I’m not constrained by the rule of impartiality; I’m a columnist, not a reporter

I read with an intense interest, the Manasseh Azure Awuni’s well-crafted opinion piece, captioned, ‘I am not a neutral journalist’, which appeared on ghanaweb.com on 27th June 2019.

Let me, however, venture to stress that this is not a deliberate repartee intended to deflate Manasseh Azure Awuni’s literary tropes, far from it.

But it is rather an excellent opportunity to come out of the closet and narrate my story to the dearest discussants, many of whom have been wondering how and why I love to criticise the NDC at the slightest opportunity.

In fact, there are some discussants who have been wondering how and why Kwaku Badu, Badu, K or K. Badu (same person) has persisted with his attacks on the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

And, there are those who view Kwaku Badu, K. Badu or Badu, K., as the hater of NDC as a party; but I’m not sure whether the word dislike is synonymous with hate?

I do not think so. The word dislike is not the same as hate, so to speak.

The overarching question then is: why is it that Kwaku Badu, K. Badu, Badu, K (same columnist), has a penchant for upbraiding the National Democratic Congress?

Somehow, my answer to the preceding question can be gleaned out of the ace journalist, Kwame Sefa Kai’s favourite rendition: ‘Ghanaian politics is saturated with dishonesty and hypocrisy’.

Absolutely, I can detect irrevocable dishonesty and hypocrisy on the part of the founders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and hence my endless fury in condemnation.

Indeed, I do not for a moment harbour a subjective fit for the work values and culture of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

In brief, my ideological disposition does not tilt in any way towards NDC’s coloration.

Understandably, though, the NDC faithful would never agree with some of us for persistently criticising their beloved party through the lenses of the past events. But I am afraid we cannot make sense of the present happenings if we refused to take stock of the past events.

To be quite honest, some of us cannot help but to continuously shriek, grouch, censure and highlight the revoltingly risible tendencies of the devotees of the June 4 1979 and 31st December 1981 coup d’états.

In fact, the seasoned journalist, Malik Kweku Baako, could not have put it any better when he described the founders of the NDC, as nothing but ‘shameless opportunists’ (emphasis mine).

Kweku Baako Jnr was absolutely right when he asserted that the socio-economic meltdown during the Supreme Military Council (SMC 1&2) regimes called for drastic measures to ‘clean’ the system, but the excesses of the 1979 revolution, regrettably, debased the otherwise necessary intervention.

Baako, however, did not waffle at all, when he ventured and stressed that he can never forgive the founder of NDC, Rawlings, and his rabble rousers for stretching the whole concept of ‘house cleaning exercise’, and needlessly deposing the democratically elected government of the People’s National Party (PNP) led by Dr Hilla Limann on 31st December 1981.

Malik Kweku Baako did not disappoint; there is no justification for anyone to knowingly violate the inalienable human rights of innocent people.

The fact however remains that the founders of National Democratic Congress manipulated Ghanaians. Didn’t they vow to lustrate the country of the perceived rampant sleazes, corruption and social injustices?

And, what happened after allegedly purging the country of the perceived injustices through the so-called “house cleaning exercise”,--by dealing with perceived offenders arbitrarily?

It is, indeed, important to note that Rawlings and his coup making geezers bamboozled onto the scene under the pretext of redeeming Ghanaians from the economic mismanagement and wanton corruption, and yet they couldn’t even get rid of the rampant sleazes and corruption in their NDC government, let alone the entire nation.

The founder of NDC, J. J. Rawlings, paradoxically, goes about preaching probity and accountability, but fails to practice.

Isn’t it quite ironic that someone who bamboozled onto the scene under the pretext of eliminating the widespread sleazes and corruption would turn to a fantastically corrupt former Nigerian president Abacha for a furtive cash gift?

I have always held a firm conviction that we cannot make sense of the present happenings if we refused to take stock of the past events.

Thus, some of us, as a matter of principle, cannot help but to relentlessly shrill, grouch, censure and highlight the revoltingly risible and inherent tendencies of the devotees of the June 4 1979 and 31st December 1981 coup d’états.

In fact, I have stressed severally that some of us regrettably witnessed the squeamishly ugly events which took place over a period of three decades (1970-1990s), and therefore cannot be misinformed by the unrepentant coup enthusiasts.

It is with the deepest regret to venture to state that innocent citizens lost their inherent dignity and human rights in the days of the hopeless coup d’états.

When the coup enthusiasts (the founders of NDC) burst onto the scene, they went haywire and barbarically tortured and murdered people with minimal offences.

