Once again, that ugly face called "the culture of intimidation and silence" is gradually resurfacing in Ghana. The same face could cause people to disappear from the surface of the earth, suffer illegal imprisonment or convulse when sighted during the AFRC and P/NDC regimes chaired by Flt. Lt Jeremiah John Rawlings. Ghanaians had better not open up their mouth to challenge or say anything unpleasant about Rawlings or his government during his tyrannical regimes. The government agents immediately bundled off anyone who dared behaved in a manner deemed irresponsible or contrary to expectations by the government and their cronies, to suffer any of the listed regrettable fates.

The State security agents under President Mills' NDC administration appear to be trigger-happy to arrest and selectively charge individuals with the offence, "causing fear, alarm and panic in or to the public". They abusively treat what is normally a civil case as criminal case. That frightening ugly face has crept up again to silence Ghanaians. They must drastically deal with him who expresses their opinion to the distaste of those thinking to wield the magic wand of life and death over the poor majority. This is what mostly gets me on my nerves to lambast those concerned in my write-ups.

One Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome has dubiously obtained a gargantuan sum of money from the Ghana government for no sweat wiped. A White friend of mine keeps asking why that can be possible. I leave it to the NDC government and the lawyers of Mr Woyome to answer him. It is only in Ghana that this nature of corruption can take place with still those in authority trying to gag people. From the government through to the traditional leaders in our Ghanaian villages, they expect the poor masses to pay them homage, shower praises on them, prostrate to them regardless of any existing disastrous shortcomings of theirs. I keep asking myself how possible that is. What a typical Ghanaian-mindedness where tradition obliges citizens to presume the elder or the one in authority is always right in spite of the likely fissures in that judgment. What a complete error of judgment by our leaders of which I beg to defer.

No amount of threats, either real or empty, can compel me from expressing my disgust at the daylight robbery Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome has condoned and connived with people in positions of trust to inflict on Ghana. No matter what he does, he will cough up the money he has so fraudulently obtained from the government of Ghana with the tacit support of some NDC Government Ministers and appointees. If I can publish my views on why the Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffour, must resign his post, although coming from the same small town with me where nothing happens, where everyone knows everyone else, what do you think can scare me from discussing Woyome?

I may be dancing in the camp of the devil with the devil but there is no one time that I can ever find myself running away in the face of boastful threats by a crook. I know being a patriot can be war. "War certainly brings out the best as well as the worst – in people"

Some lawyers may not be around to serve the interest of their clients but to seek their selfish parochial interests. They may know very well from the very inception that their client's case is hopeless yet they will pretend the case is winnable just to make their money. Is it the situation with Woyome? I suppose so. Other honest lawyers though they are equally out there for money, may advise their clients to go for settlement when they know their client will lose the case. It is up to Woyome to decide on what steps to take considering how slim his chances are to getting away with that fraudulently obtained gargantuan sum of money in relation to the assurances of winning the case as may have been given by his team of lawyers.

I will strongly advise Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome to go for settlement. Ghanaians will never let him escape with the money he connived with some NDC persons to obtain from Ghana government. Nobody, not even the President of Ghana can assure him the freedom of enjoyment of the money without Ghanaians doing whatever to retrieve it so he had better think twice. However, he can rely on the desperate assurances by his lawyers until he probably finds himself languishing in Nsawan prisons. I feel he was only used as a front by some faceless greedy bastards in government to realise their dream of acquiring illegal wealth which, but has backfired o them.

Alfred should be old and wise enough to tell when people are playing on his intelligence same as he is doing to discerning Ghanaians. No one ever wins when he or she underestimates the intelligence of the masses. "A word to the wise is enough"

Rockson Adofo