass
10. Restored Accra-Tema Railway Transport
11. Cape Coast Sports Stadium
12. National Hockey Stadium
13. Under-20 National Team won the World U20 Cup in Egypt
14. Black Stars Silver Medal at AFCON in Angola
15. 2010 World Cup Quarter Finals
16. Established University of Ghana Medical Centre, UGMC
17. Built Tamale Teaching Hospital
18. Begun construction of Kotokuraba Market.
19 The New Court Complex to replace the Cocoa Affairs Court and many more.

When President Mills passed on, what was the result? Ghanaians are the best Judge. Let’s wait and see.

By: Maxwell Okamafo Addo