Opinions of Tuesday, 14 February 2012

Columnist: Boateng, Chris Gyamfi

Akuffo Addo should take a cue from Whitney Houston's death

In my article of Monday February 13th, 2012, I made mention of missing diplomatic passports during the tenure of William Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo as Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister. Interestingly, one of the missing diplomatic passports found its way into the hands of one Raymond Amankwaa, who incidentally happens to be related to the defeated 2008 NPP presidential candidate.

Amusingly, my article in question received many insults and threats from some NPP activists who refused to address the substantive issues inherent in the write-up. I’m however, not daunted by such red herring postures as I was vindicated by no mean a newspaper like the Daily Graphic.

As nature would have had it, Ghana’s leading daily newspaper the Graphic, confirmed my submission on Monday, February 13th, 2012 that indeed, Mr. Amankwaa was arrested and jailed in Brazil in 2007 with a Ghanaian diplomatic passport. There are some pertinent questions which only could be answered by nobody other than William Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo.

In the said Graphic report http://www.graphic.com.gh/dailygraphic/page.php?news=18867, it was made clear that Mr. Amakwaa had been a wanted and notorious drug baron for years and was on the radar of Ghanaian as well as international security agencies for years. Paradoxically, Akuffo Addo becomes a foreign Affairs Minister and pronto, Raymond Amankwaa surfaces in Ghana and traveling about with a Ghanaian Diplomatic Passport. Under what circumstance did he get the Diplomatic Passport, instead of an ordinary passport? What steps did Akuffo Addo take to retrieve those missing diplomatic passports when he was in charge of the foreign affairs ministry? Was it a dereliction of duty or an act of incompetence on the part of Akuffo Addo or the foreign affairs ministry was suffering from a leadership crisis under Akuffo Addo or he handed the Diplomatic Passport to him for a quid pro quo, meaning that the NPP flagbearer benefitted directly and indirectly from his in-laws drug business in exchange for the Diplomatic Passport?

We are made aware by both Dr. Kwasi Anning and Kwasi Pratt that Akuffo Addo dabbles and uses narcotic drugs; in fact, both personalities who know Akuffo Addo more than ordinary Ghanaians were succinct, emphatic and absolute in their assertion that Akuffo Addo uses narcotic drugs a lot! From Kwasi Pratt’s point of view, Akuffo Addo smokes a lot of weed and is always engulfed in thick clouds early in the mornings; why the thick cloud? Does Akuffo Addo work with the fire department or what? Dr. Anning also was straight to the point on Akuffo Addo’s drug use and cites the German Embassy as his witness when he divulged Akuffo Addo’s dangerous and careless lifestyle to the USA embassy officials in Ghana. With all these revelations from Akuffo Addo’s inner circle members, who are we to believe otherwise? Besides Akuffo Addo’s own indulgence in drug use, the man also surrounds himself with drug peddlers and questionable characters like Amfo Kwaakye and George Benneh who mounted Akuffo Addo’s campaign platform in 2008.

Unfortunately, this is a character that some people are trying hard to sell to and impose on Ghanaians as a president. Over my dead body!

I will however urge Akuffo Addo and his surrogates to take a cue from the sudden death of Whitney Houston and purge himself from the drug use that beclouds his mornings. There is no doubt that the late Houston was a talented artiste but wasted her life on drugs leading to her eventual demise. In the same vein, Akuffo Addo is a talented individual who can organize demonstrations and speak with foreign accents even though he claims to believe in Ghana. His talents in organizing demonstrations will be beneficial to AFAG in their useless and meaningless demonstrations and his foreign accent will also be beneficial to Raymond Amankwaa in his foreign jails so Akuffo Addo should not waste his life on drugs.