By: Kofi Keyeke, Accra.
Not long ago, the presiding bishop of the Ghana Methodist Church condemned the act of politics of insults that seems to be dismembering politicians as well as causing much disgrace to the seat of the president in particular.
In his statement, he cautioned ordinary members in the country to refrain from calling in on radio programmes and insults the president which is an act that does not speak well of Ghanaians.
Much as many of us will want to accept that yes politics of insults in particular to the president must cease with immediate effect, the same way some members of the public will like to ask the presiding bishop what he is doing to ensure that those insulting ministers padlock their lips?
Yes because there is a popular proverb in Akan language which goes like this,” WOTU MOMONE FO NO NA WOTU AGYENAMOAH NSO FO” which can simply be explained that one can not just wake up and throw punches at his brother without any reason.
Both the one who infuriated the other which made him to throw the punches must be cautioned not to infuriate and throw punches next time.
The presiding bishop is actually embarking on a decent well paying recommended campaign which is to educate the up and coming youth about how to live among one another without looking down on anyone for whatever reason.
Does the presiding bishop know the late Rt. Rev. Samuel Adjetey Adjei? If he knows him that is fine but if he does not know him then let me tell him about this great Methodist minister of God who used the pulpit to campaign against immorality especially insults in the Accra Area.
This late reverend discovered how painful insults and real condemnatory words from the mouth of the residents were setting development back and for that matter single handedly campaigned to over turn the situation.
At Teshie where this immoral act was seriously causing much disunity among the people, the minister of God tuned his sermons towards educating the people to also go and educate the rest of the people in the communities they live in about good morals and the blessings in it.
It could be recalled that one Sunday at Teshe Jordan Methodist Church, Reverend Adjetey Adjei, narrated a witnessed incident where a mother carrying her young baby at her back exchanged insults with the child.
Whiles the child said “ OHIE FREFRE, THE MOTHER WILL ALSO SAY OHIE FREFRE” to wit,” foolish girl get away, then the mother will also say foolish boy get away” excuse my words but that were the exacts words they used.
Here will you just discipline the child and leave the mother to go scot free without letting her know and understand that she has to teach the child good morals and not insults as she was doing?
That is what is going on currently where a lot of Ghanaians are refusing to see the real situation on the ground and apply the needed solution to where the cause of the problem is coming from.
I stand to be corrected but one can say that almost all the insults some people of the country directs wrongly at the president are all caused by most of his ministers as well as those party members who hop from one radio station to the other to engage other party members in insults.
Members of the opposition parties as well as the ordinary Ghanaian has been asked to be careful in what they say but no body seems to be turning his attention on those insulting ministers who are creating the platform for these disgraceful acts to go on.
When some men of God saw the way certain hawks in the NDC party or government were slandering their opposition members they raised concern about it only for them to be told by the same lie telling professionals to shut up and don’t meddle in politics.
Now that the problem seems getting out of hand, with all the arsons now directed at the tax professor at the castle he is going round telling ministers of God to use their pulpits to campaign against politics of insults without telling us what he personally is doing to his insulting ministers to serve as deterrent to others?
Let the presiding bishop come again this time with a reminder to the old man in the castle to do something to serve as deterrent to others before we can also see that really he means uprooting politics of insult in our society as another Akan proverbs says, ”SE KUKRUKUKRU NO GYAE, KEKREKEKRE NSO BEGYAE”.
END.