Bob Okalla and Nkomode were two of my favourite comedians. When they joined their ancestors in Samanfoland in early 2016, many were those who thought the country had lost its finest comedians. But the rib-cracking jokes subsequently dished out by some political comedians compelled many to revise their notes.
Do you remember the political joke of making Akua Donkor a member of President Ogwanfunu’s delegation to Europe? Many wondered what meaningful role she would play on the trip until we were reminded that she was a political clown. She was thus taken on the trip to entertain President Ogwanfunu and other members of his entourage.
Many of my compatriots were understandably livid. They could not understand why a government would fly a political clown on first class, feed and accommodate her at the expense of the tax payer. They couldn’t see any wisdom in engaging in such opulence when the country needed cowries for infrastructural development.
Some of us were, however, not livid at all. We weren’t livid because the Ogwanfunu government had previously wasted cowries on same Akua Donkor by inviting her to the Senchi Economic Forum to entertain participants. So sending her to Europe as part of the President’s entourage did not surprise us at all. We subsequently predicted that the Ogwanfunu government would waste much more cowries on the political clown; and were we not vindicated?
We all heard from the horse’s own mouth that President Ogwanfunu gifted her two Mitsubishi Pajalos (Pajeros) and a three-bedroom house at Sakumono in Accra. With pressure mounting on the then government to explain the wastage, she quickly and gaily explained that it was all a joke. She explained further that it was only a prank to tease Paa Kwesi Nduom and members of the Osono family.
Of course, she was joking! What else could she do apart from cracking jokes? Isn’t joking all that political clowns like her do?
It is therefore heart-wrenching to hear such political jokers and their clowns shouting “fix the country”. And when asked what they want the government to fix, they say “everything and anything” that needed fixing.
Laughable, isn’t it? If they had ‘fixed everything’ and not engaged in political jokes and clownery, would there have been the need for any “fix the country” joke?
Interestingly, many media practitioners have swallowed the bait without batting an eyelid. They’ve joined the political jokers and clowns to engage in the “fix the country” joke. Some morning show hosts also engage in a shouting contest as if the pitch of their voice is what determines the wisdom in their argument.
One can, therefore, not be far from right to conclude that ours is a country of jokers and noise-makers. All, including biased political show hosts, inept political pundits, vicious political actors, half-baked security experts, corrupt anti-corruption crusaders, jaundiced CSOs and confused serial callers, add to the noise in the name of discussing an issue. We make so much noise on a topic until a new one pops up for another round of national cacophony and the old topic thrown into a dustbin.
By the way, would someone please tell Multimedia that with only a Graduate Diploma in International Relations from UK, yours truly could do far better than the supposed security expert who inundates listeners’ ears with his voodoo analysis. It is more than obvious that Mr. A.B. is half-baked.
Another worrying phenomenon is media practitioners being under the illusion that they’re above the law and can write and say anything about others, but cannot be put to strict proof. Some erroneously believe they have the right to even gatecrash the President’s bedroom to record his ‘jigi-jigi’ bout, but start screaming “culture of silence” when put to strict proof. That ill-produced ‘Militia’ documentary easily comes to mind.
As I mentioned some few weeks back, “fix the country” is a welcomed call because such agitations act as catalysts to development. But it wouldn’t be taken seriously when it is coming from the mouths of political jokers and noise-makers.
And to my fellow media folks, let’s avoid mercenary journalism and do our work diligently and truthfully because premature celebration and premature ejaculation have the same effects-finger pointing and regret.
See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!
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