You are here: HomeNews2011 04 27Article 207560

Opinions of Wednesday, 27 April 2011

Columnist: Quaye, Stephen A.

NDC,”Ogya Demu”

From: Stephen A.Quaye, Toronto-Canada.

A group of persons coming from different traditional backgrounds in Ghana decided to make it a weekly routine meeting every Sunday after church service to share jokes to ease off tension in Toronto-Canada.
One day, a member used the occasion to share more jokes which sent other members laughing their hearts out. Others could be heard gapping for breath as laughing seemed to have seized their ribs.
Then when the jokes stop flowing to send members laughing, one of them asked the guy sharing the joke,” aso mebisa wo se nte senie woma ye sre ye saa na woma woyere nso sre” to wit “ is that how you create jokes to let your wife laugh out and be happy in your house?”
So surprise, this comedian replied in the negative saying,” obiaa oyi asre sem no ko nofie kohwe, ogya demu” to wit whoever plays comedies for people to laugh normally their houses are on fire as many a times the get beaten by their wives and dragged on the floor which create more laughter for people.
This sounds like a joke but could have been found to be true if one assesses what is currently going on within the party in power National Democratic Congress NDC where all those who were playing jokes for us to laugh are giving indications now that inside their party all is not well there at all.
Let me start with the founder of the party Mr. Jerry John Rawlings, who is well noted for sharing jokes whenever he is calm. Oh yes. On a political platform campaigning some years back, he tried to challenge all who said he is married to an Ashante woman but could not speak the local dialect “ twi” by saying a proverb in Akan language.
You will remember he said,”se anomaa antu aa ogyina ho” instead of “anomaa antu aa obua da” which became a big joke and was turned upside down again by the NPP that ”anomaa no wagyinaho aa wabre nte wakoto ho”.
That joke did not make his followers happy more than this one which he said,” se aboa bi bekawo a ofrantoma” instead of “se aboa bi bekawo aa ofrewontamo”. These jokes drew more members of the party closer to him as every now and then they believed he was going to share a joke for them to laugh and be happy.
No doubt that era was when he was in power but after he has left power he is still sharing jokes like former president George W. Bush, on stage but that of Jerry Rawlings not on stage.
” You remember how he alleged that president John Atta Mills, was not being of himself but controlled by persons like Professor Kofi Awonor as he said,”Awonoooo orram, Awonor oooooo ham.”
Last but not the least, when the party went into congress to elect their national officers you heard the former president sharing a joke with the Atta Mortuary man stuff which sent many party faithful laughing heavily and were happy.
After the comments or sorry jokes where the president was asked to react to the founder’s comments about his government he said, “Oh it was a constructive criticisms” .Was it not what he said adding that he was free to comment about his government?
Then why was the president interrupting the former president this time at a party meeting at Trade Fair recently where he was said to have launched arsenals on him? So despite all the jokes “Ogya de fieho”, to wit that party is on fire?
Until recently, all the big players in the political house of the NDC made us to believe that as for that party it was more united than their opposition parties especially the NPP.
From radio station to radio station they painted other parties as rebel parties where they beat, insult and molest journalists, security personnel as well as not respecting other professionals like doctors, nurses, teachers and civil servants alike. But what is happening under them now?
Former president Rawlings shared jokes for all of us to laugh but inside his political party house there is fire which no one knows how to put it off. Whether we will like it or not, come July 9, 2011 there would be a winner and a loser.
That should not create a headache for anyone but what should be a burden is should the tax professor manage to defeat his master’s wife will she and her husband accept the results and campaign for the tax professor again?
Or the former first lady together with her husband will break away and form a different party where those they are describing today as strangers would not be accepted into that party.
Let us keep our fingers crossed and wait for the results on July 9, maybe it will put out the fire in the house of the NDC.