I'm Not Violent

"Nana Addo abused and threatened me in 2011 and April 2014" - Adakabere Frimpong Manso on Joy FM morning show. Monday, April 4, 2016.

Wow. This may not come as a surprise to many people at all as some of us know what Nana Addo is capable of doing. However, what shocked most of us is that two witnesses of these abuses and threats, as alleged by Adakabere, Nana Akomeah, npp communication director and the Tema East member of parliament, Hon Titus Glover made a vague attempt to justify the assaults on the journalist. The mp said Nana Addo only refused to reciprocate a handshake gesture extended by the journalist at an npp press briefing in Nana's residence. The journalist's crime is that, according to nana, Adakabere always criticize and attack his (nana's) reputation.

This is interesting. This is the man who pride himself of criticizing and mobilizing civil society to stage several demonstrations against Rawlings' administration. Between 2001 and 2009, Nana Addo held two key cabinet positions. As Attorney General and minister of Justice, Nana 'tormented and harassed' the Rawlingses. Again, Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo Addo withdrew all diplomatic courtesies to our ex-president Rawlings, at the time Nana was in charge of the Foreign Affairs portfolio. Former president Rawlings was declared persona non grata and was banned from going near any state security installations. This meant Rawlings could not, among other things, seek medical attention in 37 military hospital or Police hospital. His crime was that he was criticizing and embarrassing Kufuor’s administration, according to Mr. Akuffo Addo, in international diplomatic circles.

Ironically, in 2012 Mr. Akuffo Addo went to the Rawlingses' residency to seek their support in the general elections. In spite of all, the Rawlingses received and accorded him all the courtesies. In fact, most Ghanaians were thrown into a state of confusion upon hearing Mr. Akuffo Addo say "Rawlings is my role model and he inspired me a lot". Today as we speak, this man as the major opposition leader, keeps not only criticizing but also calling the president all sorts of names, yet he goes behind the scene assaulting and threatening journalists for performing their lawful duties.

Our elders always say that "a man's true character is where nobody sees him".

Are these some of Nana's sides that Mr. Kofi Koomson was privy to when he exclaimed "I can't sleep with my two eyes closed with Nana as the leader of this country"? "No no it's not safe, it's not safe", Nana's childhood friend screamed.

Again, will we be far from right if we accord ex-president Kufuor the title 'Prophet'? In 2007, the then president Kufuor admonished npp delegates not to vote for a candidate with a violent disposition. Though there were 17 contestants, Allen Kyeremanteng and Nana Addo were the leading contestants. It was an open secret who the then president Kufuor supported.

This prophetic admonishing vis a vis the state of npp today under the leadership of Mr. Akuffo Addo clearly will indicates to any reasonable person that president Kufuor knew something we don't know.

This revelation from the seasoned journalist, shows that Mr. Akuffo Addo doesn't just preach violence (the infamous 'all die be die'), but also practice it at the blind side of Ghanaians.

With the adage that "if you want to know the attitude of a man, give him power" in mind, I must say that I'm very much terrified anytime I imagine Mr. Akuffo Addo’s ascension to the high office of the land with all its enormous executive powers. Hypothetically, given the two evils, I would prefer going to bed with an empty stomach in peace to the sounds of gun firing behind my house with my belly full.

"Action", they say "speaks louder than words". The signs are too revealing. We cannot ignore the bold writings on the wall and later say 'had we known'. Posterity will never forgive us, because we know what is in stock for mother Ghana if we made the 'deliberate' mistake to vote for Mr Emmanuel Akuffo Addo Dankwah Addo to be our next commander -in -chief of our military.

Fellow Ghanaians, permit me to conclude with a quote from one of the Conflict Theorists, a sociologist, politician and sometimes also referred to as an economist, Karl Marx as "Economy is the substructure upon which all the super structures are built". I will adapt it to say, peace and stability is the substructure upon which the super structures i.e. social, political and economic, are built. Let's enjoy our imminent economic buoyancy (as predicted in the 2016 report by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), in peace and stability. The works of president Mahama is all over the country. As I'm putting this piece together, he is in Dodowa commissioning a major health facility to serve the people of Dodowa, Somanya and its environs.

Justice Tettey

Pennsylvania, U S A.