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For all the perks that come with ruling a country, the last couple of months haven’t been much fun for world leaders.
All around the globe, the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has jumped, from a Chinese port city’s localized outbreak, to a pandemic that is top priority for governments. It feels like decades ago when America and Iran appeared on the verge of World War III imminent conflict; Brexit, suddenly, doesn’t seem Britain’s biggest concern anymore. And, in Ghana, where political party communicators once harangued each other, a common message — of keeping distance and keeping clean — is preached. Hours of sleep, for most leaders, have reduced as COVID-19’s stricken toll increases — most, though, not everyone.
Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria can afford to go slow by handling his country’s COVID-19 fight with — as is the opinion of many of his countrymen — one hand on the steering wheel and the other tooth-picking, having wrapped up a second and final term of office only last year; in North Korea, Kim Jong-un is far more at ease, probably out golfing right now, safe in the knowledge that the longevity and security of his reign — and that of a long line of predecessors — doesn’t hinge on the effects of COVID-19.
Elsewhere, however, the stakes are much higher: just ask Donald Trump, America’s fresh-outta-impeachment head of state, and Ghana’s Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Those two, up for re-election later this year, cannot simply wriggle their way out of the spotlight and into their comfort zones. The respective approaches couldn’t contrast more — Akufo-Addo composed and inspiring, Trump demoralizing and baffling (okay, maybe I’ve been watching too much CNN and Trevor Noah these days) — but the results are largely the same. Trump’s latest job approval rating, 49%, matches his all-time high, having made gains among the political groups sampled — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — that improved on his performance in the first half of March.
Job approval ratings aren’t a thing in Ghana, but social media — as accurate a gauge as could be had in these parts, short of elections — has president Akufo-Addo enjoying many positive vibes. From his well-received ‘back-to-life’ quote to the ‘freebies’ handed out in his latest COVID-19 national address, Akufo-Addo has delivered to the pleasure of his supporters, neutrals, and even critics.
“Folks, the new social intervention measures announced by President Akufo-Addo relative to the COVID-19 pandemic are laudable,” wrote Sammy Gyamfi, National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), before, well . . .
Neither leader is out of the woods yet, of course, and both — Trump, especially — would be required to do even more in coming weeks, with COVID-19 expected to tighten its grip; in times as delicate as these, fluctuation in popularity levels is only a finger-snap away.
And, with electioneering in mind — Trump against a man four years older who is currently working out of his basement, Akufo-Addo versus his immediate predecessor — they would find comfort in the (in)famous words of Rahm Emanuel, former U.S President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff, first uttered during the late noughties’ recession.
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”
Just don’t let Trump know that came from one of ’em Dems.
NY Frimpong — Daily Mail GH
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