“It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself”- Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
We are all human and are not infallible. For as long as we remain human, we are bound to make one mistake or another. As such, we do need pieces of advice from others to right the wrongs in our lives.
But we have not become so immoral to start going for morality lessons from persons with questionable morals. It would be the height of foolhardiness to go for morality lessons from an unrepentant whore, wouldn’t it?
As a Ghanaian and a patriot, I would be the first to admit that patriotism has sunk to an all-time low. One does not need to conduct any research to come to this worrying conclusion because our actions speak loud enough in support of the claim. Any sermon on patriotism is, therefore, a welcome move.
But wait a second! Will my compatriots take such a sermon seriously if it is coming from someone who has on numerous occasions exhibited gross unpatriotic conduct? Your guess could be as good as mine!
We woke up last Friday to be greeted by a sermon on patriotism from a man who comes from the “create, loot and share” stock. The content of the sermon was very good. But coming from the mouth of a man who epitomizes lack of patriotism, I doubt if the sermon would achieve its desired result.
I laughed when I heard the sermon. I’m sure many of my compatriots would do same because the messenger has diluted the efficacy of the message.
We were all in this country when Manasseh Azure Awuni exposed a gargantuan corruption at the presidency. We all read and saw how a sitting president received a Ford Expedition worth USD100,000 from a Burkinabe contractor, Djibril Kanazoe. Yes, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has rubbished the bribery claim; but we know better.
Why did CHRAJ refuse to investigate the real motive of Kanazoe becoming friends with the then vice-president? Why did CHRAJ fail to answer the question on how a vehicle which was supposed to be in the presidential pool by November 2012 ended up at the port for clearance in February 2013? We may be many things, but ‘stupid’ is not one of them.
I’ve said this before and I would repeat it. The circumstance under which the President and Kanazoe became friends is very important. It is important because it will give us a better clue to the thoughts and intentions of both the giver and the receiver.
Per the man’s own account, he did not win a contract in Ghana the first time he submitted a proposal. After losing the bid, a friend (Mikado) who knew the then Vice-President, took him to “salute” (greet) the Vice-President. Thus began the beautiful relationship between the two, which led to a USD100,000 gift exchanging hands.
The motive for Mikado taking Kanazoe to see then Vice-President Ogwanfunu is clear, isn’t it? He had lost a contract, so he needed someone who could pull strings to make things happen the next time. And did the new relationship he established with Vice-President Ogwanfunu not help him get subsequent contracts?
According to Kanazoe, he was sitting his somewhere when the Ghana Embassy in Burkina Faso requested a quotation from his firm for the Ghana Embassy Fence Wall Project. He gave them his quotation and the contract was sole-sourced to him.
Is it not puzzling that, of all the contractors in Burkina Faso, Kanazoe was the only one contracted to do the fencing job? For sure, Kanazoe’s gift gave him special access to our President. So it isn’t a surprise to notice that there were hidden hands that pulled strings to ensure he got the contract.
This same man preaching patriotism has refused to comment on an allegation of corruption against him by the Chief Citizen Vigilante in the messy Embraer jets deal. Considering the haste with which he responded to other allegations, his silence on the matter is as loud as it is revealing.
The man preaching patriotism is on record to have shielded his corrupt appointees. Our numerous calls for him to be more patriotic than partisan fell on the ears of a dead-goat. And such a man wants to give us lessons on patriotism?
You see, unpatriotic is a vice-president who inflates the cost of Embraer jets and lines his pocket with the difference. Unpatriotic is when a minister of sports goes on a spending spree and a president protects him because he was his campaign manager in the previous election. Unpatriotic is a vice-president who facilitated the provision of contracts to a foreigner in return for a Ford Expedition.
Patriotism is not about rhetoric and mouth-twisting political slogans. He who wants to teach others about patriotism must show patriotism. Indeed, a harlot cannot teach a nun morality!
See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!
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