Opinions of Friday, 27 January 2017

Columnist: Adofo, Rockson

I tip my hat to Hon. Kennedy Agyepong, MP for Assin Central

Hon. Kennedy Agyepong, MP for Assin Central Hon. Kennedy Agyepong, MP for Assin Central

If all, or most of, the Members of Parliament, were selfless in pursuit of rendering service to mother Ghana and the people of Ghana, in accordance with their mandate, there would be less corruption and suffering in the country.

If all were like Hon. Kennedy Agyepong, who is nationally known by his actions to seek the collective interests of Ghanaians, by vigorously exposing and condemning institutional corruption and abuse of power in orchestration and perpetration by our political leaders and their cronies, Ghana would be far better than it is presently.

Official corruption in all its forms and shapes is the bane of the economic development of the third world countries of which Ghana is included, consequently, the higher degree of mass poverty and poor conditions of living faced by their citizens. Therefore, whoever does anything lawful; to go the extra mile to fight that canker must be highly praised if not revered.

Subsequently, I take my hat off to Honourable Kennedy Agyepong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central in the Central region. He has excelled at attempts to fighting official corruption in Ghana more than all the other MPs put together, but only to be rivalled by Hon. Martin Amidu and ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

What are the other MPs doing, if I would not be tempted to ask? I am without any intention to denigrate them but for the satisfaction of curiosity, I just want to know! Had it not been Kennedy, most of the official corruptions masterminded and perpetrated by former President Mahama and his government, cronies and family, as shrouded in shady awards of contracts and contracts at inflated costs, awards of judgment debts in what has come to mean to the ordinary Ghanaian as “create, loot and share” etc., would never have become a public knowledge.

People are not voted to go to parliament only to draw fat pay cheques for themselves but to make laws that are in the best interest of the nation and the citizenry. Is it what the majority of the Ghana MPs are doing concluding from how corruption has engulfed the nation to the detriment of the ordinary Ghanaians?

All the while that President Mahama was knowingly abusing his powers through all manners of corruption; we had MPs, mostly the NDC MPs, defending him to the hilt, exonerating him from blame. Is that sort of practice the quality and purpose of a Member of Parliament?

Honestly speaking, I feel ashamed of the way most Ghanaian MPs have become, sorry to say, dummies and supporters of evil, either consciously or unconsciously. Most of them are there only to pursue their selfish interests and those of their political party but not the collective interests of Ghanaians. This was made evident during the administration of former President John Dramani Mahama, the allegedly most corrupt and incompetent President Ghana has ever had. The NDC MPs always in their bloc did rally behind him without a single one of them ever opposing some of his corrupt “create, loot and share” initiatives.

I hope the MPs will learn their lesson, emulate Hon. Kennedy Agyepong, although without the raining of insults which extreme conditions do push him into, and their contemporary White MPs in the advanced world. They should be able to condemn their government and party, cross carpet during voting on bills that are not in the long term interest of the nation but dubiously intended or crafted to benefit their party or a few people.

I hope Ghanaians will rally behind him in his fight against corrupt officials instead of condemning him.

Once again, I say, bravo to Hon. Kennedy Agyepong. Keep up the good job!

Rockson Adofo