Sylvester Mensah, Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), has said that President John Mahama, has done a “sterling job” for Ghana, considering the plethora of unique challenges that has confronted his government since he took office.
“You may discover, for example, that among all Ghana’s presidents since 1957 when we gained independence, he was confronted with one of the most difficult set of circumstances including a lengthy legal challenge to his legitimacy by an opposition party after a fairly conducted general election. This undoubtedly had implications for political stability and investor confidence in the Ghanaian economy”.
“This coupled with low and falling commodity prices in an economy with high growth potential and development expectation may generate varying perceptions depending on one’s political persuasion and expectations. I dare say he has done a sterling job of grappling with those difficult circumstances within just over a year of taking charge and is now on the verge of turning things around. If doing that is not a serious deal for government in the twenty first century, I’d like to know what is!,” Mr. Mensah noted in an interview with California-based International journalist, Ambrose Ehirim.
Mr. Mensah, made the statement in response to a question from the journalist that Ghanaians have said John Mahana is not the “best deal” for the country.
The NHIA boss explained further that “as a journalist of your caliber and experience, I am sure you are well aware that political assessments can often be subjective and tend to be coloured by people’s political preferences, perceptions and prejudices. Therefore, to be on safer grounds, one would want to turn to published data by reputable sources on governance when making judgments about performance in office. I am sure you have your own trusted sources you consult for information. I recommend highly that you turn to your sources on this subject in order to come to a more reliable and a more rounded view of the performance of John Dramani Mahama.”
The interview was conducted on Mr. Mensah’s autobiography, “In the Shadows of politics – Reflections from my Mirror”.
On a question on whether Ghana’s Fourth Republic was working as had been projected, Mr. Mensah responded that by and large, the answer to the question would be a “yes”.
He explained: “Democracy is challenging and expensive. This is true for all human societies that attempt to adopt it as their method of government. To the extent that Ghanaians are determined to make the most of the opportunity to administer our affairs by means of plural representation and principled dialogue, despite the challenges it brings to social cohesion and our economy, we can say that Ghana’s 4th republic is working as well as could be expected.”
Mr. Mensah said, what he had for the upcoming generation was “to help them to realize that the future is bright; that this is truly an exciting time to be growing up in Ghana. It is my pride and joy to help them understand that we have a rich history which is replete with precious lessons for nation building; that the pedigree of our country and its institutions among the nations of Africa and the world at large is respectable and therefore worthy of building upon; that if they utilize the opportunities which come their way, thoroughly learn the lessons of the past and intelligently harness the resources available to them, there will be no limits to their achievements and their ability to transform this beautiful country we call home for the benefit of all.”
