By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
It is rather amusing when pathological liars like Deputy Information Minister Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa presume to imperiously take a moral grandstand vis-à-vis relentless attempts by the largely Anlo-Ewe wing of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to impugn the character and personal morality of the presidential candidate of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (See “Morality Is Important; What Is Wrong If Nana Addo Takes A Drug Test? – Ablakwa” MyJoyOnline.com 10/3/11).
And here, we promptly recall the fact that not quite long ago, the Deputy Information Minister cavalierly claimed to the utter horror of Mr. E. T. Mensah, the substantive Labor and Social Welfare Minister, that the Mills-Mahama government had in less than twenty-four months in power created 1.6 million new jobs for Ghanaians! Evidently, somebody had forgotten to alert the wet-eared brazen ministerial propagandist that even here, in the United States, where the requisite technology and labor-creation expertise are at their highest levels, such phenomenal number of jobs had yet to be created by the far better equipped – both professionally and intellectually – Obama administration.
No wonder that Mr. Mensah, the man officially charged with the Labor and Social-Welfare portfolio, had to promptly release a public statement vehemently denying that any such figures had been so miraculously notched by the Mills-Mahama government.
Then there was also that telling moment, not too long ago, when inter-ethnic hostilities in the Upper-East Region of Ghana resulted in the influx of Ghanaian refugees into neighboring Togo. Back then, also, Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa, as we vividly recall, swiftly and vehemently denied that any such incident had, indeed, occurred; and also that not a single Ghanaian refugee had strayed across Ghana’s northeastern border with Togo. Once again, confronted with forensically incontrovertible evidence by both Togolese security authorities and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Deputy Information Minister, ever the shameless party hack, struggled acrobatically to downplay the palpable enormity of the situation.
In essence, while it cannot be gainsaid that the value of moral rectitude, in its highest possible form among the human species, is an indispensable behavioral ingredient, particularly where the seeking of the highest office of the land is concerned, nevertheless, it is equally significant for the Ghanaian electorate to wisely size up the character and credibility of whoever presumes to make a referendum out of the purportedly grievous character and/or moral weakness of another.
That Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa abysmally fails on both counts does not the least bit invalidate the imperative necessity for Nana Akufo-Addo to periodically review the character and credentials of his close political associates, allies and campaign operatives and promptly effect the requisite changes. The foregoing, however, is hardly a one-way street. In brief, we expect the Mills-Mahama campaign team to do the same, as well as the other pro-Nkrumah splinter groups.
With forensically shady characters like Messrs. Asiedu-Nketia, Amoase and Kwabena Adjei heading the Mills-Mahama campaign, it becomes rather presumptuous on the part of Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa to equate morality with competence. And if he really wants to talk about either morality or competence vis-à-vis the New Patriotic Party’s flagbearer, then we humbly suggest that the Deputy Information Minister confine himself to Nana Akufo-Addo’s comparative performance as a Member of Parliament, Attorney-General and Justice Minister, Foreign Minister and a firebrand human and civil-rights activist. Personal ethics matter, of course; however, in relentlessly focusing on issues over which Nana Akufo-Addo has little or absolutely no control, such as the alleged criminal record of a relative, rather falsely and unwisely presumes the personal ethics of his ideological and/or political opponents to be unblemished. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Needless to say, the fact that Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa, himself, continues to serve in the Mills-Mahama government, even after having more than amply demonstrated his serious lack of credibility and integrity, ought to serve as evidence enough regarding the fact that the Deputy Information Minister may, himself, be living in the most delicate and brittle of glass houses!
And, by the way, would Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa have Vice-President John Dramani Mahama submit to a paternity test for all the legions of children that the man is alleged to have fathered out of wedlock and continues to do so? And how about former President Jerry John Rawlings, the most extortionate postcolonial Ghanaian leader, who has been “expertly” accused of being a dope-head? How about the chain-smoking President Nkrumah who died of lung cancer and is also known to have fairly regularly puffed on more than the filter of an ordinary cigarette? Be careful of what you wish for, young man. You may live long enough to regret it!
*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., is Associate Professor of English, Journalism and Creative Writing at Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, Garden City. He is Director of The Sintim-Aboagye Center for Politics and Culture and author of “Selected Political Writings” (Lulu.com, 2008). E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net.
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