Part One: Sir John: "Not Even A Drop Of Rain On Good Friday!"

Feature Article, by Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

"Not Even A Drop Of Rain On Good Friday!"

The other day, I was so amused to read that the NPP did not take kindly to a suggestion from its London branch that the General Secretary should be replaced because he is increasingly becoming a laughing-stock on Radio Talk Shows. As a matter of fact, I have not yet had the misfortune of hearing him on these talk shows, but I guess that in this digital age, such sound bites are worth keeping for the amusement of Ghanaians into old age. I regret we do not have easy access to the late General I. K. Acheampong's "the unity I am talking of is not the unity of one person. No, how can one man be united? It is the unity of the individual!"

We need to immortalize our comedians! It would have been a lot of fun it this level of idiocy did not have any social, civil, and economic consequences. Unfortunately, in most cases, they are serious indications of the threats to the peace and stability of the entire country, each time we have such a square peg in a very important round hole. In this article, I shall focus on the analysis of the leadership qualities of the three most important leaders of the NPP, namely, the flag-bearer, Mr. William Kofi Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, the party Chairman, Mr. Jake Obestsebi-Lamptey, and the General Secretary of the party, Mr. Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie aka Sir John.

To tell a good story, I shall begin from the least important of the three to the most important, according to their own internal party hierarchy. Indeed, the nonsense that came forth from the mouth of the General Secretary recently was the one that triggered most part of the reflections that form the basis of this article. I did not know whether to laugh or cry, when on Sunday, 24 April 2011, I read a news item on Myjoyonline.com with the title: "Sir John: No rains on Easter Friday means we have a bad government". My immediate reaction was, "Oh my God! What is going on?" The story went:

"The General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie aka Sir John, has described this year’s Easter festivities as the worse ever experienced by the nation because the country did not witness the usual Good Friday rains. Speaking to Adom News, Sir John said so far as he can remember, the country receives rains from above on Easter Fridays with its attendant thunderstorm but this time round, nothing of that happened on Easter Friday and so that is a sign of God’s anger with the nation."

The reason why I find this very alarming is because it the clearest indication yet, of the fact that we probably have a General Secretary of a very important opposition party in Ghana who is more stupid than the average idiot. May God have mercy on us! If I had met a very familiar alcoholic and intentionally funny neighbour of mine who enjoys to play the fool and often pretends to be an idiot saying this, I would have caught the humour!

But to hear a politician canvassing for support for his political party saying "the rains on every Easter Friday is symbolic as indicated at Luke 23:35 where the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn just after the death of Jesus Christ, rain is what God gives Ghana and that its absence can only be bad", raises serious alarm in my head. It is like sitting in a car with a driver completely drunk and running at full speed. This is exactly how I feel, when I look at the leadership line-up of the NPP.

The General Secretary of the NPP did not just end there, "Insisting that this Easter is the worse since he was born," we were told, "Sir John said he had combed the whole of Kumasi but did not come across even a drop of rain and that the situation aptly tells how far the nation has come with bad governance."

Ok, Sir John, we may have to move from Kumasi and listen to the meteorologist to choose a good venue for your Good Friday, but you can rest assured that for the average Ghanaian, the lack of rain in Kumasi on Good Friday is certainly not one of the reasons he or she would be clamouring for a regime change to favour the NPP in 2012!

-- Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

Cheers! – Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro

E-Mail: nanaakyeamensah@gmail.com

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