Today’s heading was inspired by the late Paapa Yankson’s hit song titled, ‘Okukuseku’. He was one of my all-time greats. The song advises us to fear humans instead of ghosts because the former could be very diabolical.
Indeed, the evil nature of man was made manifest in the country’s Parliament last Thursday morning, during voting to elect a new Speaker. Some likened it to Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Yesu Kristo, while my Ewe friends simply said, “Gbetor menyo”, to wit, “Human being is not good”.
Prior to the voting, stories from the grapevine had suggested few from the Elephant stock would betray their party and vote against its choice, Rt. Hon. Mike Ocquaye. True to the rumours, two Judases eventually showed their true colours at the end of the fiercely contested speakership election. The resultant effect was the elevation of Hon. Alban Bagbin, a man from the Umbrella stock, to the position of Speaker.
Trust me, I’m still shocked and disappointed. I still cannot understand what could have motivated someone who claimed to be ‘a patriot’ to show such gross disloyalty to his party. How could someone riding on the Elephant delude himself into believing that promoting the cause of the Umbrella is the wisest thing to do?
Believe me when I tell you many who voted for Mike Oquaye were not enthused about his nomination. Some complained of how frail he had become and wondered if he had the strength to work efficiently as Speaker. Others too complained that he exhibited dictatorial tendencies which did not augur well for the party and government. But they still voted for him because of party loyalty.
Again, it must be noted that Bagbin got all 137 votes from his party folks not because all liked him. Indeed, many of them have still not forgiven him for his fierce criticism of the Ogwanfunu government and for daring to challenge President Ogwanfunu for the Zu-za flagbearership throne. But they all put their concerns aside and voted for him because of party loyalty.
It is therefore worrying to realise that we have two ‘Judases’ amongst us. With a hung Parliament for the next four years, I shudder to imagine how much more damage the Judases could cause Nana Dee’s second term.
Well, the horse has already left the stable so we shouldn’t waste time closing the door after that. But we need to know why we carelessly left the door ajar for the horse to runaway.
Yes, our leadership failed us that day. How could they have agreed to allow the Assin North MP to vote after the Clerk had already ruled on the matter? Why did they sit aloof and leave Hon. Carlos Ahenkorah to be manhandled by the opposing side when it was obvious he was only trying to pay them in kind using the ‘patapaa’ language they understand?
Did I hear you criticise my support for Carlos Ahenkorah’s action? Well, my support for his action is purely based on the fact that a cat is not expected to lose a fight to a mouse and claim later that the mouse had used unfair tactics to win. As Carlos himself said, he did it for the grassroots, for the President and for the party because those under the Umbrella shouldn’t be allowed to always threaten and vilify those on the Elephant.
I do agree with Carlos that we may not have seen the end of it yet. Having been successful in getting the speakership position, and with a hung Parliament, one can only imagine which other strings they would pull for the next four years.
We can however console ourselves with the fact that the man currently on the speakership throne is not one of the Hawks in the Zu-za camp. Rt. Hon. Bagbin is neither vindictive nor callous. He is also firm and fair, so he is not one to allow himself to do the bidding of others.
Of course, he is an unrepentant advocate of the eagle-headed Umbrella. But he is a patriot and a nationalist, not a nation-wrecker. He also has maturity and experience to guide him in the uncharted political waters.
I therefore expect him to discharge his duties diligently and honestly. I’m inclined to trust Rt. Hon. Bagbin to be his own man and not succumb to pressure from his party folks because his integrity is unquestionable.
But, you see, he is also human. He may be tempted to exhibit human frailties under pressure. In other words, the ‘onipa hu ye hu mantra’ cannot be forgotten at all. That is my fear, though I hope for the best.
See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!