Opinions of Tuesday, 12 December 2017

Columnist: Kelvin Yeboah

RE: Memo to Akuffo Addo and his irresponsible ministers

President Akufo-Addo in Kumasi to sympathize with Otumfuo Osei Tutu President Akufo-Addo in Kumasi to sympathize with Otumfuo Osei Tutu

Dear Manasseh,

I just read your feature captioned above and I must say you are increasingly exhibiting your emptiness and mediocrity and rather being irresponsible in your writings whiles assuming to be all-knowing and also assuming to be dictating to the president what to do, when to do and how to do it.

I must also add that this is increasingly becoming very typical of you guys at Multimedia - always trying to be more reasonable and all-knowing than the authorities have to be. Yet most of you guys have questionable attitude and no experience in most enterprises of life.

Manasseh, it is sad that students have died at the school and for your information some other Ghanaians also died in some parts of the region during the same period. And so per your judgment, the president should be visiting the families of these other dead Ghanaians in the Ashanti Region.

I guess you are not suggesting that the president should be available at any place when a Ghanaian dies.

The president cannot and will not personally be at all places at all times. That is why he has ministers and other government appointees representing him across the country.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, the KMA boss and other officials have been to the school to engage the students and authorities. Didn’t their visit achieve what you expected the president’s visit to achieve? Or the president’s visit would have brought back the dead students? Or you think the president’s visit to the school would have provided solution to the menace?

You are the same person who will complain if the president goes to perform a function in a locality when there is government official in the person of DCE or MCE.

The president and his ministers have hourly briefings on the happenings in the country of which the KUMACA issue is no exception and either himself, the ministers, national security or the state protocol decides who go where and does what.

The president does not just get up and move without planning and protocols being observed. The president had just visited KUMACA on their 60th anniversary just about three days ago with some of his ministers and given them all the necessary encouragement. And so what is irresponsible about the president and his ministers not going to KUMACA again because he was in the region?

Are we not putting the life of the president in danger if he goes to that environment especially when we did not even know what kind of disease it was?

And so please don’t let us continuously insult the person, conscience and thinking of the president and his ministers. And also be dictating to the president what he should and how he should it. They are more knowledgeable and know best than you guys at Multimedia.

The president and his ministers have done nothing irresponsible and I advise you to withdraw your so called useless memo whiles I appeal to Ghanaians to ignore your irresponsible subjective and mediocre writings. What is more irresponsible than a journalist just putting words together without any reasoning and serious thinking?

The fact that you have access to the media does not give you the audacity to put out any irresponsible piece. You should think and rethink about the rightness or otherwise of whatever piece you want to put out.

The media irresponsibility, unreasonable and unprovoked casting of aspersions and unnecessary insults and attacks on our leaders must stop.

And remember that the day the devils will cast their eyes on you, all your sympathizers will be very few.