Opinions of Saturday, 23 March 2013
Columnist: Jackson, Margaret
The English Standard Version of the Bible, clearly states in 1 Corinthians 10:23 that; “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. This statement which was made by the Apostle Paul some thousands of years ago still holds true today.
There are some people in positions of trust who simply do not care whatever comes out of their mouths. They say anything that builds up in their stomachs and damn those who try to point out those mistakes. They do not weigh whatever they say but glow in the controversies their foolish utterances generate.
One guy who easily fit this mould is no other person than Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie. Even school kids of 12 years are too familiar with the General Secretary of the NPP, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, who has the penchant of making wild but unfounded allegations just to keep him afloat in the media headlines.
Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie’s latest boo-boo landed at the doorstep of President John Mahama and the National Security when he falsely accused them of planning to assassinate Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, the twice defeated NPP vice presidential candidate in the 2008 and 2012 elections. Dr. Bawumia was involved in an accident in the north over the weekend when two of tyres on the vehicle he was traveling burst leading the vehicle to summersault. He was later flown to Accra for treatment.
According to the bigoted thinking of Afriyie, since Bawumia was returning from a funeral in the President’s backyard and the NPP Chairman, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey also had a tyre on the vehicle he was traveling burst around the same area; it means that Bawumia’s accident was a planned assassination attempt by the President and National Security.
But wait to hear some more trash talk from Afriyie who calls himself Sir John. Without any shred of shame, Afriyie went on to say that the NDC is out to assassinate Bawumia in order to end the pending Supreme Court case on the 2012 elections. Until Monday March 18, 2013, I never knew that the Supreme Court case filed by the three NPP Musketeers was all about Bawumia and that if Bawumia dies today, Obetsebi Lamptey and Akufo-Addo who stands to gain hugely if the case is won will not have the guts or propensity to pursue the case.
When you hear people like Afriyie talking on the platform of the NPP you can understand why the NPP has lost two elections in a row and how they are finding it extremely difficult to hold together. Afriyie is one of the NPP folks who are on record for saying that if the NPP had not gone to the Supreme Court to contest the results of the 2012 elections the NPP as a party would have collapsed. So you can understand the thinking of such folks.
The Constitution of the 4th Republic gives every Ghanaian the right to free speech and the freedom of expression, which also include freedom of the press. As a result, the NPP have made accusations their number bedrock. They think simply accusing the NDC on every single issue is what will make they look better in the eyes of Ghanaians and eventually win them elections. They seem to have never learnt anything from the past two electoral defeats.
Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie is hiding under the cloth of press freedom and accusing the President of an assassination attempt, a serious allegation that no government in our modern time will tolerate. This general secretary is even on record as saying that he has towed away Bawumia’s vehicle which was involved in the accident to conduct his own investigations because he does not trust the police. Meanwhile the police are watching whilst Afriyie walks over them with impunity. What kind of society are we building?
Ghanaians need to pray for characters like Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie. These are the people roaming our airwaves and saying things that can cause mayhem in the country. Do not only feel sorry for Afriyie but also pray for him. The 2012 electoral loss may have affected Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie big time, hence his decision to become an accuser-in-chief.
The NPP is being blown apart by the irresponsible attitude of Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, a lawyer, who has suddenly become a law unto himself and towing accident vehicles to conduct his own investigations. Another person who needs our prayer is Kofi Jumah a former MP whose current job responsibility is simply dabbling in controversies.
It seems the only job left for the NPP these days is the making of mountains out of anthills in order to make the NDC look terrible. I think Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie has to look deep inside himself, and purge himself from such controversies. Even though most of the things he says are lawful, it is simply not helpful and does not help in building up the country. Its rather making people redefine the NPP in ways that we have not seen before.
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