Opinions of Thursday, 19 September 2024

Columnist: P.K. Sarpong

Franklin Cudjoe is a gun for hire

Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President of IMANI Africa Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President of IMANI Africa

Franklin Cudjoe could safely be described as an ‘assassin’ who is paid to use his IMANI Africa platform to malign and destroy public officials who do not play ball with him. This triggerman has been in this business for ages, and it is about time we told him to use the IMANI platform for the purpose of its setup.

His modus operandi is to identify public institutions with ‘cash to burn’, meander his way into their circles, get closer to those at the helm of affairs, employ many unconventional tactics to get them to oil his IMANI outfit, and if the same yields no tangible fruits, he activates Plan B, the communist inferior tactics or approaches to wheedle resources from the entity.

Let me not mince words, Franklin Cudjoe employs crude tactics to get people to dance to his tune, and failure to do his bidding leads to a media onslaught that smirches the integrity of the people involved as well as the offices they hold.

There was a point in time, during John Mahama’s administration, when his IMANI outfit organized some awards in which Franklin Cudjoe initially graded the Sylvester Mensah-led NHIA ‘F’, but turned around, in a few weeks, to grade the same entity as having gotten ‘A’.

What could have been responsible for this strange occurrence? Why the sudden U-turn? Something actually happened, and whatever it was might have been huge enough to get Franklin Cudjoe to magically rate NHIA as having a grade F, but a few weeks later, the same entity got its F metamorphosed into an A.

Over the course of time, Franklin Cudjoe has failed to proffer a single workable idea or solution to the myriad challenges we face as a country. He is always insulting, using unprintable words and expressions on people he disagrees with. He carries himself as God’s precious gift to Ghana, yet nothing pragmatic comes from his outfit.

Thanks to Franklin Cudjoe, it is difficult for anyone to refer to IMANI Africa as a think tank. It is rather a talking tank. What may seem like ideas from IMANI Africa turn out to be surrealistic at best. No concrete, implementable solutions come from the rantings and whining of Franklin Cudjoe. The entity we thought was a think tank has been, sadly, turned into a mercenary tool against state institutions that do not pander to his whims and caprices.

One wonders which entities fund the activities of IMANI Africa. This outfit has outlived its usefulness thanks to how Franklin Cudjoe has been handling the affairs of IMANI Africa.

He makes wild allegations against institutions, but when asked to substantiate the same, he cannot do that but would never admit to getting it wrong. He is always on a hunting expedition with the aim of roping state entities for attacks.

All his allegations against the Commissioners at the Electoral Commission have never been proven by him. If it is not SALL, then it is the supposed procurement issue he is always talking about. He takes delight in being the rebel leader of the group. What is IMANI Ghana? It is a defunct think tank that helped shape our political discourse. It is a pale shadow of itself, all thanks to Franklin Cudjoe.