Feature: And They Call Themselves Honourables?

These, them: the words of the late Opanin Kwame Kwakye who was our Bretuo family head of Fomasua when scorning the belligerent attitude of the family members at a gruelling family meeting. Our father, Papa Kwadwo of Ko-ko-bra was the only one who could use sobering words to his hot-tempered pugnacious moves.

Opanin Kwakye had had a tutoring from Opanin Ampofo, a stylish Fomasua-born cocoa-buying clerk of Bekwai who could hire a whole railway Coach from Bekwai with besotted friends to Kumasi: and Opanin Kwakye would observe the “people with diabolical ideas”.

Then, the death of our good friend, Michael (Mike) Addo. We could not go to his Anwomaso mansion to prepare our own fufu; and do a commiseration of our cousins there, over the death of one of us, Nana Osei Boa, Anwomaso-hene. A visit to our Tema home when we were the “oga” in Customs. To sign a paper covering the importation of drugs after a drinking bout.

OA: Where are your documents Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS)?

MA: Because of the rush. I couldn’t collect it before coming (opens the booth of his car-money)

MA: All this is for you.

OA: What happens when we get caught?

MA: I have connections to get you out. OA: Then get us out now by not ‘forcing’ us to sign the documents. (Lights off) Here was Mike Addo as a Chairman at a book launch whose life-savings had been consumed in the financial sector clean- up. Only GH¢3,000! We had met in court at Kumasi, and his mission? Sued by a bank for failing to refund a loan! And Mike Addo, with his huge business outlet, intimated (quietly): “I nearly committed…” No, no, no!

The Vandal City had a pantry-boy (man) who would complain: “You shmall boys”, but would go on errands-the “Shmall boys” had grown into big men (no women in the Hall), and while J.J. Rawlings was mocking his own (NDC) of harbouring “babies with sharp teeth”, we thought we on the other side had men with grey (white) hair like K.T. Hammond.

And we thought white hair evokes wisdom, forbearance, experience, tolerance. So, we could say with Julius Caesar: “Let me have men about me that are fat; Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o’ nights; Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous”.

Those of us who do not want to be given the tag ‘wise’ men would blacken our hair with “wheat formula nourishing oil L’ocoitene colorant”, and give the chance to young men and women of 25-45 years (like Francisca Oteng, Lawyer Kwabena Boateng) in Parliament – our time having been “wasted” by J. J. Rawlings’s 20-year rule.

But you could see that K.T. Hammond had not burnt the macho in him: he would rush on a lady MP, and spew out invectives: “It’s nonsense, we’ll cite the Speaker for contempt…for refusing Court Order, …” The Good Book: 1^st Peter 5:8-9: “Be sober-minded; be watchful… and the lady would touch K.T. Hammond’s white hair to “boss” him.

So, Parliament is 137-137, call it a ‘’hung Parliament’’ God/Allah willed it so, to teach Ghana a lesson on “sobriety”. Oh, there is the “prodigal” son from Fomena who wants to do business with NPP but the power play leads one to ask: who thinks of “Ghana first”?

The NDC people would desecrate a Parliament – a rowdy football pitch or a parade ground and march past with someone taking a salute! No confrontation, Afenyo-Markin (small boy) will lead his NPP group to boycott Parliament accusing the NDC of making it impossible for the government to pursue free SHS! Free SHS is the answer to everything.

Cecilia Dapaah’s $1 million? Free SHS; what about the Agyapadie Book? – Free SHS; The allegations of a cousin of the President that the “family members” even feel shy to carry the name of Ofori Atta? -Free SHS; Napo’s loose talk, including “your Kwame Nkrumah”, “every Muslim who votes for NDC is haram”? Free SHS … (Russian- Ukraine War no longer takes centre-stage).

A.B. Crentsil sang “Adam” and “Opanin Toto” (translated as old fuddy-duddy) and instead of demonstrating a win-win effort, foul-mouthed Miracles Aboagye will match NDC’s loud-mouthed Sammy Gyamfi loose cannon at News file and proclaim; “Speaker Bagbin will go down in history as the worst Speaker”. Professor Agyemang Duah was lucky there were no fisticuffs, but would chew on Joe Osei Owusu (Joe Wise) words; “We are demonstrating the worst part of us, and this does not reflect the values that have carried Parliament all these years”.

Martin Kpebu would opine that the NPP MPs should have entered the House and drawn the Speaker’s attention to the ‘’seating’’ … Allow the Speaker to rule … But some people think the Speaker’s address citing the Executive as “colluding” with the Judiciary to suppress Parliament was a blow hit below the belt.

And you say the President has gone to inaugurate a statue for himself at Takoradi while the roads leading to round-about remain untarred … King Louis XIV of France made the apocryphal statement before “le parlement” in 1655, “L’etatc’estmoi” (literally’ the state, it is me’’ or simply “I am the state”) so, like an “absolute monarch”, he refuses to sign the LGBTQ Bill, maintains a coterie of family and friends around him…and Maame Tiwaa feigns  Ofori Atta shock at seeing a bust of herself on the premises of EOCO, a  public servant!

And what at all did McDan do to deserve a bashing from Gabby Otchere Darko? The ‘’Prime Minister’’ would throw bombs into the brother’s (Akufo-Addo) administration. If some of us were “around” the President, we would not have allowed him to ask chiefs to stand up for him at public occasions; we would have urged him to “listen” to other people, including his “opponents” and those who talk about voluntarily contributing to the funding of the free SHS; we would have urged him to sack Ofori Atta, the Finance Minister when the 98 NPP MP’s asked for his head for supervising the exchange rate of GH¢15,16,17 to the dollar; not sink in to the public purse to finance the National Cathedral, no galamsey.

We are writing Ghana’s history, not “Chasing the Elephant into the Bush”. For 46 months, the seating arrangement has prevailed. Do we disturb it with only one month to go? Where did “principle” go to? The Speaker (Bagbin) wanted the rule of law to reign hence his resort to the Supreme Court.

As a lawyer, he would (might, should) accept the verdict of the Supreme Court; go for a review if he so thinks. Not enthused about the body language of the present Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkonoo? Ghana is practicing Constitutional government… And does Articles 97 (1) (g) and (h) need interpretation?

Spare the Council of the State, Peace Council and all Constitutional set ups for peace – they work “in camera” But As for the MPs, these them.

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