Who will save Africa's strongmen?

The Akans of Ghana have this proverb on the idea of the interrelatedness of life and death:
Nyame boo owuo na owuo kum Nyame; na Nyame na ote nanka aduro nti odii owuo so nkonim interalia this translate laterally as:
this means:
The Akan believe that
The Creator created things;
When He created things,
He created Life;
When He created Life,
He created Death;
When He created Death,
Death killed Him;
When He died,
Life came into Him and woke Him up;
Thereafter, He lived forever.

For certain is death for the born. And certain is birth for the dead; Therefore over the inevitable. In the course of the year 2012, the icy cold hands of death has claimed four of Africa's leaders. It appears that inspite of all the wealth and power at their disposal, they were no match for the power of death. Regardless of who you are or where you're from, death is certain. But what is funny is that even though we know it's coming, we fear it including the so-called strongmen of Africa.

Guinea Bissau (Malam Bacai Sanhá 64; 9 January 2012)

Malawi (Bingu wa Matharika 78; April 5, 2012)

Ghana (John Atta Mills 68; July 24, 2012)

Ethiopia (Meles Zenawi Asres 57; 8 May 1955 – 20 August 2012)

All these death coming within the first eight months of 2012 I believe had dwarfed Prophet TB Joshua's prophesy that one African leader was going to die in 2012. The big question I am running through the minds of Africa's strongmen still alive is:

Who will be the next to go?

 and or ?

Why ordinary African civil and public servants have to retire mandatory by age 60 years old but the 54 African Chief Civil servants are not subjected to same rule? Africa will learn to escape this fate.

Ghana mourns President as uncertain future awaits the ruling party

The President of the Republic of Ghana, John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills has been pronounced dead. 

"It is with a heavy heart that we announce the sudden and untimely death of the president of the Republic of Ghana." A statement signed by the Chief of Staff, Martey Newman indicated that the 68-year-old died a few hours after being taken ill.Click  here to read the statement confirming the President’s death.

Earlier in the day he had informed Parliament he was going for a day’s visit to Nigeria.

Rev Amo Darko, a member of the Council of State, was traveling with the president when he was said to have collapsed at the Kotoka Airport and was quickly rushed to the 37 Military Hospital.

The president is said to have died from acute cardiac arrest soon after getting to the hospital. Other sources claim President Mills died of Throat Cancer.

President Mills, 68, is the first sitting President to have died in the political history of Ghana.

He has been in power since 2009. President Mills a few weeks ago returned to Ghana after visiting the US for medical check-up.

Veep turned President John Dramani Mahama taking oath of Office

Parliament convened immediately to swear-in Vice President John Dramani Mahama as President of the Fourth Republic in accordance with Article 60 (6 -10) of Ghana's constitution as interim leader for the remainder of his tenure.
As per the Ghanaian constitution:

Article 60.

(6) Whenever the President dies, resigns or is removed from office, the Vice-President shall assume office as President for the unexpired term of office of the President with effect from the date of the death, resignation or removal of the President.

(7) Where the unexpired term served by the Vice-President under clause (6) of this article exceeds half the term of a President, the Vice-President is subsequently only eligible to serve one full term as President.

(9) The Vice-President shall, before commencing to perform the functions of the President under clause (6) of this article, take and subscribe the oath set out in the Second Schedule to this Constitution in relation to the office of President.

(10) The Vice-President shall, upon assuming office as President under clause (6) of this article, nominate a person to the office of Vice-President subject to approval by Parliament.

President John Mahama will do well by quickly nominating someone to complete the transition to send positive signals to both the international and business communities that Ghana has come of age to take its rightful place among community of nations. He must consider competence rather than ethnic allegiances as the current situation proves that the position of a Vice President is not a mere formality. So far names I gather have been penciled are Fanti ethnic group: Hannah Tetteh, Kwesi Botchwey, Goosie Tanoh, and Kwesi Ahwoi. Not a good omen on ethnic grounds and age wise.

Mills was selected as the ruling National Democratic Congress' (NDC) candidate for the forthcoming presidential election scheduled to take place on December 7, 2012. His tenure in office was due to end on January 6, 2013 for his first term. 

Political scientists however say the real challenge ahead is not the transition from the deceased president to his vice but the candidacy for the NDC in the December presidential poll. According to the NDC's constitution, in the current circumstance, the candidate who placed second in the party's presidential congress last July 2011 is the automatic replacement. If this were to be the case, then the former First Lady and wife of the founder of the NDC, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings will have to be the presidential candidate of the NDC. The fear of many is whether the competing interests within the NDC will allow the constitution of the party to take its natural course as the national constitution prevailed. 

 If this scenario was to happen, that will mean an end to the Johns dynasty and the heralding of the Nanas epoch. Since the coming into effect of the 1992 Fourth Republic on January 7, 1993, all the occupants of the presidential seat have first names as JOHN. From 1993 to 2001 (JOHN Rawlings), 2001 to 2009 (JOHN Kufuor), 2009 to 24 July 2012 JOHN Atta Mills, and 24 July 2012 to 7 January (JOHN Mahama).

