Sam Jonah Must Show Ghanaians His Past Record - Paul Adom Otchere

Host of Metro TV's Good Evening Ghana show, Paul Adom-Otcheren has taken businessman Sam Jonah to the "slaughter house" over his speech at a public lecture with Rotarians in Accra.

Sam Jonah tackled some controversial issues, fearing the culture of silence which was long gone had returned during this dispensation.

He also addressed the destruction of Ghana's lands and waterbodies by illegal miners, particularly the Chinese, and  the hopeless future looming over the Ghanaian youth as a result of what he believes are bad decisions taken by the Akufo-Addo government.

Paul Adom-Otchere, giving an editorial during his show, forwarded some crucial questions to the Sam Jonah.

According to him, since the businessman has now decided to speak publicly, then he should also tell the Ghanaian youth about his past deeds.

He questioned Sam Jonah's role in the takeover of the mining company, Anglogold Ashanti, which he was the Chief Executive Officer.

''What was his covert or overt role in the transaction that led Anglogold to become the majority shareholder of Ashanti? That was a transaction that was supported by government; no doubt about that. That was a transaction that was listed on the stock exchange; no doubt about that. In fact, Ashanti was already listed and this boosted Ashanti's image anyway.

"But the youth have to be told because, you see, dealing with [in] a natural resource and Sam Jonah in his speech talks about gold and how it is finite and talks about oil and how it is finite. So, he has had a role to play with gold. What was his overt or covert relationship/influence over that transaction? He must be able to tell us these things as he begins a new charter to talk publicly about the future of Ghana," he insisted.

To Paul, business moguls were to exercise discretion in poltical and national matters.

" . . there are business people in Ghana who never talk about politics. They are very, very wealthy people. They never talk about politics. They never say anything publicly. They never criticize. They are with the power. They are with NDC; they are with NPP", he stated, adding "if that is what Sam Jonah used to do, there's no problem with it. But if now he wants to come out and say that, at his age, he feels that irresponsible not to talk about the future; then he should tell us what he has done in the past".

Paul asserted that Sam Jonah must "give an account of what has happened in the past because you're talking about the future. We have to know whether it is mere words that you're sharing with us. We have to know whether it has some underlying frustrations that you're sharing with us or we have to understand that it's a philosophy that has guided you throughout your work".

Mr. Adom-Otchere believes Sam Jonah's criticisms go directly back to him.

“He [Sam Jonah] is a big man, he has been around for a very long time, and he comes and says the youth of Ghana, I now feel the responsibility to speak and you don’t tell us what you’ve been doing in the past when you have had such a tenacious relationship with the political decision making of Ghana since 1983; you won’t tell us what has happened about that…?'' he queried.

“So that we can understand whether the idea you present today is the idea that has been with you for a very long time. If that idea that you present today is not an idea that has been with for a long time, it is still a welcome idea but we want to know so that we put it on record because the record is important.''

"Sam Jonah cannot talk about the future without answering questions about his past," 
the outspoken Television show host demanded.

He continued; "If he won’t say anything at all, at least we know his role with Adisadel College and AshGold Football Club, we do not know his role in that major transaction that has punctuated the corporate and political history of our society, the Ashanti transaction . . .In both transactions, there was a critical decision about the heritage of the Ghanaian young person; because this gold resource, which is a Ghanaian resource was being treated in a certain way, was it being treated in the right way to guarantee the future of the young people that today Sam Jonah is concerned about?”