Kwesi Nyantakyi
The elapsing week has been full of twists and turns; each of them laced with drama. These have kept the media and social commentators really busy. No sooner is one development fully digested and dissected than another rears its head in the public space.
From the Anas’ expose, the questions about the integrity of the man behind it all have given the media and for that matter, Ghanaians, so much to ponder about.
Be it as it may, both sides of the coin must, in our opinion, be interrogated so that by the time we are done, our country would have been better than it was.
There is no doubt that there are those who have flaunted the fact that he who embarks on an integrity crusade must come with clean hands themselves. It is a fact too that such dissenting persons must display their evidences for Ghanaians to witness and decide for themselves.
We have learnt that these too would be debuted on the media space if that has not been done already. Whatever happens at the end of the day, whether the watchman or the watchman’s watcher is right or wrong, the fact still stands that those bestowed with responsibilities must discharge their duties with integrity.
Suspicions about moral deficiencies at the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and state agencies definitely informed putting these organizations under the clandestine interrogation and the subsequent discoveries.
Those who doubted the high notch corruption Ghana has assumed must be educated by the occurrences at the GFA, which for us, is but a microcosm of the society in which we call our country.
We have observed the swift reaction from government in dissolving the GFA. As a matter arising from the rot at the football association, we expect the necessary liaison with the relevant entities such as CAF and FIFA to obviate avoidable challenges which would not inure to our interest under the prevailing circumstances. We have learnt though that this is being pursued with dispatch.
If there has been a fervent search for reasons behind Ghana’s decline in soccer and the people’s waning interest in what used to be their passion, perhaps the revelations provide the answer.
The GFA story without doubt, would stretch into subsequent weeks, especially, now that Parliament has shown interest in it and is set to interrogate it at their level.
Enter the removal of some CEOs and the snippets that it is a precursor to more axing of appointees and the interesting matters arising thereof. Unofficial announcements of the removals were made before statements originated from the Presidency; something we found very odd.
The story of the CEO of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Felix Anyah, was interesting. If he has been penciled to be replaced by someone else, such a correspondence is yet to be communicated formally to him, yet the teaching hospital’s workers have gone on demonstration kicking against his ‘removal’.
Only the President can hire and fire CEOs of state agencies – a discretion he does not share with neither members of the public nor workers of the relevant agencies.
The workers could show their appreciation for the fantastic performance of Dr. Anyaa and their preference for his retention by appealing to the President in a manner laden with deference. The red band approach is certainly inappropriate because it is bereft of the respect which should be accorded the President at all times.