Asabee's Wahala - Humility Lessons For Politicians

By Solomon Davids

God has His own way of teaching us beautiful lessons in life; that is why when Mr. Asamoah Boateng, a.k.a. Asabee, former Minister of Information and National Orientation, thought he was powerful enough to deny Mr. Hodari Okae of his rights, He just laughed at him.

Once upon a time, Asabee ordered the removal of Hodari Okae from office as a Deputy Commissioner at the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) upon suspicion that he was a sympathizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Hodari Okae, not satisfied with the violation of his rights, sought the intervention of the statutory courts; an Accra High Court declared that the government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had erred in sacking Mr. Hodari Okae without recourse to the laws of the land. The High Court judge ordered the re-instatement of Mr. Okae and the restoration of all salaries, allowances and other benefits due him as a Deputy Commissioner.

However, Mr. Asamoah Boateng (Asabee), thought it wise to ignore the High Court ruling and refused to do the right thing. Instead, he said if Mr. Okae could not come and apologize to him but decided to broadcast the whole issue to others, he (Asabee) would not re-instate him. That was almighty Asabee. As a result, Mr. Okae lived without salary and the supply of water and electricity for some time. For years, advocates like Kwesi Pratt Jnr. kept on hammering on the blatant disregard and disrespect for the courts of the land by Asabee and his NPP. None of these could move the powerful Asamoah Boateng, whose only requirement for doing the right is Mr. Okae coming to beg him. Power sweet. Asabee further made his own laws and declared that, “no court can force an employer to employ an employee”; all of a sudden, Asabee became an employer who cannot be forced by the statutory courts of the land to employ his employee, Mr. Okae. He forgot that the state employed Mr. Okae and for that matter the state determines when and how he should be dismissed; if the state through its court orders the re-instatement of an employee, no one has the right to do otherwise. Power is truly sweet.

In all of these, Asabee was so powerful that he never knew that the tables would one day turn for those at the top to be down and vice versa. In God’s supernatural wisdom, He decided to stay silent in spite of all the show of power by Asabee and the constant prayer by Mr. Okae and his family. Pain and disappointment may have filled the heart of the Okaes but God decided not to act or rather acted in His own way.

It was therefore not surprising that in December 2008, Asabee lost his Mfantseman West seat in Parliament to one Aquinas Tawiah. His last minute show of courage in the face of defeat with a threat of court action, apparently in anticipation of an NPP victory at the Presidential election, could not materialize. It then occurred to him that his kingdom had crumbled. He started showing some signs of humility as his usual snobbish voice gave way to a humble low tone. No condition, they say, is permanent.

Asamoah Boateng finally came to the realization that God is the final authority and that all other authority is subject to His

It is therefore not surprising to many Ghanaians that he is going through such humiliation at this time of his life in the hands of the same security apparatus his government presided over. When Asabee was prevented from traveling twice (was he running away?), many people were not surprised because what goes round comes around. After awarding a contract to his sister who did not even know about it, Asabee thought he could leave the country at will and be called upon from his base in London by the state to come and answer questions. By the way, are his children not attending school?; shouldnt they have been in school during the first abortive trip in June?

All of a sudden, he has become so religious that he is calling upon God to intervene, forgetting that Mr. Okae and his family also called upon the same God when he (Asabee) was maltreating them with the small power at his disposal. Just recently, Mr. Asamoah Boateng refused to engage Mr. Agyenim Boateng, a Deputy Minister for Information and his namesake, on Joy Fms Super Morning Show programme when they were called upon to explain issues concerning his abortive trip. Asabee said all the experiences he is going through are Gods way of preparing him for the place He wants him to be. He went on further to say that people like Agyenim Boateng were being used by God to lift him to the position God has appointed for him. His philosophy is very true because God uses human beings to shape us and raise us to the right positions He has designed for us. However, what Asabee is yet to realize is that God used him to prepare Hodari Okae for an ambassadorial position, which is higher than a ministerial one he (Asamoah Boateng) occupied some years back. Hodari Okae allowed God to shape and mould him without complaint until the appointed time. Today, he has been appointed an Ambassador

and his tears of the yesteryears have been wiped away; besides the new position, he is to be rewarded with all the allowances and salaries Asabee denied him. On the other hand, almighty Asamoah Boateng has lost both his Parliamentary and Ministerial positions. In addition to that, he is going to face the same courts he disregarded and disrespected over allegations of financial malfeasance in his ministry. God has now placed him in the hands of security operatives, some of whom he sees as small boys and girls, to teach him the lessons of humility. After occupying a ministerial position for some time, it is believed that he would either go higher or at least remain at the same position; but from what the nation is witnessing, he needs to understand that he felt too powerful that God wants him to come down small to understand a few things. Some of those things are that: God holds final authority and is the most powerful; he who is proud and arrogant is humbled by God; the powerful and the less powerful share a lot in common and that God can change conditions at any time and no one advises him.

Those are some of the beautiful lessons God is teaching Asamoah Boateng, the once powerful Minister who determines who should remain in his/her position; who could snub any person who calls in to radio programmes to advise him. It is the prayer of some observers that Asabee would learn fast as Hodari Okae did, so that God can lift him to the place He has prepared for him; but, for now, it appears he is heading for the floor. Learn fast, Asabee.

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