Pastor Kofi Oduro
There is no dearth of jokes in this country. One of such jokes is the plea by a man of God, Pastor Kofi Oduro that Ato Essien be released from prison because of his educational background, smartness and the poor state of the Nsawam Prison.
So much public funds went down the drain with no identifiable financial dividends to the people of this country through his machinations, which the man of God describes as an asset. Asset indeed!
We have also taken note of others who have joined the bandwagon of pleas to the President to pardon the gentleman because local prisons are congested.
And a Commonwealth team also proceeding to Ghana on a similar mission to have the man released?
He is special and so should have the law varied for him, is what they are saying.
Our country is gradually losing its moral fabric as persons who should serve as role models are being denied public deference because of their posture in society.
To present somebody who caused such a massive loss to the country as one worthy of being a role model is to promote public purse thievery.
We do not want persons of this ilk presented to our youth as role models; those who do so should be shunned by all means because they do not care a hoot about the progress of this country.
Our youth must be encouraged to make genuine wealth without stains, and there are good Ghanaians they can adopt as role models.
Perhaps, henceforth administration of justice must be discriminatory, which is the bottom-line of the points being raised by those pleading with the President to order the release from prison of Ato Forson.
Agradaa, who was convicted last week, should also be released because she defrauded many Ghanaians using her smartness.
What kind of country are we building? A country where those who are educated regardless of the crimes they commit should be pardoned because of their status in society?
We pray we do not reach that notch, because when we do it would usher in a state of nature in our part of the world.
We are concerned that educated persons with respectable personalities would allow themselves to be used to demand the release of Ato Essien.
Ghana has endured too much financial loss to individuals, many of whom have been pardoned because of their proximity to the corridors of power.
The precedent has been set already with the stoppage of the cases against certain individual politicians following the victory of their party at the polls. This is the reason there is no hesitation to demand such freedom from the President for Ato Essien.
These pleas could be only the tip of the iceberg. Multiple personal visits to the residence of the President and his office, not forgetting the interventions of traditional rulers, can only be imagined.
Those who say that the Nsawam Prison is too congested to contain Ato Essien should ask the President to undertake a decongestion exercise at the facility for the sake of the man under review. That would make better logic than claiming that he is too intelligent to be confined to the four walls of Nsawam Prison.
What a joke, what a country!