Kobby Acheampong Compromises his Integrity for Being Vituperative

It says, "Nothing ventured, nothing came" Would Kobby Acheampong be that

vituperative if the General Secretary of the NPP, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie aka Sir John,

had not provoked him? To start with, Mr. Kobby Acheampong, the NDC Deputy Minister

for Tourism for being very uncontrollable in his response to Sir John, has

compromised his integrity. He has brought disgrace upon President Mills, his office,

the womb that conceived him, and the entire nation. I have listened to the replay of

his recorded statements made in response to a statement made by the General

Secretary of the NPP, Mr. Owusu Afriyie aka Sir John, over the Ghana airwaves. I

have also taken time to critically analyse his statements and have arrived at a

conclusion which may not be palatable to him nor his ardent NDC supporters.

It may be better to define and differentiate between the words INSULTS and CRITICISM

prior to proceeding any further with my discussion or argument in favour of sacking

Kobby Acheampong. INSULT implies such insolence of speech or manner as deeply

humiliates or wounds one's feelings and arouses to anger. CRITICISM is the act of

passing judgment as to the merits of anything.

According to Kobby Acheampong, Sir John had said the AfricanWatch Magazine's award

of mark B to President Mills for his performance in foreign policy was unmeritable.

He had said they had better give him A+ for doing nothing or for bad performance in

foreign policy. As Sir John's statement stands, it is seen by any discerning but

unbiased Ghanaian as a criticism of the President's performance. It is nowhere near

an insult directed at the President's personality according by the definitions as

stated above. But Kobby Acheampong in haste to exhibit his ignorance had thought he

was doing the President a big favour by slighting not only Sir John but the entire

people of the community in which he had lived and grown up. He said and I quote,

"Owusu Afriyie for the fact of having stayed in Kumasi longer behaves like

"Kookooase kuraseni".

Deducing from his blunt statement, two conclusions can be drawn. 1) Those living in

Kumasi are "nkurasefo" (uncivilized lots). If those residing in the regional capital

could be said to be uncivilized, then only God knows how worse uncultured those in

the District capitals and the townships and villages within Ashanti Region are. This

conclusion is without doubt complete because he had outspokenly insinuated that

Owusu Afriyie for the fact of living in Kumasi almost all his years has turned him

into "Kookooase kuraseni". Does this not go to tell that those entire still living

in Kumasi are "Kookooase nkuraasefo" and that Kumasi is "Kookooase?"

2) All those living on cocoa farms are uncivilized (nkuraasefo). This, he has

categorically stated without exemption by saying, "Kookooase Kuraseni" How many of

our Ghanaian cocoa farmers are not living on their farms? Does the fact of living on

the farm make them bush people (nkuraasefo)? Does cultivating cocoa make one

Okuraaseni? By the understanding of supposed Honourable Kobby Acheampong, yes it is.

What an insult without precedence?

Comparing both statements made by Sir John and Kobby Acheampong, which of them is an

insult and which is a criticism? Kobby Acheampong shamelessly went further to

declare that he would not hesitate to take on anyone who insults a President,

whether sitting or former. My question to this gentleman who by luck of having a

slimy running mouth has been appointed a Deputy Minister in President Mills'

government is how many times has he castigated Former President Rawlings for

insulting or criticising President Mills? Has Rawlings not insinuated that President

Mills is "Atta Mortuary man, a dog etc.?" How often than not has he criticized the

performance of President Mills? Has the wife of Former President Rawlings not

criticised President Mills for being like a "Konongo Kaya?" Has Kobby Acheampong

ever dreamt of criticising this former 1st Couple let alone insulting them? What a

double-standard coward Kobby is?

"Konongo kaya" simply implies a person incapable of performing a task satisfactorily

but he/she would not allow a more capable person to step in to do the job. He/She

will rather keep limping on at the duty incompetently as he/she is. All said and

done, Mrs. Rawlings Agyemang Konadu is not insulting President Mills but criticising

him same as did Sir John. Why has Kobby not lambasted her but chosen to insult not

only Sir John but a whole group of people of which Sir John belongs?

Cocoa until now has been the backbone of Ghana. It has brought Ghana this far in

terms of our economic emancipation. It has helped many people among who is the

diarrheic mouth Kobby Acheampong to attain various levels of Western education

through the award of CMB (Cocoa Marketing Board) and Government Scholarships.

Instead of thanking the very cocoa farmers most of whom live in slums, cottages, mud

huts etc. on their farms with neither the provision of pipe borne water nor

electricity, he rather decides to vilify them. Is this the recompense for our cocoa

farmers of whom my family is?

Kobby Acheampong thinks he has stayed and had some education in the USA, lives in

Accra and is now a Deputy Minister so he is better than any other person. I assure

this guy that he will lose his job. Any apology from him will just be superficial.

It is like beauty which is only skin deep. In his mind anyone not living in Accra or

has not been to the Whiteman's land is uncivilized. He should understand that it is

not where one resides that makes one okuraaseni but ones reactions and actions as

exhibited both in private and in public. He who reacts before he thinks about the

repercussions of his reaction is a fool. Now is Kobby Acheampong a fool? It is up to

him to tell. He will live to regret for insulting cocoa farmers and the people of

Kumasi.

Kobby should be sacked before he does a lot of damage to the image of the President

himself and the NDC as a party. I will state the reasons why Kobby must resign in

the part II of this article. He either jumps or he is pushed. Kobby must go, and go

he must. He has crossed the Rubicon and he has to be sacked, period!

Rockson