The Hypocrisy of Asantehene Stinks!

It is with great restraint that I am withholding my urge to conclude that the Asantehene has lost it. I am driven to hold this view because Otumfuor has become too political. At best this is what many Ghanaians think of the Asantehene.

I can already feel the twisting of my statement and the reportage that I am again vilifying the Asantehene, as if telling the truth suddenly becomes an abomination. I am not yet ready for purgatory so I will bypass that by telling the truth no matter whose ox is gored.

After threatening to kidnap the Techinmanhene and staying away from the spotlight for a few weeks, the Asantehene has returned as if with a special vengeance. He is reported to have said that, all politicians are corrupt and that they fight for political office for their personal gain. He also took a swipe at the Mills administration for what he termed as the mismanagement of the economy.

By the time I made some sense out of Otumfuor’s outburst only one thing stood out glaringly as being the core of his tirade, and that is: his disdain for the NDC government.

What I observed in the Otumfuor’s utterances was nothing more than another session of his unwarranted assault on his political foes.

I disagree with the Asantehene on this score. He is dead wrong! Once again, he is stoking the fires and entering a fray that will rather expose his own hypocrisy and double standard.

I share the known fact that some politicians are corrupt. However what took Otumfuor so long?

For goodness sake it cannot be the Asantehene who was so dumb when Ghanaians were confronted with high level of corruption under President Kufuor.

Has the Asantehene observed the wreckage of corruption Mr Kufuor left behind? The radar of the Asantehene was not sensitive enough to capture corruption and abuse of power under Mr Kufuor.

Where is the Asantehene coming from? Is he now descending from planet mars? Was he in Ghana in the past eight years when Ghanaians were confronted with unbridled corruption, pervasive injustice and crazy executive decisions?

We needed people to make justified, credible, responsible and respectable noises as against the empty noises he is making today. To me, he is part of the bigger problem. He aligned himself with corrupt politicians in the past and therefore he has no moral authority to question the sincerity of politicians.

Asantehene’s own parochial interest in the status of certain NPP politicians belies whatever “genuine” motivation he might have for making this call. By his utterances he is sowing unbridled seed of cynicism.

To indict and generalized all politicians in the limelight as corrupt is woefully out of place, unfounded and I personally abhor it with unflinching vehemence.

There are so many chieftaincy problems all over his jurisdiction. Some of the problems are as a result of his indulgence. What has he done about it?

The Asantehene should pause to reflect on his own actions and inactions as a royal and seek better ways to announce his presence.

As a chairman of the committee of eminent chiefs tasked by the Kufuor administration to resolve the Dagbon crises, what has he done to assuage all doubts and fears and to help the government resolve that crises?

Again, after being helped by the Kufuor government to secure a World Bank facility of 35 million dollars ostensibly for development projects in the Ashanti region, what has he done so far? Where is the money?

For someone who publicly declared his support for Akuffo Addo and the NPP before the December 2008 general elections, he has an arduous task to cleanse himself of political filth. Yet he is adding more to it. He cannot tell us that, he doesn’t harbour any favourable feelings towards the NPP as against the disdain that he has for the NDC.

Hence his call is nothing but part of the political ploy to push the NDC government to the wall to enhance the NPP’s political agenda.

Asantehene should spare himself further tongue lashing and do what he is best known for. At least his first few years on the thrown earned him much respect as someone interested in uplifting standards. He should go back to it and leave the dirty game of politics to those who have no shame.

He must expend his energy on other issues and rise above a partisan political tragedy. I challenge him to draw the visible line between what he is a traditional ruler and that of the partisan politician that his pronouncements and public posture make him.

There are good reasons why chiefs are debarred from partisan politics. Both are not good bed fellows.

Those who regard him as their sacred cow and fear to tell him as it is are not helping him at all. Some of us will step forward to call him to order even if it will attract venom and vain threats from him and his subjects.

Otumfuor, The good old days of Kufuor where you were elevated above all others are gone, the dog days of summer are here, and out of sheer jealousy, and indeed vitriol, Otumfuor is lashing out at politicians.

What did Otumfuor said when 17 greedy politicians of a political tradition he favours, in an extraordinary show of extravagance lined up for the top job in this country? I did not hear him say politicians are corrupt.

I believe the greatest gift he can give to Ghanaians is to model leadership, premised on accountability. If he does we will not hesitate to remind the politicians to follow suit. However as long as he behaves like the politicians, we won’t have any recourse but to squeal and moan.

If Otumfuor want to take politicians to tasks then he must set a good example for them to follow.

The Asantehene must fight against acts that have tendency to kill democracy rather than dabbling in partisan politics. He must spare us his unnecessary ranting and divisive vituperation.

By his rhetoric, he has handed his critics a rod for his own back.

I rest my case.

Emmanuel Dela Coffie

The Writer is a Student Journalist. He welcomes your comments via [email protected] / delacoffie.wordpress.com