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“And Akufo Addo’s father came and said ‘hey boys scrap that thing off.  If the northerners cannot pay for their school, they should go and rear cattle and goats’. And they scrapped it off” – Hassan Ayariga

This piece was supposed to have been published two weeks ago when Hassan Ayariga insulted the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo Addo.  I had to shelve it until today because of the deluge which led to the death of more than one hundred and fifty poor souls.

A renowned psychiatrist who is a specialist on that field once told me that about 30% of Ghanaians are mad in one way or the other.  Hassan Ayariga, also known as Ayari-cough may be one of them.

In the run-up to the 2000 General Election, my last born son was ten years old and used to attend political rallies and really enjoyed the euphoria, the songs and all the noises made at the rally grounds.  I saw in him a politician in the making.  As the years rolled by he became a card-bearing member of the NPP and acquired his party card at the tender age of thirteen even though he was not entitled to vote and he really never voted until he was eighteen years old.  My boy is now twenty eight years and when I visited him recently, apart from his bed, everything in his room were virtually painted with NPP stickers.  His mother is from Kyebi, Nana Akufo Addo’s home town and so I was not surprised.  After reading the statement by Hassan Ayariga he rushed to me as I was having a nap and asked whether what Hasaan Ayariga said was true.  When I explained to him that nothing of that sort had ever happened when Professor Busia was the Prime Minister of Ghana and that since Dr. Kwame Nkrumah introduced free education in the three Northern Regions, it has remained so to this date. This was what said: “Dada, then I think there is something wrong with this guy called Ayariga.  I have lost interest in politics”

I was in my second year in secondary school when Mr. Akufo Addo was the ceremonial President of Ghana with Professor Busia as the Prime Minister.  Looking at Hassan Ayariga’s “baby face”, he might have been in primary one then.  If somebody told him this stupid thing, that person has done him more harm than good.  He has made Hassan Ayariga a laughing stock in the face of the good people of Ghana.  Ayariga has cheapened politics in Ghana to the extent that fine brains who will like to enter politics will have a second thought.  And if he thinks he was making this silly statement to attract votes from the PNC delegates, he has missed the boat badly.

President Mahama, a beneficiary of Nkrumah’s free education went to the chamber of parliament this year to deliver his State of the Nation Address and in the cause of his delivery he told our parliamentarians that his government was going to introduce Free Senior High School progressively in September 2015.  Hassan Ayariga has bastardized this promise made by the president through his unfortunate and irresponsible statement made at Koforidua. Hear the bootlicker:  “ I am going to tell you three reasons why I attacked Akufo Addo because you sent me to the war without guns and ammunitions and I am going to use my weapons to fight so let me use my weapons and tell you why I fought him”

From all indications, Hassan Ayariga seems to be on the payroll of the ruling NDC and they are trying to use him to muddy the political waters.  In fact, these NDC people are trying to play smart while not being clever enough. I wonder what Dr. Edward Nasigri Mahama is thinking about the party he nurtured after the death of Dr. Hilla Liman.  The Akans say if a dog abandons its bone, it doesn’t mean it has left it for the chicken to lick.  If the PNC delegates do the mistake and vote Hassan Ayariga to lead the party in 2016, what will follow would be the worst result that the party would experience since Dr. Liman formed it.  The truth is that come 2016 Hassan Ayariga himself will vote for the NDC instead of the PNC. This unknown guy in Ghanaian politics used lies and trickery to become the flagbearer of the PNC and now that he is being treated like a VIP, he thinks Nana is his co-equal (apology to Gabriel Barima, Ahafo Ano South DCE).

If Hassan Ayariga thinks he can take Nana Addo to the cleaners and go scot free then somebody out there should tell this guy to go for a crash helmet because what would be raining on him will be more than moon rocks.  I have a strong weakness for frankness, you know. That is why I am serving this notice.  The continuous contemptuous manner in which Hassan Ayariga is taking Nana Addo for a ride should stop NOW or—-Where was Hassan Ayariga when Nana Addo was the Secretary General of the Movement for Freedom and Justice (MFJ), a group which made sure Ghana voted ‘NO’ to General Acheampong’s Union government?  Nana has come far and he continues to put his nose on the grindstone for Ghanaians to enjoy the democratic dispensation that we are in today.

If my mind serves me right, I have never heard anyone in this country speaking anything bad against the late Ceremonial President of Ghana, Mr. Akufo Addo.  If we sit down and allow a nitwit like Hassan Ayariga to distort history we will not be doing the younger generation any good.  The Mr. Akufo Addo I knew will never describe Northerners the way this guy has put it.

Nana Akufo Addo Corrupt?

In the run-up to the 2012 general election Nana Akufo Addo came out boldly to tell Ghanaians that he was not corrupt, had never been corrupt and will never be corrupt.  He even challenged whosoever thought he had been found wanting as far as the issue of corruption was concerned to come out and expose him.   Not a single Ghanaian came out to challenge the gentleman.  Hassan Ayariga was then the flagbearer of the PNC and wanted to become the president of Ghana but he never challenged the statement made by Nana.  Now that he wants to lead the PNC again he thought attacking Nana at his backyard will move the delegates to vote for him.  This half-wit politician has seriously exposed his underbelly.  The MV Benjamin cocaine case which he referred to as his reason for his corruption charge did not fly at all.  This MV Benjamin issue happened in 2005 when Nana was not the Attorney General.  Nana Akufo Addo was then the Minister of Foreign Affairs and it is not the duty of a Foreign Affairs Minister to prosecute people.

In anyway, this dummy called Hasan Ayariga should be told that eight persons were prosecuted and the owner of the ship and one Chinese were jailed.  Additionally, two Ghanaians, Tagor and Alhaji Abass were prosecuted and jailed.  The Limping Man, Asem Darkeh, the kingpin in the MV Benjamin cocaine saga who went into hiding was fished out, prosecuted and jailed.  Tagor and Alhaji Abass appealed against the ruling and they were released when Professor Mills came to power in 2008.  So my dear reader, do you see the absurdity in Hassan Ayariga’s accusation?  The NDC should abrogate the contract they signed with Ayariga because he doesn’t know how to do damage to the person they have contracted him to damage.  Even the JHS first year student knows Hassan Ayariga is a jester. I really pity his wife.  The more he attacks Nana, the more Nana gets sympathy from people who know better.

CL 3 Robusto cigars are Dominican puros.  The CL3 stands for Corojo Ligero times 3.  There is three times as much ligero tobacco in these cigars as compared to standard cigars.  Today, I am going in for this brand.  Keep your distance while I puff away.