I visited a septuagenarian friend last Saturday. He is a retired Anthropology Professor. I usually visit to check on him or whenever I need to drink from his pot of wisdom; and he never disappoints.
When I arrived, he was seated under a big mango tree on the compound eating. He gave me a seat as he scooped the last bits of yam and kontomire stew into his mouth. He then washed the food down with a jug of water and belched. He ordered his beautiful granddaughter to serve me a plate of the delicacy as he washed his two hands in a bowl. I politely rejected the offer because my protruded belly had had enough for that morning.
With a napkin in his hand, he uncharacteristically asked me a question without even exchanging pleasantries. He sounded angry, though he had just had his favourite meal.
“Is it not annoying to see an overused pot calling a fairly used kettle black?” He asked. I answered in the affirmative and he then asked why I, Ogboro, hadn’t been very critical on Hon. Ato Forson and his ilk for their consistent hypocritical stance on national issues. I laughed the matter off and told him to take it easy to avoid his BP rising beyond acceptable limits.
I didn’t think much of the comment until later in the evening. I realised the old man had hit the nail right on the head. Indeed, party communicators and political commentators like yours truly have so far treated the double tongued politicians with kids’ gloves.
Abusuapanin, it was in the course of preparing for this piece that I realised Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful had already cut Ato Forson to size. In response to some mischievous comments from Ato Forson regarding her directive on the Communication Service Tax (CST), Ursula said she wasn’t going to seek advice on morality from a brothel. And rightly so, because a person with loose morals is the last person one should go to for advice on morality.
Obviously, Ato Forson did not understand the figurative expression. He wrongly misinterpreted Ursula’s response as an insult to his person and went on radio screaming ‘insults, insults, insults’.
His inability to understand the figure of speech is shocking, considering the fact that even a JHS One pupil in my school knows the expression used by Ursula is a metaphor, which is indirectly comparing Ato Forson’s incompetence to the loose morals of those in brothels. In other words, Ursula was only saying if she needed any advice on how to run her ministry, incompetent Ato Forson was the last person she would run to.
But wait a second! Could it also be that Ato Forson understood the idiom alright, but only feigned ignorance to avoid responding to Ursula?
Whichever it is, the fact remains that Ursula does not need Ato Forson’s “create, loot and share” advice. Was Ato Forson not at the Finance Ministry during President Ogwanfunu’s reign, when the cost of Mobile Money Interoperability was inflated to $4 billion? Was he not at the ministry when the ‘woyomisation’ saga happened? Was he not a deputy finance minister when the Cedi sprinted faster than its other trading currencies and attracted a renowned Archbishop to pray for it to slow down? Was he not a deputy minister when the economy was almost grounded to its knees?
Truly, I feel like throwing up when I hear those under the Umbrella talking about incompetence and corruption. Until they come clean on the numerous ‘create, loot and share’ schemes under President Ogwanfunu, they have no moral right to point accusing fingers at others.
We’ve not forgotten the SUBAH saga, GYEEDA debacle, the ‘Akomfem’ palaver, the phantom tree planting project, the sad SADA story and the messy bus re-branding saga. Massa, the list is endless!
Hon. Owusu-Ekuful and her colleagues are not angels. Neither can they claim infallibility. But they are not in the same league with ‘greedy bastards’.
They may fall short and need advice since they are human. Indeed, they do seek advice from others; but they will not go to a brothel to seek advice on morality.
The Nana Dee government is gradually correcting the many wrongs they left behind, so Zu-za should please spare us the discordant noise. They should know that removing a piece of yam from the cooking pot does not stop the rest of us from cooking.
See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!