I hate to admit though, but the fact remains that there is nothing wrong for a group of people to come together and identify themselves as the coup enthusiasts, or the ideologues of transparency, probity and accountability.

However, it is hypocritical and somewhat deceitful if a group of people who claim to be the exponents of such ethos turn around and commit the same crimes they inexorably preach against.

It has, however, been documented that when the coup enthusiasts (the founders of NDC) burst onto the scene, they went berserk and tempestuously tortured and murdered people with more than two vehicles.

However, as I write, the same coup enthusiasts are hypocritically in possession of not less than two vehicles per household. How deceitful?

Dearest reader, you may take my word for it, the vast majority of house owners were punished severely for having more than one toilet facility in their households.

But the last time I checked, the vast majority of the so-called revolutionaries have uncountable toilet facilities in their luxurious mansions. How pathetic?

Besides, the founders of the NDC unabashedly exhibited their communist ideals by going into war with business men and women in the country.

The founders of NDC, regrettably, tortured and murdered innocent business men and women, many of whom were bizarrely accused of legally borrowing meagre sums of money from banks to support their businesses.

Strangely, albeit veracious, the so-called revolutionaries who repugnantly collapsed innocent peoples businesses now own business outlets all over the place.

Some innocent business men and women, so to speak, were abhorrently humiliated and their businesses were either seized or destroyed by the despotic NDC founders.

Worst of all, billions of cedis (in 50 cedi denominations) were impertinently seized from ordinary Ghanaians, albeit without a trace. How bizarre?

The NDC founders, ironically, replaced our educational system with that of a communist model, while deceitfully turned around and sent their children abroad to study in what they saw as a superior educational system.

In their attempts to get rid of alleged sleazes and corruption, many Ghanaians were unjustifiably murdered or tortured mercilessly for apparent infinitesimal offences.

Some market women were regrettably stripped naked in the public and whipped for hauling their products or selling on high prices. While their male counterparts were wickedly shaved with broken bottles and whipped for offences that would not even warrant a Police caution in a civilized society.

As if that was not enough, three eminent High Court Judges and a prominent Army Officer were barbarically murdered by some mindless stooges of PNDC on 30th June 1982 for carrying out their constitutionally mandated duties.

The human rights violations were so rampant to the extent that many citizens seized the slightest opportunity and left the country.

It was against such backdrop that yours truly grabbed the opportunity and left Ghana to the United Kingdom some three decades ago.

What incensed some of us so much is that despite their much touted mantra of transparency, probity and accountability, we have been witnessing so much scheming guiles, sleazes and corruptions in the successive NDC administrations. Who are they trying to deceive?

Astonishingly, though, the successive NDC governments’ officials have been committing the same crimes (bribery and corruption) their party founders killed many innocent people for.

As I reiterated elsewhere, there is absolutely nothing wrong for any individual to tag himself/herself as a proponent of transparency, probity and accountability. But it is somewhat hypocritical when a group of people who claim to be the exponents of such ethos would then turn around and dip their hands into the national purse as if there is no tomorrow.

After all, aren’t the NDC apparatchiks claiming to be preachers of transparency, probity and accountability?

So why are they refusing to practice what they have been relentlessly preaching to us all these years?

Are they wolves in sheep’s clothing?

Indeed, it is an illustrative case of false prophets, who are relentlessly nagging their followers that ‘it is written in the Holy Book that thou shall not steal’. While they turn around and dip their hands into the church offerings bowl as if the judgement day will never come.

If those politicians aren’t heartless and insensitive to the plight of the impoverished Ghanaians, how come they conspired and paid dubious judgement debts to a tune of GH800 million?

If they are morally upright, how come they created loot and shared the monies belonging to GYEEDA and SADA, which were meant to transform the lives of the needy in society?

Where is their honesty and integrity when they squandered funds meant to transform the lives of the penniless in society through cloudy deals such as the Brazil World Cup, the infamous bus branding, SUBA, among others?

Clearly, their much trumpeting ethos of probity, transparency and accountability is a charade; it is rather an illustrative case of preaching virtue and practising vice.

Given the circumstances, some of us will continue to squall, speak and write about the seemingly double standards by the NDC apparatchiks, which the party faithful perceive as a benign or an inconsequential issue, but I, for one, won’t abandon my duty as a bona fide Ghanaian, far from it. I will rather stick to my guns, be true to the faith, and, keep upholding and defending the good name of our beloved Ghana.

K. Badu, UK.

k.badu2011@gmail.com