Editorial: Kofi Adda Is Not A Man Of Honour

Failed To Resign By End Of July As He Promised

The Energy Minister, Joseph Kofi Adda gave his word of honour to the people of Ghana that he would resign by the close of July if his Ministry is unable to solve the crippling energy crisis by that time.

The Lens, has over the last nine days, done a countdown. Today is the 1st of August- one clear day after the official end of the ultimatum given by the Minister. Since the Energy Minister has failed to honour his promise- a pledge he himself gave to the good people of Ghana , it will not be out of place to refer to him as a MAN WITHOUT HONOUR.

Only a dishonourable man will so glaringly fail to honour a promise made openly to millions of people. Mr Kofi Adda must appreciate that a nation is built on values, principles and a strong sense of ethics. Integrity must at all times be at the base of all values and principles.

It is only in this part of the world that a Minister of state will so flagrantly go against his own word and still have the audacity to remain in office. Clearly, the government of which he is a member is unable to do anything about his case, because the government itself has been the number one culprit when it comes to breaking promises and failing to honour stated commitments. How many promises have the Kufuor led government not broken with impunity? They are too numerous to count. For instance, on the day of his inauguration, the president proclaimed that there would be Zero Tolerance For Corruption.

It did not even take two months before he set into motion a course of action that completely killed off that pledge- he did so by dipping his fingers into public coffers to renovate his private residence without seeking the approval of the nation.

That singular action opened the floodgates of bribery, sleaze, corruption and kickbacks. Haruna Esseku finally brought the issue to the attention of the world when he stated that the president was the chief collector and dispenser of kickbacks- Haruna on the tape referred to those kickbacks as donations paid by companies that had been given contracts by the NPP government. Of course all discerning Ghanaians know what those so called donations are.

It is imperative that civil society groups, the media, the religious and traditional bodies should join a crusade to force Minister Kofi Adda to resign honourably as he promised.

The people of Ghana are tired of being played for fools. Public office must be a place for men and women of honour who will go to every length to defend their Word.

Our national anthem urges us to be “Bold to defend forever the Cause of Right”. So in the name of Right and Honour, the Lens urges the Energy Minister to honourably resign according to his own promise. If he fails to resign, let the President for once do the honourable thing by firing him.