Honouring the Dishonourable

On that fateful day in March 1957 when the (in)famous speech was made; when the Black man had apparently come of age in the twentieth century; when he was, by dint of Independence, going to show the whole world how capable he was in managing his own affairs, Nkrumah had a somewhat utopian vision for Ghana and Africa’s advancement.

However, the Ghana (and Africa) Nkrumah left behind is littered with events which ran contrary to his philosophy— a situation which has undermined his declaration on the state-managing prowess of the African. Nkrumah may have meant well to challenge the inferiority complex imposed on the black man — an obtrusion exemplified by the many Uncle Toms bedevilling the black race. Perhaps, Nkrumah was a bit gung-ho with his edict; those who call a spade by its right name will deign it right to forgo any pride and express their sadness concerning Nkrumah’s timeless pronouncement with Ghanaians and Africans doing nothing to underscore it.

The vociferous view that Ghana must honour its illustrious children to make her worth dying for has, forlornly, become the proverbial grandest good intention with no good deed. Instead the absolute display of ignoble impunity by Gabriel Barimah and Alfred Vanderpuije merits the heading of this piece while Martin Amidu who deserves the highest honour of the land is left in oblivion.

Amidu and the Looting Brigade

Tenacity, selflessness and the will to fight for what is right may only serve as understatements to describe Martin Amidu. Perhaps, in my three decades in this life, the people who have these qualities to pursue wrongdoing are only seen as the protagonists of fictitious tales and films.

Through Amidu, there has been an unequivocal portrayal of a brave man who is prepared to fight on no matter the concerted efforts at the heart of government to vilify and humiliate him. The various cases he had pursued, single-handedly and with his own resources, to bring to light classic cases of malfeasance, corruption and siphoning of state resources in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government deserve to hit the zenith of Hollywood film-making. If the name Woyome has come to connote corruption and its impeccable rendition by the Supreme Court of Ghana as “create, loot and share” it is all down to Amidu’s dogged determination to ride through the indignity from the NDC government to ensure that the “truth [always] stands”.

Do Ghanaians have to go on a placard-wielding demonstration to demand that Amidu be reinstated and honoured before the government does so? A good start will be Amidu’s reinstatement and vigorous public apologies to appease him, in the same manner that there were public actions and pronouncements to muddy his name. It is melancholic to note the posthumous blighting of the late Professor Mills’ memory for overseeing Amidu’s dismissal. Equally mortifying is the misconception on Wikipedia that Amidu was sacked for “misconduct” — indeed, Ghanaians give a whole new meaning to the word especially when Amidu was able to prove the malfeasance yet, he gets no plaudits; the glory has been reserved for two exceptionally noble characters in the persons of Gabriel Barimah and Alfred Vanderpuije.

Glorious Straw Men Blotting Ghana’s Conscience

Indeed, the apparent pompous outlook and profligacy of the NDC government are shown by most NDC kingpins and perhaps better displayed by Barimah and Vanderpuije. It is disheartening to realise that these two are allowed to run amok in Ghana as the power wielders when their sole achievements have been their tendency to show Ghana as a lawless country where government officials abuse power and look down on the people from whom they are theorised to derive their power.

Gabriel Barimah is on stage, clad in a white pair of trousers, a white shirt and armed with a white handkerchief mopping the beads of perspiration tickling down his shiny forehead. In a disgusting show of arrogance and belittlement of his audience with his gait and words, an obvious fed-up member of the audience responds to Barimah’s witless effusions with the onomatopoeic “tweaa”. Thanks to Barimah, a word which was dying in Ghana has now risen to prominence. Clearly, this man has risen to renown not because of any sterling deed but through his disrespect for Ghanaians.

Offered the chance to retract and apologise to show a few traits of the renaissance man, Barimah became even more obstinate with his behaviour only comparable to a bewildered bull about to face its nemesis-matador. His abject justification of his disgraceful attitude called the reluctant NDC government to action which claimed to have suspended a man who was still in office and still using all the facilities which came with the office of the District Chief Executive a couple of months after his purported dismissal.

As a further proof of the NDC government’s commitment to showing good sense, good behaviour and showing that those in power are really the servant of the people, Gabriel Barimah— despite all his irate behaviour and antagonism to Ghanaians— has been reinstated. His power has been augmented ten-fold for showing no remorse or repentance for his laudable acts. Clearly, those who bring calumny to the state are rewarded while those who fight to safeguard state resources, ensure fairness and justice are, left to rot outside the corridors of power. Talk about honouring the illustrious children to make the country worth dying for!

Then, the second chapter sees the grand entrance— with all the pomp and pageantry of our traditional rulers— of Alfred Oko Vanderpuije. He reminds one of the pompous and bullying Mr Bumble; only that in this case, he wields more power than the Mafioso with a tinge of extreme gangsterism. One man who proved more powerful than the late president Mills changing names of stadia and engaging in base and despicable acts. His omnipotence meant that even when president Mahama assumed office, this humane and exemplary gentleman was still maintained in power. The indomitable commando that is Alfred Vanderpuije graduated from name-changing of national monuments to playing the role of a self-styled bounty hunter charged with the apprehension of so-called make-believe journalists and horn-tooting “trotro" drivers.

The videos of Vanderpuije arresting a trotro driver, asking the police to handcuff him and holding tightly to the bewildered driver would be seen as assault in some other societies. Any Ghanaian who believes in the Rule of Law will be really ashamed of what was captured of the episode. Our conscience is blurred against such abuses and calls into serious doubt our chest-thumping act of claiming Ghana as the hope of Africa and as the shining example of democracy in Africa. If our claim to be a very civilised-cum-democratic country in Africa is taken seriously, then I would not like to know what transpires in totalitarian states where freedom is an expensive commodity.

In sum, the idea that black people are capable of managing their own affairs will make Nkrumah churn in his graves. Ghana needs to start showing that it believes in its own aphorisms: make Ghana worth dying for by employing the sort of poetic justice which would honour Amidu and people of his calibre while dealing decisively with social misfits like Barimah, Vanderpuije and their cohorts. Make Ghana worthy of self-sacrifice by punishing the shameless, bribe-taking security forces; and not a country which takes pleasure in tarnishing the image of her illustrious children. Thus, Ghana has to demonstrate not just grandest good intentions; those excellent intentions should be underpinned with good deeds. And this can commence with government booting Barimah and Vanderpuije out of office for starters.