The ruling NDC's formidable opponent, the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) candidate also has first name NANA Akufo Addo. So the question is will it be NANA Akufo Addo or NANA Konadu Agyemang Rawlings?
Africa will learn to escape this fate: Guinea Bissau (Malam Bacai Sanhá 64; 9 January 2012) Malawi (Bingu wa Matharika 78; April 5, 2012),  and Ghana (John Atta Mills 68; July 24, 2012) all within the first seven months of 2012 I believe had dwarfed Prophet TB Joshua's prophesy that one African leader was going to die in 2012. The Ethiopian government has kept the deteriorating health of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, 57, a secret. His absence from 19th African Union summit in Addis Ababa between 9th and 16th July 2012 as a host for the first time since he took power 21 years ago raised a questions about his state of health. The government has since admitted Meles is under medical treatment and the situation is not "life threatening". But reliable sources insist the prime minister is in "critical condition.” He is in Brussels Belgium clinic. Mills was also absent for same poor health. Why ordinary African civil and public servants have to retire mandatory by age 60 years old but the 54 African Chief Civil servants are not subjected to same rule?

Oil Boom Is Vote Curse for Ghana’s Mills as Cedi Slumps

Ghana’s currency has become a victim of the economy’s success following an oil boom, depreciating the most against the dollar this year in Africa after Malawi’s kwacha and eroding support for President John Atta Mills as he seeks re-election.

The cedi has weakened 14 percent to 1.9098 per dollar since the beginning of January, the fourth-biggest decline in the world, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. By the time Mills and his ruling National Democratic Congress party face voters in a Dec. 7 election, the cedi may be at a record low of 2 per dollar, according to Standard Bank Group Ltd. (SBK), Africa’s biggest lender. 

Ghana’s debut as an oil producer in 2010 fueled the fastest economic expansion on the continent last year, spurring growth in imports of everything from machinery and oil to food, driving up demand for foreign currency and undermining the cedi. Consumers are now paying more for rice, cars, TVs and clothing as inflation soared to a 14-month high of 9.1 percent in April.

“The downside of a weak cedi is rising inflation,” Yvonne Mhango, a Pan-African economist at Renaissance Capital in Johannesburg, said in an e-mail. Growth in consumer prices may accelerate to 14 percent by the end of 2012, implying “there is an upside risk to interest rates, which is negative for credit growth and also raises the government’s debt-servicing costs.”

Re-Election Campaign

Ghana doesn’t have the manufacturing capacity to sustain the needs of an economy that expanded 14.4 percent in 2011 and is forecast by the government to grow 9.4 percent this year. Imports surged 20 percent in the first quarter to $4 billion compared with a year earlier, according to the Bank of Ghana.

Mills’ re-election campaign, which focuses on his economic successes since coming to power in 2008, may be a victim of the cedi’s slump. The president will face New Patriotic Party leader, Nana Akufo-Addo, at the polls after defeating him by less than 1 percentage point four years ago.

“If this government doesn’t do something about the cedi soon it will be bad news for President Mills,” Kofi Manu Asamoah, 52, an importer of spare parts for Mercedes-Benz vehicles, said in an interview from his shop in Accra, the capital. “I am running at a loss because I spend more to buy dollars to pay for my imports,” Asamoah said, leaning against a shelf in his shop that was empty of customers.

With reserves at $4.4 billion, covering about three months of import requirements, the central bank is running out of ammunition to halt the cedi’s decline. Two interest rate increases this year have had limited success.

‘Losing Side’

“The cedi’s situation is hurting us, we are on the losing side,” Kwasi Okoh, managing director of Aluworks Ltd. (ALW), an aluminum-products maker in the port city of Tema, said in an interview on May 8. “We purchase our raw materials in dollars so by the time we have sold our produce we have a shortfall in sales.” Costs have risen by 15 percent in the first quarter, he said.

Ghana’s economy depends on imports for “almost everything from rice to clothing to toothpicks” and rising costs may push up wage demands, Kwabena Nyarko Otoo, director of the labor research and policy institute of the Ghana Trade Unions Congress, said in an interview in Accra on May 17.

“If the cedi continues to fall then we could see some labor agitations for further increases in salaries to restore real income lost to price hikes,” he said.

Rising Costs

The currency’s slump boosted costs at Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd. (GGBL), a unit of London-based Diageo Plc (DGE) that makes the popular lager beer, Star, by as much as 12 percent in the first four months of the year compared with a year earlier, Anthony Attu, the company’s treasury manager, said in a phone interview from Accra on May 8.

“Our budget this year for the exchange rate was 1.6 per dollar and 2.5 per pound sterling, but these levels have already been broken,” he said.

The election itself is a source of cedi weakness as investors bet the government will struggle to keep spending in check, threatening a repeat of 2008 when pre-vote expenses boosted the budget deficit to 14.5 percent of gross domestic product. The shortfall is expected to reach 4.4 percent of GDP in 2012, according to the government.

“There is a lot of concern among investors and international community as to whether the government will be able to keep within the budget deficit target this year,” James Clinton Francis, a sub-Saharan Africa researcher at Eurasia Group, said in a phone interview from Washington. “The stakes are very high for both parties in the December elections and that gives them the incentive to spend.”

Philomena Annan, a grocer in Bubiashie, a suburb of Accra, is desperate for some relief as costs of staple foods, such as rice, climb.

“We are really suffering now,” Annan, 45, said in an interview on May 8. “I can’t even add profit margins to already high prices. President Mills must do something about the cedi.”