Gabby Insults President Mahama

Though they live in a glass house and therefore

should not be throwing stones, and in spite of the call for an end to the

politics of insults, another NPP figure is at it again, hurling insults at the

person of none other than His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama. And,

who else is this abusive person than Akufo-Addo’s nephew, Gabby Otchere Darko.

Incidentally, Mr. Otchere Darko is the same man who

threw all decency to the dogs a few years ago when he cartooned the then

Presidential candidate of the NDC, Prof. Mills, as a dog (poodle).

This insult has left a sour taste in the mouth of

many a Ghanaian but not this Busia-Danquah chap; so, at a time calls are being

made for all to eschew insults in our body politics, he has decided to spit in

the face of all Ghanaians by this time insulting the President by describing

him as a stupid person.

Insult

In an articled headed John Mahama defends All-Die-Be-Die in his book and yet condemns

Akufo-Addo,” Gabby analyses one of the subject matters in President Mahama’s

recently-launched book, My Coup D’etat.

In paragraph nine of his analysis which was published in the Monday, August 3

edition of the The New Statesman, Gabby claimed that at the Special NDC

Delegates Congress in Kumasi last Thursday, President Mahama made a statement

“oafishly”. Hear Gabby;

“As

he (Prez Mahama) said at the NDC Congress, somewhat oafishly and savourlessly, The

death of President (John) Mills has opened a door of opportunities”

Definition

Oafish means a clumsy stupid person. The Oxford

Advanced Learner’s Dictionary also defines an oaf as a stupid person. TheFree Online

dictionary says oafish is “A

person regarded as stupid”. The Collins

Dictionary too defines oafish as “a stupid person.”

So, by saying that the President made a comment

somewhat “oafishly,” is to simply say the President made the comment stupidly.

The ‘Daily Post’ is compelled to publish this insult

for four man reasons.

Firstly, it is the height of all indecency for a

person to say the President, the number one citizen of the land, is stupid,

simply because he disagrees with him.

Secondly, this insult is coming at a time the call

for an end to the politics of insults is generally being adhered to. Thirdly,

because it is coming from an NPP apparatchik who is the first to throw

tantrums, walk-out during live TV and radio programmes if even milder words are

used against him or the flag-bearer of his party and finally, because it is

coming from a key member of Ghana’s biggest opposition party.

Ghanaians are waiting to see what the reaction of

civil society, religious groups and identifiable bodies to this latest vulgar attack

on the President and the Presidency will be.

Of course, Ghanaians are not unaware that anytime

the NPP is caught in such deviant behaviour, the tendency of some identifiable

groups is to make a general condemnation of the matter as if the guilty party

in that particular case is not only the NPP.

Misunderstanding

The article itself which Gabby Otchere- Darko wrote

was in defence of his uncle, Nana Akufo-Addo’s violent “All-Die-Be-Die” mantra.

He argues that standing up to a bully as the young Dramani did to the Ezra, the

bully, while they were in Achimota school as is captured in his book, My Coup D’etat

is no different from

Akufo-Addo’s ‘All die-be-die’ mantra. In Gabby’s estimation therefore, by

highlighting how he stood up to a bully in primary school, the President was

giving thumbs up to the violent-laden “ all-die-be-die mantra.

That Gabby, who is the Director of the pro-NPP

Danquah Institute, chose to lean upon his own misunderstanding of the issue in

the President’s book is obvious. In standing up to Ezra, the young Dramani

simply displayed courage, vaguely aware that bullies are generally cowards.

Nowhere did he give meaning or support the ‘all-die-be-die’ mantra by deciding

he will attack Ezra if the bully insists on eating his snacks. Indeed, the

young Dramani simply exercised ‘Positive defiance’ by refusing to give his

snack out on that particular day as they had all been compelled to be doing

everyday. ‘Positive defiance’ is defiantly not the same as “all-die-be die”

Gabby’s history

This is the second time

Gabby has used the word ‘stupid’ on a member of the Government of Ghana. In a

discussion on Joy FM’s Newsfile programme last year the then deputy Minister of

Science and Technology, Dr Omane Boamah described Dr. J. B. Danquah, a founding

member of the United Party (UP) an antecedent of the New Patriotic Party, as a

CIA agent.

Incensed by the comment from the deputy Minister,

Gabby Asare Otchere Darko, grandson of Dr. J. B Danquah described the

Minister's statement as “stupid”.

“This is stupidity…you consider a founder of Ghana

as a CIA agent, what stupidity is this? . ..this is pure stupidity.”

Asked by host of the show to apologize to Dr.

Omane Boamah for his insultinglanguage, Gabby vehemently refused to do so leading to

his being walked out of

the studio.