I chanced upon an interesting article regarding an interview former Health Minister Dr George Sipa-Yankey granted to “The Ghanaian Chronicle” newspaper (see Modernghana.com/3 days-after-resigning-over-mj-yankey 13.10.09). This piece was interesting reading as the former minister sought to blame former president Kuffuor and the British High commissioner to Ghana for his demise caused by the Mabey and Johnson case. I couldn’t help laughing my head off after reading what Dr George Sipa-Yankey had to say in his defence. However, after pondering over what I had read, I was really worried about the sanity of the former health minister who sounded a bit too paranoid and deluded. At some point during the interview, he alluded to some issues which had no relation to the subject matter to the point that he sounded a bit schizophrenic. Paranoia, persecutory delusions, delusions of grandeur, grandiosity, auditory hallucination, etc are some of the common symptoms of “schizophrenia”. “Schizophrenic” patients with extreme form of ‘persecutory delusions’ tend to think that, individuals, organisations, institutions, authorities etc are continuously plotting against them. Similarly, those patients with extreme form of ‘delusions of grandeur’ tend to over exaggerate their worth and would not entertain any opposing view about the wrong perceptions they have about themselves. I have gone to this extent to show how concerned I was about the mental state of the former Health Minister.

In the said interview with the “Ghanaian Chronicle”, Dr Yankey is alleged to have said that, he is reliably informed that “the whole scheme about this Mabey and Johnson case, the people behind it are the current British High Commissioner and former President Kuffuor”. Dr Yankey also said in that interview that, “Kuffuor and the High Commissioner are friends, and they wine and dine together”. If indeed the high Commissioner is a friend of Kuffuor, what has that got to do with Dr Yankey being found guilty for taking bribe at a time that Kuffuor wasn’t the president of Ghana? In fact, if Kuffuor was that influential and wielded such power to interfere with the judiciary in the UK, he would have made sure that the Southwark Crown Court passed sentence on the case during his tenure of office so he could deal appropriately with Dr Yankey. The same Dr Yankey when convicted by a Ghanaian court for his part in the “Quality Grain Scandal” claimed at the time that the “judgement was written at the seat of government”. True to his character, Dr Yankey after his conviction by a foreign court accuses Kuffuor and the British High Commissioner for engineering it. The former Health Minister appears too paranoid for his own good and I am quite worried about it. In the same interview, he further state that, on the day of the presidential run-off, Dr Westcott (the High Commissioner) was “in the residence of the NPP Presidential candidate. What was he doing there on that day and at that time?” I do not want to go into the validity or otherwise of this statement but my concern is; his argument has no bearing on whatsoever on matter he was expected to address. I do not know how he managed to veer off the subject for discussion to launch his attack on Kuffuor and the British High Commissioner. Dr Yankey was given the platform by “The Chronicle” to put his side of the case across to the newspapers’ readers and all he ended up doing was to spew out allegations that were out of sync with the subject matter and thereby threw his sanity into doubt. Perhaps it was good he was made to resign. He said nothing in the entire interview to convince anybody about his innocence. The truth is, his waffling and wobbling rather gave further credence to the sentence passed by the Southwark Crown Court, if ever it needed one. In simple terms, Dr Yankey sounded extremely paranoid and appeared to think that the whole world is out to get him.

During the latter part of Dr Yankey’s interview with the “Chronicle” his paranoia turned to ‘delusions of grandeur’ when he said that his “friends in NP” have hinted him that “the case was a plot by the country’s largest minority party (NPP) since they see him as a threat to their electoral chances in 2012, and that if President Mills should have about three of his (Dr Yankey) calibre in government, it would be very unpleasant for them”. This is an insult to all ministers in the current administration since Dr Yankey implied that the only minister who was worthy of his position was himself and that if President Mills had 3 of his kind in his administration, his government would go far and would deny NPP the presidency in 2012! Secondly, he is invariably confirming that President Mills is working with “team B”. No wonder some people in the NDC have descended heavily on President Mills urging him to reshuffle his ministers. The other side of the argument is that, if Dr Yankey who has been convicted by courts of judiciary both within and without the country was the best minister the NDC have to offer Ghanaians, then it goes to emphasise the point the NPP have repeatedly made that the NDCs ministers are mediocre and that it is not up to the task of governing the country. Most importantly, I hope Dr Yankey is not implying that, the NPP will win power come 2012 now that he is out of the picture.

“My friends in NPP…” has become a popular catch phrase to certain individuals in the NDC when they want to concoct stories to confuse people. In recent times, I have heard Kofi Wayo and few other individuals in the NDC use it. It is funny how it has suddenly become the must-use phrase by some NDC loyalist to give some credibility to what they have to say. The last assertion that caught my attention whilst reading Dr Yankey’s interview was what he had to say about his resignation: he said; “I have also come to the conclusion that I am being used as a springboard to attack the President, there is a smear campaign against Prof Mills…….” In fact Dr Yankey, you are actually not that important in the scheme of things and no one would need to use you as a springboard to attack the President. If the occasion calls for it, people will criticise the President with or without you. Also, I want you to know that not a single person in the NPP spend a second to plan against you. You are very insignificant to us if the truth be known, we do not care whether you are a minister or not. You are big fly only in your own eyes and that is what your delusion is about. Your problem is, you have been caught pants down for taking bribe and in your effort to pull your pant up to cover it up, you have ended up falling over and showing your a*** to anyone who cares to look. Mabey and Johnson conceded their guilt in the case and have agreed to pay reparations to Ghana but all you sought to do was to give the impression that such a big international company soiled their reputation just to give you a bad name. Haba! Do you take Ghanaians for fools? Please wake up from your dream because you are not the big fish you think you are: not in the NDC, not in Ghana and certainly not on the international scene to warrant such an action from Mabey and Johnson. I don’t even think Mabey and Johnson would sacrifice their reputation to facilitate the capture of Osama bin Ladin let alone a certain Dr George Sipa-Yankey! You need to do better to redeem yourself than what you have done. Unless another Crown Court finds you ‘not guilty’ to quash and nullify the first conviction, you remain guilty for taking bribe; pure and simple. Your tantrums are not enough! Sorry!! For now though, the paranoia, persecutory delusions and delusions of grandeur you have exhibited is worrying.

Kofi Kyei-mensah-Osei