Hon. Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, former Youth and Sports Minister and current Minister of State at the Presidency, may have discharged himself well at the sitting of the fact finding Commission on the Black Stars World Cup fiasco yesterday but events preceding his appearance raise some pertinent issues that smack of a plot against him.
Many Ghanaians would have been very surprised at the way he eloquently presented the facts on how the Ministry of Youth and Sports managed affairs before and during the World Cup because of the earlier attempts by some insiders in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to destroy his image for whatever reason best known to the perpetrators.
There have been some serious leakages of documents that were confidential to the presidency that expose a deliberate plot to destroy the minister who has shown his capacity to be trusted with the job.
On two occasions, documents relating to him were leaked under very mysterious circumstances.
Mr. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah came under attacks some months ago when the Black Stars failed to go beyond the group stages of the world cup in Brazil due to misunderstanding over player motivation packages and in-fighting.
Many blamed him for being the cause of the problem because of his supervisory role as the head of the sector ministry; he had to lose his ministerial position at the ministry when he was transferred to the presidency as a Minister of State.
He also received a lot of bashing from the media even before he could be given the opportunity to give his side of the story under the principles of fairness.
He also faced a lot of problems within the ruling party due to perceptions that he might have some presidential ambitions and also he might have stepped on some toes.
It is even rumored that one of his ‘crimes’ was that, he announced the setting up of a committee to investigate circumstances surrounding the Ghana Youth Entrepreneurship Development Agency (GYEEDA) saga which, according to sources, was met with displeasure and anger by his own colleagues in government.
The interesting thing about the GYEEDA saga was that, before Afriyie Ankrah could know what was going on about the draft report, it had already been leaked to the media to the amazement of party members and Flag Staff house insiders.
The Catalyst can state on authority that the leakage was done from the presidency where the document was supposed to be until made public.
It didn’t end there as apparent calculated agenda to disgrace him manifested again prior to his appearance at yesterday’s sitting of the World Cup Commission.
His appearance at the commission’s sitting attracted a lot of attention, considering his role as the head of the Ministry that supervised the management of affairs of the national team, the Black Stars and his ‘crucifixion before trial’.
There were strong perceptions and expectations that he was going to flop badly to confirm allegations making the rounds against him.
What was more revealing was another leakage, this time around, of the documents on figures he had put together to defend himself from allegations of mismanagement that had made the rounds in the media for some time.
It is shocking to know that his documents confidentially presented to the Presidency ahead of his appearance at the sitting were leaked to the media for whatever reason or purpose, one is yet to know.
In spite of that, Afriyie-Ankrah was able to deliver with great accuracy to the surprise of observers.
The question that is preoccupying the minds of many a Ghanaian is who is leaking confidential information from the Flag Staff House?
Whose interest is the leakage expected to serve and have such people counted the cost to the party, the presidency and the nation as a whole?
It may look good to the faceless people behind the plot to betray the confidentiality of vital documents which could lead to disastrous consequences to the party and the nation as a whole but from a very objective point of view it is disastrous, to say the least.
Who knows when the same people would be leaking similar documents about the president of the country, to the advantage of his detractors who are always seeking to take advantage of him?
The earlier the presidency took its time to check on this negative attitude, the better it is for the president and his team at the Flag Staff House.
It may be the turn of Elvis today to face this unfortunate phenomenon but who comes next. In trying to crucify him, it appears whoever is behind this leakage is not taking the overall interest of the party and nation into consideration.
When the avenue is created for confidential documents to be leaked to achieve selfish and destructive aims, the doors become open for people to use the same means to get at any person they perceive as enemy.
Watch this practice for it is very destructive.