NDC’s Allotey Jacobs & NCCE’s Akuamoah

Who says politics is dirty! I humbly submit that it is not. Dirty human beings, by their contact with this otherwise noble game of statesmanship and governance, leave it dirty.

Invariably, the excuse given for foul and intemperate language in politics is that there was a provocation, but Timothy Ansah (RIP), one time headmaster of Kwame Nkrumah (later Nsein) Secondary School, once insisted that “what comes out of the kettle is what is in it”. 

Why should the Ghanaian society be worried by utterances of certain men and women? It is because through no fault of the society’s, these men and women have been thrust upon us and by virtue of the honour attached to the office we put them in, have attracted the label of VIP (of course, not “Vagabonds in Power”) and ‘Honourables’. Sadly, children, in their innocence, look upon these people as role models, very wise and noble.

This article is in reference to the interview Mr Allotey Jacobs granted to Richard Dela Sky which everybody has been talking about this week.

The Citi FM news anchor, apparently satisfied with Allotey’s answers to questions related to his rumoured arrest in London, now proceeded to find out from him the requisite background he possessed that qualified him to be selected from the board of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to negotiate with the Americans on behalf of the Republic of Ghana on issues concerning oil and gas. I thought that was a legitimate question. But hear Allotey: “This is a stupid question.” 

The Citi FM anchor was calm. In his next question, he wanted to find out if the ‘Honourable’ would agree that his flying Business Class was a breach of the order of the Chief of Staff which limits travels by state appointees to Economy. Again, hear the ‘Honourable: “Should I have gone to America with trotro?”

It was evident Allotey Jacobs was not aware that he was a public figure; that his allowances as board member come from taxes sweated out by the citizens of Ghana, and that, therefore, he was supposed to be answering questions being posed by the 25 million people of this country, of whom the news anchor was only a representative. 

A few weeks ago, I came to appreciate the truth in the Christian scripture that says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. That was when one of the radio stations called  National Commission on Civic Education’s(NCCE’s) Mr Akuamoah (forgotten his first name) to respond to  the Institute of Economic Affairs’ Jean Mensah’s assertions in an interview regarding her organisation’s intended Presidential Debate. For the reason that she and her team had built one of Ghana’s most trusted NGO in the area of governance, I have always respected that lady. 

I don’t respect her less today, but the moment she spoke concerning the NCCE’s intention to also organise a debate, I knew she had not weighed her words. She sounded self-righteous, a sort of holier-than-thou who had been so successful that she could teach the NCCE a thing or two regarding their (NCCE’s) mandate.

As was expected, the station called Mr Akuamoah. That is when my faith in public office was resurrected. This was a public servant seasoned by experience and knowledge, a man who had reached adulthood from years of good upbringing, obviously from a good home. 

Mr Akuamoah had listened to the IEA lady but he refused to be provoked. Rather than an angry outburst, he used the interview to educate the public what the NCCE stood for. There was so much I got to know, for the first time, about the  NCCE in that interview. Pressed to comment on the accusations by the IEA lady against his outfit, he said he was sure that she did not mean harm and that the two of them would sit down and iron out any differences, if any. (I noted that he was not speaking from fear). 

This public servant spoke, as Yunus Emre once counselled, a “word that changes poison into butter and honey”. Out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth spoke. 

Unfortunately in our society, there is no law or sanction against loose talk, except when it dishonours a court of law – example in living memory is Sir John before the Supreme Court as Justice Atuguba gave him a dressing-down of his life. 

In the absence of the law, I expect that leaders of the various political parties will remind their spokespersons to mind their language: children are listening! In such manner, I expect President Mahama, himself a communicator, to teach his appointees the virtue in speech. 

In the absence of such self-regulation, society is fast losing something, and it is our value system. It’s almost as if our politicians are telling the world that conscience does not matter; that the end (winning elections, getting ministerial, ambassadorial and board appointments) justifies the means. 

A wise man who stands firm is a statesman; a foolish man who stands firm is a catastrophe — Adlai Stevenson