Wednesday,
January 23, 2013
We
have on several occasions had cause to question the integrity of the NPP’s
Kennedy Agyapong (Assin Central MP) because of the dare-devil posture he has
assumed to make foul—very foul—public pronouncements. But he is mindless of
criticisms and still goes ahead to intensify the tirade.
What
is the source of his kind of swagger and foolhardiness? And why does he think
that he can take on the entire status quo to defeat? His ribaldry must have its
roots in something he trusts.
Agyapong’s
“genocide-laden” call on Asantes to rise up and kill all Gas and Ewes caused so
much tension in the country, but very little came from him to defuse that
tension. His supporters in the NPP (including the defeated Akufo-Addo) closed
their ears to all the calls to discipline him. In the end, I can say with all
certainty that his pronouncements were responsible for the voting down of
Akufo-Addo by the majority of those he had wanted killed.
Although
he was duly arrested and dragged to court to answer for his inflammatory
pronouncements, the matter hasn’t been disposed of for us to know his fate.
Despite that “Sword of Damocles” hanging over him, nothing seems to stop him from
indulging in weird behaviour.
In his latest
show of incorrigibility, he has mounted roof-tops to jump hard on Dr. Kwadwo
Afari-Gyan, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, describing him as “evil.”
So
also has he done to members of the Peace Council, whom he accused of being
hypocritical in their search for peace.
Let’s
take these two issues on their merit for comment.
Afari Gyan as evil
Agyapong
was incensed at what has sent the NPP’s Akufo-Addo to the dark chambers of the
Supreme Court instead of the Presidency and blamed Afari Gyan for the current
state of affairs in the country.
He
accused Afari Gyan of failing to listen to the palpable election irregularities
raised by the NPP only to rush with a declaration. He said never in the
country’s democratic history has voting been held for two days, yet because of
the ineptitude of the EC that history was recorded in the 2012 election.
Kennedy
Agyapong added if all the parties agreed that because of the mistake of the EC,
voting be postponed for another day, why won’t the EC in the same manner listen
to the concerns of the NPP hold on with the declaration.
Ghana Peace Council as biased
Accusing
members of the Peace Council as “hypocritical,” Agyapong condemned them for being
quiet “when the cane-wielding men and women in NDC ‘T’-shirts attacked members
of the general public only,” to come out several days after to caution
supporters of both NPP and NDC against acts of violence.
MY COMMENTS:
A
cursory unpacking of Agyapong’s verbal attacks on Afari Gyan reveals a lot
about Agyapong himself as a mere upstart who has nothing to recommend him but
the mundane things that he trusts well enough to turn into objects of worship. Agyapong
lacks the moral justification to insult Afari-Gyan because he was the NPP’s representative in the EC’s
strong-room who signed the declaration form on containing what Afari-Gyan
announced as the certified results of the Presidential elections.
It
is clear that at the time Agyapong appended his signature to that form, he must
have been in a swoon (apparently dazed by the shock of Akufo-Addo’s losing the
elections). Immediately he signed the form, and following Afari-Gyan’s
declaration of President Mahama as the winner, Agyapong rushed out of the strong-room
and stealthily went underground like a Russian submarine.
He
was even not available to be sworn into office. It was only after he had
recovered from the election fever and shock that he re-surfaced to launch this
verbal attack on Afari-Gyan. He has now found solace in the NPP’s lawsuit and
seen it as creating an avenue for him to exploit to say what will divert the
party supporters’ anger from him to Afari-Gyan. Had he refused to sign that
declaration form, we might be seeing something different from what
post-Election 2012 has revealed so far.
Why
did Agyapong sign that form if he doubted the veracity of the contents? That’s
the question the NPP members should be asking him instead of goading him on to
display the crass arrogance and hot-headedness that has become his forte.
His
allegation of bias against the Ghana Peace Council is nothing but a mere bother
and will not be discussed. It is just an instance of fatal escapism and appeal
to useless emotions.
Indeed,
something inexplicable must be behind this puffed-up posture of Agyapong. Is it
his untold wealth that has gone into his head to shape and shave his mindset,
general attitude to life, and given him so much foul utterance? Or his status
as an MP? Or what?
It
is difficult to know why he feels so indomitable to take on everybody and every
institution that he seems as a threat to the NPP that must be cut to size
either verbally or through some other rabble-rousing means.
We
recall his threats to take the fight to former President Rawlings and eliminate
him if tempted. Then, again, his threat to the NDC and the status quo not to
provoke the NPP or face danger.
He
has also willfully bad-mouthed individuals and created the impression that he
is a potentate in his own right. That was why in making his genocide-induced
clarion call for the killing of Gas and Ewes, he could say “ I have declared a war!!”
We
continue to wonder what exactly is the rock (of ages) that cleaves for him to
assume such a posture of invincibility and to behave the way he does.
It
is clear that he trusts something to shield him against anything aimed at him.
As an MP, one expects that he will act and talk in a decorous manner which, if
for nothing at all, will dignify the status of Parliament to which he belongs.
As a public figure, one expects him to fine tune himself such that the very
tax-payers whose sweat, toil, and blood sustains his status as an MP will take
consolation in the fact that he is what they expect him to be to them.
Obviously,
despite his untold wealth, he hasn’t rejected the emolument coming from the
national coffers to support his lifestyle. I haven’t been told by anybody that
he has rejected his monthly salary or the perks of his office (unlike the
former Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor).
For
as long as Agyapong receives whatever is due him as an MP to add to his untold
wealth, he remains dependent on the hardworking Ghanaians who fill the national
coffers but get little to cushion themselves. He is expected to prove his
mettle and not do what will create needless tension in the country.
I
don’t think he is more patriotic than any other Ghanaian to claim that what he
does is for the public weal or to serve the country’s interests.
He
may claim to be fighting for the NPP; but he must be mindful of how he does it
because his abrasive manner doesn’t go down well with the vast majority to whom
the NPP itself is an anathema.
Those
who trust in their chariots and horses are not difficult to conquer. Because Agyapong
has chosen to carry the whole world on his shoulders, we will give him a pad
and stand by to watch him. But we will take prompt action if he staggers toward
us to dump his load on us. He is asking questions and should be prepared for
answers.
I shall return…
E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
Join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor to continue the conversation.
No comments:
Post a Comment