Kwadwo Mpiani
The list of persons whose acerbic pronouncements retard our progress rather than help us to progress is long.
Such persons have come to represent the dark spots of local politics and to think that these are personalities who could have passed for role models but continue to tread on the path of reckless pronouncements and treatises is worrying if not heartbreaking.
All the faiths uphold the importance of responsible conduct, especially from elders and leaders of society. In our local settings, some pronouncements and languages are anathema and when adults are found committing such social blunders, they lose their standing and respect, something they can hardly retrieve.
We can recall with nostalgia our elders and leaders whose toils led to our present status as an independent nation. They imbibed the cultures of their various ethnic groupings and, in spite of their acquisition of western education, they nonetheless spotted the values of this country.
We will not relent in fighting for the maintenance of our values, and will point it out when those who because of their age and experience tend to allow their preferences to cloud their conscience.
Criticisms must be underpinned by sincerity and without blemish. Unfortunately however, in recent times, some have taken it upon themselves to dabble in subjects without acceptable basis and when indeed evidence abound to show their hypocrisy.
The recent reshuffling of ministers by the President, the authority to do which he is empowered by the constitution to undertake when he deems proper, appears to have ruffled some feathers.
While some political characters out of their reckless youthful exuberance can be pardoned for the manner in which they tackle matters of national interest, for others we cannot.
We respect our leaders because no matter our disagreements, they have helped to shape our development agenda. But we find it very nauseating for Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani to criticise the latest reshuffle when in his time as Chief of Staff under President JA Kufuor he signed a statement on changes in the then government in May 2008.
Their posturing only exposes them as people with sour grapes. And that is why Asiedu Nketia can postulate that it would be better to be an illiterate than to attend the free SHS.
If that is a mindset of a leading member of the NDC wishing to return to power, can we say such a person and his leader, John Mahama, in the unlikely event that they come to power, would their review of the free SHS not be an euphemism for cancellation?
The NDC better be watched by Ghanaians because they hate the free SHS like vermin despite successes chalked up by the graduates like Thomas Amoani of Adeiso SHS, who performed creditably at the WASSCE to gain scholarship to study in the UK where he is the star of the university’s Faculty.
Let us make sure we do not allow these naysayers near the corridors of power to mess us up with ‘dumsor’ and their personal comfort.