President John Mahama is angry and sulking. His recent query of an imaginary cabal not supportive of his efforts refers. When he poured out his heart about his failing propaganda project, he attributed the situation to what in his opinion is a cabal throwing a spanner into the wheels of his ‘success’ stories.
He has pumped in massive logistics and funds but yet not drawing in the desired dividends. He definitely should feel disappointed in those into whose hands he has entrusted this propaganda project, giving the not-too-good results he is getting from the campaign grounds, especially in parts of the country where he expects to be hailed for doing so well.
We are elated to learn that he has discovered how badly those he has engaged to tell his stories are doing. His observation is on point but as to whether the failure can rightly be attributed to a cabal is disputable.
We demur about his attribution; our stance hinged upon an assortment of reasons. We think firstly that there is no such cabal deliberately stopping information about his progress reaching its intended targets and effecting the necessary positive changes in their thinking about his performance.
What there is, surely, is a plethora of activists, especially on the airwaves, who have specialized in creating lies and unleashing these on the channels. These propagandists also hurl vitriolic diatribe at political opponents, especially the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which appears to be their favourite approach to seeking support for the president.
Some of them recently went overboard and were jailed by the Supreme Court for being contemptuous of the court. One of such persons boasted that he was in the country to champion the cause of the president, an assignment represented by the incessant offensive remarks about political opponents of the president. He did not lie about working for President Mahama because no sooner had he been jailed than his godfather invoked the relevant powers bestowed upon him to cause his release from prison. How can such inappropriate conduct endear the president’s activities to the people?
The truth is that many Ghanaians are put off by these radio stations and their modus operandi; the voices of these unrepentant persons irritating to their ears. Under such circumstances, there is no way these messages would be listened to, let alone turn things around in terms of acceptance.
If these persons, supported with funds to run down other politicians in a useless bid to shore the falling fortunes of the president, are unable to win people over, it is a gauge of the disdain of Ghanaians for the government propaganda machinery.
Besides, there are more governance issues to lament than celebrate anyway, and the earlier the president accepts these in good faith the better.
Ghanaians are fed up with the daily doses of lies about the health status of the flag bearer of the NPP and the predictions of his date of death from mere mortals, not forgetting their diagnoses of his ailments.
These persons who are more of propagandists than political communicators believe rather erroneously that they are being believed when they are not.
A container of rotten messages full of venom and unpleasant to the ears will certainly fail to convince the targets. Spending so much and garnering so little is indeed painful. On this score, we share the predicament of the president but undoing this at this time is near impossible.
With Dele Momodu coming on board or even replacing the status quo through the pages of the Ovation magazine, the president could have transferred his confidence to the Nigerian publisher. Cabal no, bad communication methods and governance, yes.