P. C. Ofori: The Enemy Within?

A lot of people, especially sympathizers of the opposition New Patriotic Party are calling for the head of Mr. P. C. Ofori, a member of parliament and one of their own for alleging that the then majority members of parliament were giving grafts of 5000 dollars each for voting for the sale of our telecommunication company, Ghana telecom to Vodafone. This group of individuals views the pronouncements of the MP, especially his current unsubstantiated allegation as rocking the boat which is not going to help the cause of the party in their attempt to recapture political power in the next general elections. To these people, he is the enemy within.

The strangest of all these noises is the endorsement of some professed anti-corruption personalities about the attempts to chase the man out of the party. But I strongly take exception to the calls of his expulsion from the party on which platform he was elected to represent a group of people who have reposed their confidence in him. I think that all those who are calling for his dismissal from the party should spare themselves this embarrassment. If we really believe in the fight against corruption which has eating very deeply into the fabric of our body politic, then we should understand that instead of demonizing this man and calling him all sorts of names, the best thing to be done is to look into the allegation rather than insinuating that it has no legs to stand on.

Although, I expected the MP to have done better by collecting adequate and authentic evidence to back his allegation before going public, I still think that this matter should not be pushed under the carpet. I am therefore inclined to acquiesce to the action of the speaker of the house in referring the matter to the parliamentary privileges committee for interrogation. As we know in the legal field, he who alleges must prove. The onus is therefore on him to prove his allegation. Let us provide him with the platform and the opportunity to expatiate his allegation and to deliver his soul from this looming macabre moment of his political career. He might be wrong, though. But let us give him the benefit of the doubt.

This said, I am a bit worried about some developments that unfolded during his interviews to the media. First of all, the gamut of his evidence is worrying. I think he jumped the gun without ensuring that he had collected enough credible evidence to give his claim a little bit of weight. How on earth could a person of his caliber rely on hearsay to make a case of such a magnitude? The nature of his work requires that he should have done a thorough investigation to make his case worthy of acceptance. You don’t rely on only two sources to go to town with such an allegation which has the potential of putting our nation in a bad light. No, you don’t do that sir. Maybe, he is going to come out with more evidence to silence his doomsayers.

The second troublesome development is the revelation that he demanded his share of the money. This scenario is mindboggling. What was he trying to achieve? Was he demanding the money in order to use it as an exhibit to back his case or he also wanted to be part of the so-called “bribe takers”? If the second case is true, then how can P. C. Appiah Ofori convince the good people of the country that he is different? I am just conjecturing. Folks, you see, there are more questions than answers. That is why I strongly believe that we get to the bottom of the matter. The allegation might appear stupid, but we should not forget that there is no smoke without fire, and that everything is possible under the sun. The Muntaka and the transition “tea party” sagas are case studies or precedents. In our quest to move our dear country forward, we should be very careful about our pronouncements and actions. We should always be guided by the consequences of our actions and inactions on our beloved country. Our desire to be popular, to benefit from something, to safeguard the country against one ill or the other should not be done against the collective good of the country. Mr. P. C. Ofori might have shot his mouth off, but I don’t think he is the enemy within. God bless Ghana!!

Source: Kingsley Nyarko, PhD, Educational Consultant, IAF- Munich (kingpong73@yahoo.com)