By Napoleon Ato Kittoe
Coming face to face with the 4-Star General, the demeanour of Ghana’s newly installed President, John Dramani Mahama, has sent body language experts scratching their heads in putting interpretation on the posture of the two. A picture of a thousand words which nobody seemed to be speaking.
The President is the Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, his third bite of that precious cherry, and the 4-Star General Oppong Peprah is the Chief of Defence Staff, CDS. On the command structure of the defence forces, the President and the CDS are the top two.
Now, this is the most fascinating aspect of their first official meeting days after President Mahama assumed the highest office of the land. The Army General is the second four-star General after General Kutu Acheampong, the third military leader of the Republic of Ghana. Many hours prior to Mahama’s ascension, the General was quickly promoted to the extraordinary bracket in Ghana’s military by the departing President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Going by antecedents, practice, protocols, logic, and all scruples, the General owes allegiance to the current Commander-In-Chief and, through him and independently too, to the Republic of Ghana.
The President’s maiden encounter with security chiefs is rigorously important in aligning the shields on the sovereignty of the nation and ensuring that the political order is well-defended.
On that occasion, when General Oppong Peprah stood face to face with the President, the latter’s composure remained phlegmatic. His usual style of politeness and calmness in the presence of all manner of persons this time appeared eerie. In this particular one, the body language of the President conveyed “more than meets the eye” message. An optic that the President was not speaking but in a pensive demeanour beckoned questions rather than answers. What was he thinking about as the CDS whose appointment preceded his coming stood in front of him? Of course, there should be a CDS at any given time, and the position is one of many constitutionally mandated offices to be inherited by succeeding administrations.
The recent dynamics in Ghanaian politics teach us another lesson. It is the indispensable necessity of public officers to display loyalty to the state and to remain neutral within the diametrically opposed political competitors. Had there been evidence pointing to the General as having displayed political biases, that could have been low-hanging fruit, rather than a masterstroke in the hazy situation emanating from body language.
In the picture, the President was clearly not gazing at the CDS. However, he was devoted to his speech through listenership, much the same way the physical presence of his guest would be captured on his cone of vision. However, the caveat in this cannot be figured out, at least by me.
