Two groups of people, who certainly meant well, deepened the problem of renowned Pastor Mensah Otabil over the collapse of his Bank.

Yes, the bank that he was not in charge of the running of its day-to-day affairs because he was a non-executive chairman of its board of directors.

The first group comprises those who started the “I Stand With Otabil” campaign. Their intentions were great, but that was a horrible PR move. By that campaign, they gladly hugged that problem and made it a Mensah Otabil issue. Mind you, it was a Capital Bank issue but those over-zealous lot gave that issue a face; and that face was Dr Mensah Otabil.

The second is the person or persons who crafted that “it wasn’t me” statement which was released in the name of the renowned pastor, motivational speaker and generational thinker.

If he has not yet paid the person or persons who crafted it, then he should not pay them at all. This is because they did him a huge disservice.

Judging from people’s reactions, that statement angered the public so much that people who previously would not have spoken about Pastor Otabil in a certain way, may have done so for the first time today.

That point about “it wasn’t me”, is totally and completely at variance with the long-standing teaching and motivational messages of Dr Mensah Otabil. For years, he taught people through his “Living Word” messages to own up for their actions, take responsibility for their mistakes and failures, and do Greater Works from those lessons learned.

So why did the drafters of the statement distance or attempt to distance Pastor Otabil in the not-so-sophisticated manner contained in the statement?

In all of this, let’s not rejoice in the woes of a captain because his ship sank. Let’s be fair, let’s be open-minded and let our thoughts and prayers be with those who lost their jobs through either actions or inactions of people placed at the helm of these businesses. Let’s also spare a thought for Pastor Mensah Otabil and his family as well as the others who may be of interest to investigators. And let’s keep them in our prayers.

Shalom. Peace.