Opinions of Tuesday, 3 October 2017

Columnist: Michael Jarvis Bokor

When trouble makers ‘manipulate’ the system, Ghana's democracy suffers

Appiah Stadium accused Akufo-Addo is smoking weed Appiah Stadium accused Akufo-Addo is smoking weed

Folks, the coincidentally needling happenings involving the NPP's A-Plus and the NDC's Appiah Stadium paint a very horrid picture of our leaders in this democratic experiment and it is disturbing to a large extent.

What did ex-President Mahama hope to gain from associating with Appiah Stadium to sustain his political life, knowing very well how this character began gaining public attention by shamelessly associating with Jerry Rawlings, Kuffuor, and Atta Mills just for personal benefits?

And it is not as if this character hasn't given clear signals on his political waywardness. Those who know him inside-out can confirm that he is nobody to take on board. How many sympathizers or followers has he won for the NDC cause?

I can now recall brushing him aside at Barekese in the early 1990s when Jerry Rawlings visited that area and he forced his way into the convoy. I pushed him out of line and warned him never to push the button because he was nobody. He fumed but went out of line.

I had earlier spotted him at the Kumasi airport, where he caught Rawlings attention by shouting "Wo ye bue" at the time that Rawlings was speaking to the gathering welcoming him to the Region.

And he caught Rawlings' attention and capitalized on it to emerge as a force to reckon with as far as the pro-Rawlings camps was concerned. he has built on that foundation to be in bed with Rawlings' successors to date.

I don't regard him for anything and will be the first to call for his axing from the NDC now that his own evil deeds have caught up with him.

That has to do with the unconscionable characters sucking the NDC dry.

The next point involves happenings in the NPP under Akufo-Addo, especially as is being exposed by the ins-and-outs of what A-Plus has put in motion.

As an informed observer of the political scene in Ghana, I cringe to learn that this A-Plus is a confidant of Akufo-Addo. All that he has done so far is to disgrace Akufo-Addo and make nonsense of all that he stands for. A lot more than that, though. But I will leave it to the voters monitoring the situation too.

What pricks my conscience at this point is simple. Characters of Appiah Stadium and A-Plus' type are not the politicians that ex-President Mahama and Akufo-Addo need to validate their status.

Surrounded by educated people with the acumen to guide them toward fulfilling their electioneering campaign promises, why would they go for such low-life irritants to damage their public image?

This question brings to mind why the need for the so-called corps of communicators for the political parties who are nothing but mischievous ill-informed idle-hands seeking to blackmail their own "employers" for personal gains?

Folks, a lot more to question. But given the implications of happenings surrounding this Appiah Stadium and A-Plus, I should be the first to insult ex-President Mahama and the incumbent Akufo-Addo for creating the elbow room for them to cause trouble.

Ghana will not lose anything without such nonentities. If prosecuting and jailing them for their nonsensical escapades will teach the lesson that others thinking of emulating them have to learn, let's go for it. No more for now.