Calling A Spade A Spade Is A Sign Of Strength & Not A Sign Of Weakness

By Otchere Darko

[*Readers who are not sure about this writer and get confused about his name and identity may please read the information placed at the bottom of this article.]

‘ “At least there were a few initiatives done by the NPP” he said, citing the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP). ’ [Extract from: Ghanaweb General News of Monday, 26 September 2011 Captioned “Sekou declares support for Akufo-Addo”; Source: Daily Guide/Ghana]

I am one of Ghanaians who are yet to understand Dr Sekou Nkrumah, the third son of Ghana’s illustrious first leader, Dr Kwame Nkrumah. Sometimes I think Sekou is controversial. Other times too, I think he seems not to have a clear political view and direction. All these sentiments I am expressing about him show that I, like many other Ghanaian political analysts, don’t know Sekou very well and, therefore, need to study him more before drawing conclusions about him.

When I read the above headline attributed to Dr Sekou Nkrumah, I was intrigued. Any negative ideas I held against him suddenly dissipated, or at least softened. I realised that Dr Sekou Nkrumah has a rare political quality that only few contemporary Ghanaian politicians currently have; and which, also, earlier Ghanaian political patriarchs and leaders lacked as well. This political quality is the “ability to call a spade a spade” by being able to publicly acknowledge the good things about our political opponents, as well as being able to publicly condemn the bad things about our own political parties. Generally, I hate mentioning specific names when I am making criticisms. In connection with the point I am making here though, let me break my own rules of conduct by mentioning two names, Kwesi Pratt, the self-proclaimed socialist journalist, and Okoampa Ahoofe, a regular and seemingly well educated columnist of Ghanaweb.

*Kwesi Pratt refuses to see and acknowledge that Dr JB Danquah deserves to be seen as the doyen of Gold Coast [now Ghana] politics; and that it was he who started the independence struggle in Ghana, which was latter finished by Dr Kwame Nkrumah. Even though, it was Dr JB Danquah who sent Mr [later Dr] Ako Adjei to go and bring Nkrumah from London to come and assist in the independence struggle that had started in the then Gold Coast colony, Mr Kwesi Pratt and people like him still refuse to see the positive contributions Dr Danquah made. They rather always portray him as a “CIA agent”. *On the other side of the shameful behaviour of some Ghanaian politicians and political analysts is the regular columnist, Okoampa Ahoofe, who takes big pride in academic arrogance by always displaying his own academic laurels [PhD], while addressing Dr Kwame Nkrumah as “Mr Kwame Nkrumah”; and yet who, despite his book knowledge, cannot accept the simple fact that Ghana’s first President was a unique leader whose undisputed vision and efforts helped to bring forward Ghana’s independence to the time it happened, and paved the way for the speedy emancipation of Africa generally. These two gentlemen and others who think like them surprise me through their refusal to acknowledge simple facts that are as clear as crystals.

We, Ghanaians, must stop allowing our dislike for our political opponents to blind us. We must stop criminalising our political opponents, just for the sake of trying to bring them down. We must also have the courage to condemn our own parties when they fail to perform, or when they engage in corruption and other abuses. It is a clear sign of wickedness for anyone to think that JB Danquah did not wish his country well. Similarly, it is also a mark of extreme shallow-mindedness for anyone to discount the special greatness of Kwame Nkrumah and to rubbish his achievements. Let us put petty politics aside and face reality by always calling a spade a spade. *I SALUTE THE COURAGE OF DR SEKOU NKRUMAH FOR NOT SHYING TO CALL A SPADE A SPADE, even though I do not myself share some of his views and, therefore, continue to wish [against hope] that there should be a miracle, [though political miracles are rare], to allow some “third party” to emerge between now and election day; and for that “third party” to snatch power from NDC and NPP, against all the odds, and save this nation from retrogression through the negative activities of the two dominant parties.

Source: Otchere Darko; [Personal Political Views].

*About the Author:

[This appendage is for the information of only readers who get confused about this particular writer because of the name he uses, and who therefore need to know more about him or about the name he uses. Ignore this appendage, if you are not one of such readers. *This writer is just one of hundreds, and possibly thousands of Ghanaians who use the name “Otchere Darko”, either on its own, or in combination with other names. Some users spell this same name as “Okyere Darko”, while other users conjoin it with the help of a hyphen to become one single compound name, “Otchere-Darko” or “Okyere-Darko”, depending on which spelling-mode they choose. This writer, who has officially used this ‘simple name’ from his school days in the sixties into the seventies and continues to use it officially to this very day, attended the School of Administration of University of Ghana where he finally left in September 1977, the year that students embarked on the “UNIGOV” demonstration. He has never before, or after September 1977 been a student of the Ghana Law School. Up to the end of 1981, he worked as a senior public servant in, and for one of the mainstream Ministries in Ghana. He is not working for, and has never worked at the Danquah Institute. He is currently also not a member of NPP, or of any other party in Ghana. He is not related to any practising Ghanaian politician who uses this same or other name. *May readers concerned, please, take note of this exhaustive clarification and stop drawing wrong conclusions that sometimes lead them to attack a wrong person. Thank you for taking note.