The impolitic utterance of a driver's mate.
Ambiguity is our writing lesson for today. It is a word, phrase or statement which contains more than one meaning, leading to vagueness and confusion. There are two types of ambiguity: lexical and structural or syntactic.
Lexical ambiguity is a single word with two or more possible meanings, or words that have multiple meanings, eg. I saw a bat. Bat can mean a flying mammal or a wooden club. Saw is the past tense of see, and can also mean to cut with a saw. So, I saw a bat can mean, I saw a flying mammal or a wooden club. And can also mean I cut a flying mammal with a saw or I cut a wooden club with a saw.
Structural or syntactic ambiguity is the presence of two or more possible meanings within a single sentence or sequence of words, eg. Call me a taxi. This could mean find me a taxi or call me by the name taxi.
I want to sound a word of caution to political communicators. Avoid ambiquous statements; it can be twisted by your opponents, and this can cost you an election victory.
It is possible that Nana Akufo-Addo wanted to communicate that his party was going to do everything possible to win the 2012 elections, but decided to choose all-die-be-die, which I believe was one of the reasons why he lost the 2012 presidential election.
And I think it was politically unwise and suicidal for Dr. Bawumia, the NPP flag-bearer for the 2024 presidential election in an explanation to his role in this subpar government to say that he is just a driver's mate when everybody knows that the driver who is teaching him how to drive is reckless, and his carelessness has brought untold pain to many.
Who will trust such a person, and what can an unskilled mate who has learned from a dangerous and heedless driver offer?
Are.
We.
Safe?
No, we cannot put our destiny in the hands of such a person. We need someone who can carry on development at a neck breaking speed.
We will be absolutely safe under an experienced pilot, the great grandson of Sumaila Ndewura Jakpa the Gonja warrior.
Anthony Obeng Afrane
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