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The Senior Minister, Mr. Yaw Osafo-Marfo, is fuming furiously about the meeting between former President John Dramani Mahama and foreign diplomats at which the former president briefed the diplomats on acts of violence by thugs linked to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the recent clashes at the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election. He accused the former president of painting Ghana black. He got it wrong.
Former President John Mahama did not paint us black. The foreign diplomats live with us. They did not land from Jupiter the night before meeting our former President. Even if they did, they would have been briefed.
They collect their own intelligence. They know worse things about us than Mr. John Mahama knows. They know about the havoc caused by the Delta Forces, the Invisible Forces and other NPP thugs in the last two years. They know the support these thugs receive from government and party officials. They gather their own intelligence and know more about our country than the average minister of state knows.
Those who are actually painting us black are the president and his 110 ministers and numerous appointees into whose hands we have entrusted our collective wealth, destiny and look up to to keep us secure. Those painting us black are those who deployed the masked men to cause havoc.
Mr. Mahama is a powerless man like me. We can blame him for his own weakness in the past, before January 7, 2017. But he is not responsible for the current mess. He has no power to command any forces or deploy the security agencies to crush the hooligans who are threatening our democracy. It does not make sense to rear ferocious attack dogs, unleash them to destabilise the state and blame the one who is showing others the harm caused by the dogs. The government has the power to crush all vigilante groups, including those from Mr. Mahama’s party.
Of course, if there are inaccuracies in his presentation, it must be pointed out. But the foreign diplomats see and smell our dirty linen and the darkened walls of our democracy. No amount of black paint from John Mahama or white paint from President Nana Akufo-Addo will make any difference.
Stop “blamestorming” and deal with these dangerous acts. Even if he is painting us black ,the question is” who handed him the black paint? John Mahama did not create what he is talking about. We know they happened. This is not the first time the foreign diplomats are involved in violence happening in our country. When candidate Akufo-Addo’s private residence was pelted with stones in 2016, the NPP was very happy courting the support of these diplomats. What has changed? Or is it because John Mahama met them openly as against the closed door meetings others had in the past?
Let’s repaint the dark walls of our democracy with decisive actions to deal with this current blot on our democracy and civility. The blame game cannot solve that.
By: Manasseh Azure Awuni/azureachebe2@yahoo.com
