Spio's out but what would he have brought to the table? A pro-con analysis

Pro: Spio-Garbrah has three things you’d like to see in a post-modern president: intelligence, panache and nuance. In my opinion, the case for a Spio presidency is compelling. His academic training is well rounded with pedagogy from both within and outside Ghana. His CV is an interesting panoply of career stints both private and public, local and international stretching from his days at the African Development Bank, his ministerial career and his current gig with the Commonwealth of Nations. Here’s a man who has worked hard for everything he’s ever achieved. He’s not only smart and wonkish but does have the experience, wit and gravitas to become president of a nation full of promise but in serious need of transformational leadership.

Even more, trust Spio to shine on the global arena where he has garnered enormous respect and technical know-how. There’s no denying that at heart Professor Mills is a bleeding democrat who conducts himself in a mature manner. He’d most likely win re-election but that does not undo the advantages Spio has over him. Dr Spio-Garbrah is a box-to-box politician who possesses in abundance one of the most potent swords in pluralistic contests: oratory. To be a good campaigner you have to be engaging and persuasive. Ekwow often gets the bad rap for being arrogant and I don’t deny that he’s a talkative but on any given day; on any platform the man simply outshines Mills in any kind of communication. He compares with Konadu when it comes to sheer political doggedness but somehow you get the feeling Spio’s a bit more polished, pristine and poised for prime time.

Cons: In another democracy, Spio’s smartness and self-assurance should wow the electorate but in a terrain like Ghana it wounds up as an albatross. People perceive Spio as probably over-confident or to put it in Ghanaian parlance “too known”. And such an accusation is not without reason. Anybody who’s been following Ghana’s democratic revival since the 1990s is probably familiar with Spio-Garbrah’98. Ghana’s journalism scribes of that era certainly won’t forget his infamous “Item 13” declaration where he basically reduced journalists to snack mongering exploiteurs. In a political system where the press wields some power over the construction, framing and counter-framing of your public image, those are dangerous grounds to thread. His biggest drawback will come from anti-Rawlings elements in the NDC who see him as too close to the former first couple. Within the wider electorate, this could very well be a liability. Or maybe not.