What sort of tyrannical dispensation is the GES Boss intending to initiate, imitate and demonstrate?
When a President is incompetent, mismanaging the economy, misconducting himself, forgetting his core obligations to the people over whom he presides, when seems inconsiderate per his comments and appears brutish towards the majority of the 33 million people of Ghana (not the teaspoonful NPP faithful and members), when he appears unempathetic and unresponsive, and he is criticized positively and constructively, whether or not devoid of any direct insults, the action does not merit and warrant GES writing any thesis of a dismissal letter to any student.
What is an insult in the first place?
“to speak to or treat with disrespect or scornful abuse.”
This definition differentiates from analyzing the performance of a Head of State against past accounts and then commenting on same as good, bad, poor, average, bogus, incompetent or competent, satisfactory or unsatisfactory, incriminating or positive and such words as are appropriate to and for the occasion in addition to the statements of truth – the papal hit.
Therefore, there is notability in respect of a marked difference between criticizing the political personality of a person and his individual personality. Political personality is the political outlook of the individual in occupying a political or governmental office with a variance from his individual personality as relates to his family and other personal non-political affairs.
These students were slightly wrong in terms of attacking the individual personality of the President by insulting his mother thought it was borne out of the President’s political demeanour towards the students – his failure to act satisfactorily in their favour due to challenges being faced by them in the face of the macroeconomic downturn receding the Ghanaian economy. Their intent was aimed at attacking the political personality of the President as it was targeted at the President knowing that is his current person. Of course, no one should conclude that the students are enjoying free SHS and as such, they should be muted from venting their grievances or forestalled from filming their personal activities.
As long as reasonable, every citizen is eligible to bring down to thorough analysis and evaluation the policies, programmes, decisions, actions and performances of any government or political personality, in this context the NPP, from the Head to the toe person who is an occupant of any State position to whom tax payers’ monies are remunerated. Such political governmental figures should be subject to scrutiny, comments, positive actions and reactions including loveable and admirable chastening (probable insults) where expedient.
GES shouldn’t threaten anyone with any ultimatum not to query and question the political personality and activities of any governmental activity or person. Such era of enslavement and intimidation is past and gone.
Of course, no one intends to insult any government official. However, this current NPP government led by His Excellency Nana Addo is really bogus, shambolic, retrogressive and invidious compared to Kuffour’s NPP government from 2000-2008.
If the GES want Ghanaians including students to sit lip-tight and lip-zipped for failing and negligence to comment on the economic development of the country, they should inform us in plain and bold character. We also bear the brunt of the increment in taxes and are also direct and indirect taxpayers.
To the information of GES, the unemployment rate as of the last quarter of 2022 was 13.9%, a disdainful surge. Ken Ofori-Atta’s “more-gross” budget statement indicated that there would be no public sector employment in 2023 whereas it is common and general knowledge there shall be public sector vacancies to be filled by party faithful and family members of government officers, members of their political triad and cronies.
What sense is there in doing this in favour of a handful of related people against the larger graduate population after the government has collapsed businesses since 2018? It’s a glossy and gross shame to the government.
GES should sit their ass up. The educational sector needs very strategic reforms to bridge the international academic trend. They shouldn’t sit there and talk gibberish than fix the messes and lapses in the educational sector – that’s their lot and mandate, not becoming social media monitors as to who insults or commends the President for his bad and dreadful mismanagement of an economy inherited at an inflation rate of 15.4% but now galloping at 54.15% for reward or rebuke.
By: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamfi
