Opinions of Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Columnist: Bokor, Michael J. K.
By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016
Folks, the sudden death of the dear Atta Mills in 2012 has fed into our kind of politics fr various reasons and purposes.
Even before he passed on, his political opponents (and you should know who they are without my mentioning their names) had spread rumours that he was suffering from a debilitating throat cancer, which they attributed to his excessive boozing and "oral sex". Too disgusting but spread as their kind of truth to sustain their rogue politics.
Anytime that the dear Prof. Mills went on a trip overseas, they spread rumours that he was doing so to be treated. Even when he visited South Africa and the United States on many occasions to do official assignments, they insisted that it was all geared toward curing him of his throat cancer. The good Prof. himself had once said that he had sinusitis and wasn't succumbing to the pressure.
Unfortunately, he passed on; and the whole world grieved for him. We saw all that happened when he was seen off, even as his opponents betrayed their dangerously callous nature by saying that all the sympathy/condolence that came from them was a sham ("crocodile tears", as they put it bluntly. It's all on record for reference by anybody interested in digging into the matter).
The good Prof. went the way all mortal and fallible human beings are destined to go: ash to ashes, dust to dust. But those seeking to do politics with his demise remain indignant in their mischief.
The number one mischief maker is former President Rawlings who has rubbed so much salt into the wounds of the bereaved Mills family as to become a pariah to them. I wonder why Rawlings won't leave Mills alone, even in death. His unguarded utterances (such as his death was good for the NDC) cannot be justified in any way. We pardon him for not being circumspect.
Other developments, especially those coming from opponents of the NDC and President Mahama, suggest that there was a foul play. Circumstances surrounding everything have been explained by officialdom but political opponents won't accept anything. Not even the candid explanation by Dr. Cadman Mills (the legitimate family authority at the time who saw everything and boldly told the world that his brother died of natural causes) has satisfied the political opponents.
These political opponents first emerged from the NPP camp, who were quick to tag President Mahama as the murderer of Atta Mills for two reasons: first, because Atta Mills had some serious concerns about some agreement with the Brazilian aircraft company contracted to produce aircraft for Ghana (Embraer?); and second, because John Mahama was power conscious and wanted Atta Mills out of his way to realize his ambitions.
We have lived with such issues ever since. Indeed, no amount of propaganda on that score could negate against John Mahama at Election 2016. Now that we are approaching Election 2016, the same issue is being rehashed for political mischief. Intriguingly, it is not coming from the NPP but the camp of the sole founder and financier of the amorphous Progressive People's Party (PPP), a run-away tailless kite claiming to be Nkrumahist. That is Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom (hitherto known as Joseph Yorke).
He is reported to have said that the NDC rejoiced at the death of the dear Prof. Mills. How inconceivable when the whole world saw how the NDC reacted to the event? He has already been threatened by the NDC establishment in the Central Region, where he made that horrible noise.
As if that's not enough, his party's General Secretary, Murtala Mohammed, has made a fresh call to the NDC to release the autopsy report. (See https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Produce-Mills-autopsy-report-if-you-didn-t-kill-him-PPP-dares-NDC-470549).
If this call is not the height of stupidity, what else is? The NDC has no record of the sort to release. Was it the NDC that controlled everything about the demise of the dear Prof.? Why should it be held responsible?
Folks, it is clear that those seeking to do negative politics with the fate of the dear Prof. don't really know what is at stake. They don't know where to start from or end. All that they are seeking is misplaced. In any case, the real issues that will win voter support have nothing to do with the fate of the dear Prof. Mills (even if his relatives and those of his hometown (Otuam) or wherever he might have been before paying his dues to Nature fondly remember him for whatever reason or purpose).
Life is terminable. Human nature is definite; and human beings are mortal. Definitely, something will kill us. The good, old Prof left when he ought to. Not until anybody can prove that he died when he shouldn't have, any attempt to do politics with his fate won't wash with sane people.
In any case, are these Paa Kwesi Nduom and his PPP or the NPP telling us now that they loved him more than his supporters in the NDC did when he was at the helm of affairs? Why should Nduom now lead the gang of those weeping more than the bereft? Liars and thieves of conscience they are!!
Let me remind them of their machinations so I can advise them to look for better material with which to look for voter support. The great, dear, and beloved Mills is gone, leaving everything for the man dear to his heart (John Dramani Mahama) to pursue, which explains why the Lion of Gonja hasn't abandoned his agenda and is transforming Ghana and changing lives. That's the bedrock of the "Better Ghana" agenda staunchly presented and pursued by the dear Prof. Mills. That explains why John Mahama is working hard for a peaceful Ghana to concretize the late Prof's accolade of "Asomdwehene". If you don't like this, you must be a troublemaker not needed by Ghana.
Even the NPP has seen sense in not using the death of the dear Prof. for its political purposes. Why should Nduom go there now? No wonder he is known as disconnected from his own birthplace (Central Region). Even those in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem (KEEA) constituency that he once represented in Parliament are against him to the teeth. Such a sore loser has no locus.
My advice to the PPP's Joseph Yorke (Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom) and those misbehaving like them is to let Atta Mills rest in peace, having served humanity to the best of his abilities. No one using the backdoor can profit from his legacy. Only shameless failures will replay this tape on his death for cheap political purposes. But they will lose because they have no support base. Fie to them!!
I shall return…
• E-mail: [email protected]
• Join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor to continue the conversation.