In recent times, I have been shocked at the audacity with which some people in government have been accusing members of opposition parties of various ‘crimes’. I have always been of the view that responsible men never had to make wild and unfounded allegations against their fellow men if they were not willing to have their own names dragged in the mud for similar reasons. But it so happens that some people within government do not agree with me on this. They rather believe that they have the right to say whatever they want about anyone but woe to whoever they pick on if the person chooses to respond.
To specifically look at the issue, Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo has suffered several allegations at the hands of the NDC. Ever since his assumption of the mandate to be the flag bearer of the NPP, he has not been left alone. In 2008, we heard he was a cocaine addict. He has also been portrayed as an infidel, a thief, an irresponsible father, a corrupt official, a fraud of a lawyer and an alcoholic. If his character was a person living among us, I believe it would be dead by now since it has been assassinated. It is very critical that we all as Ghanaians note two things:
1. No senior member of the NDC has come out to call any member of their party to order for pursuing such a destructive agenda. Our president, H.E. Atta Mills, who is busy enlisting the clergy to help promote is “Peace in Ghana project” has never seen anything wrong with it neither has his vice or any other member. As for former president Rawlings and his wife, they have actually dabbled in such accusations by saying Nana is not a lawyer.
2. On the contrary, the papers that have persistently pushed such allegations have received praise and commendation on various platforms from the NDC. Some of them were actually given stat recognition when they were sent abroad as part of government delegations.
In law, there is a principle that one cannot use the reputation of an individual as part of a proceeding against him unless he does bring in his reputation as an element of his defense. In other words, it is not allowed for me to accuse a man of being likely to commit a crime because he is reputed for doing so unless he says he has a reputation for not doing so. If he does bring such a defense (that his reputation suggests that he would not do the suggested thing), then I can also bring evidence to suggest the contrary.
My last point is very relevant in that I am seeking to lay the foundation for the arguments and accusations I am going to make in the following paragraphs. It is a ‘crime’ for the pot to call the kettle black but if the pot has no fear to call the kettle black, then most definitely the kettle should not refrain from telling the kettle to take a closer look at its own colour.
THE NATION WITH A LOST FIRST SON
Ghanaian culture places a lot of importance on children. Women who are unable to give birth are made to pay for their ‘sins’ by a vast majority of the populace. In as much as some of us may not agree with the practice that is just what it is. It is even worse when it is known that a man cannot give birth. That man is treated with disdain and not called ‘a man.’ But in sharp contrast to this behavior, when one has children, they are displayed like assets especially at family gatherings and other social events. It is almost as if the statement is being made to the world that that “look, here are my children, I am not a barren woman or an impotent man.”
That said, why is it that as a nation, our president is refusing to comply with this culture by showing us his only son? Is he (the son) deformed beyond repair or are his moral flaws are so pronounced that the president is ashamed of him? What is wrong with him and why can we not be told?
Ex. President Rawlings brought his children to some state function like Independence Day and Republic Day. We all know his four children as we take pride in that. Ex-President Kuffour made us all know who his children were. Even though some opposition elements at the time claimed that his children were more corrupt than his officials, the ex- president still boldly made us know who our first children were. So what does the president have to hide about his child? Really what has the boy done to deserve such treatment? I hope one of the spokespersons in the NDC responds to this issue.
Perhaps it is the issue of his parentage; that he was born out of wedlock and maybe our first lady is not so comfortable with him. If that be so, I call on the president to be a man and let his son be his son. From stories we are being told so far, this boy has never enjoyed his father because of whatever reasons may exist. That is unfair to him and the nation.
REMOVE THE LOG FROM YOUR EYES NDC.
We have a vice president who has children with other women. It is being alleged that one of his ‘baby mamas’ is now the third in command at the Ghanaian High Commission in London. It is also being alleged that he has a child with a Zimbabwean woman in Reading. Can the NDC speak about these issues first and stop taking about non truths?
Now to the point I made earlier about the ability to bring one’s reputation into a case when it is used in his defense. The first gentleman of the land who has been said to be a man of honesty and integrity is also one that gave birth out of wedlock. In other words, he broke the sacred vows of holy matrimony and defiled his marital bed with another woman. Yet still, the NDC still regard him as honest. How honest is a man who cannot keep a simple vow to his wife? Charity begins at home so if this man was uncharitable in his own home, how charitable will he be to a whole nation? He is not being a father to his own child, birthed from his loins, how can he father 22.5 million people?
I would leave it hear and wait for the answers. If the propaganda machinery of the NDC decides to go to work, they would realize that they are not the only ones with mouths.
