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
