Call Politicians to Order – Dery: Hypocrisy At Its Highest Level

No, this can't be true!!! Not the same Ambrose Dery, the Upper-West Regional Minister…?

Well, imagine a situation in which one blatantly violates the law when the tide appears to be going against him, and then quickly turns around to uphold the rule of law, when one is in a position of power, and all to clearly, realizes that the political office once fought for so virulently by dubious connivance with other equally abusive politicians, is now a hotbed of political problems, largely emanating from the very devious machinations orchestrated by himself and self-serving politicians. This is the very situation in which Mr. Ambrose Dery, the Upper-West Regional Minister, now finds himself.

Readers will recall the last General Election in 2004, in which Mr. Dery contested for the Parliamentary Seat of the Lawra-Nandom Constituency. It is widely alleged, and generally believed to be true, that the self same Mr. Ambrose Dery, employed the most dubious political tactics ever conceived in Nandom's history, in a bid to unseat the sitting MP for Nandom, Dr. Benjamin Kuubuor, another spineless politician believed to be of the same pedigree as Mr. Ambrose Dery. While the contest between the two may be described as a case of “lepers pinching each other”, the larger population of Nandom suffered significantly. The fact is, there is nothing wrong with difference of opinion, as indeed is to be expected in any situation, especially a political one. However, when such differences are borne out of malice and self-seeking objectives, then the healthy competition which is the hallmark of a good democracy is lost on the people for whose future benefit the tenets of democracy are being exercised and established. For instance, it is alleged that Mr. Dery invested approximately 1.3 Billion Cedis, in the run up to the elections, in various bribes and payments to constituents, as a means of buying votes and rigging the elections.

Perhaps a more subtle yet wicked manifestation of Mr. Dery's desperate tactics was when, as Deputy Attorney General, he had (it is widely alleged) by virtue of the latter position, used the Police in particular, to brutalize several constituents who dared oppose him or even openly declare their choice of a candidate against him. Bus loads of police personnel, were alleged to have literally beaten up people in Lawra in particular, just before and during the elections. Sadly, none of these abuses were reported by the media; neither did Mr. Dery, at the time of remotely orchestrating these abuses, have a conscience and change his ways, as he now suddenly, hypocritically enjoins others to do. Is Mr. Dery's sudden change of heart an admission of guilt in the manner in which he conducted himself politically? If so, I regret to note that the Church cannot absolve him of this particular misconduct; it is the People who can do that, and so why not start with Nandom? After all, charity begins at home. Well, as God would have it, the good people of both Lawra and Nandom, indeed a people with more courage than even the hapless Dr. Benjamin Kuubuor, took the first steps in the matter by massively voting for Dr. Kuubuor, not because they loved him more but that it was simply a choice of two evils – on the one hand, a spineless, hot-air-blowing braggart of a politician (Dr. Kumbuor), and on the other a brutal, wicked, morally bankrupt and abusive one (Mr. Dery). In fact, further evidence of Dr. Kuubuor's spinelessness was demonstrated during the Parliamentary Vetting Committee's sittings, when Dr. Kuubuor had ample opportunity to address these allegations of abuse, rights violations, etc. with Mr. Dery then a nominee for his current hotbed position as Regional Minister. The cowardly Dr. Kuubuor simply threw a lame, stupid and unnecessary advice towards Mr. Dery, to which the latter gave a very cheeky response. One can understand Mr. Dery's venomous and cheeky reaction, since in his view, it was Dr. Kuubuor who beat him massively in the elections, resulting in Mr. Dery's hatrick (three-time) collapse and subsequent hospitalization. In reality, it was the People's first act of saying a final no to political hypocrisy and calling Mr. Dery to order; the Church simply looked the other way while the abuses were being committed.

But I digress. There is even more hypocrisy to Mr. Dery's sudden change of heart, repentance and protestations of humility, etc. In several reports, it is alleged that abuses orchestrated in Nandom during the annual Kakube Festival stunk like, and indeed had the unseen signature of an Ambrose Dery operation. This writer believes this to be the case; then, there were deep, unholy ties between Mr. Dery and the beleaguered government-appointed, latter-day NPP-convert of a Nandom Naa, Dr? Charles Puore Puobe Imoru. Reports indicate that in the run up to the elections, the point man for Mr. Dery in Nandom was Dr? Imoru, who was himself deeply embroiled in a family dispute over his illegal occupation of the Nandom Skin, as well as other court cases in which he is said to have connived with common criminals to steal cattle and land, and abuse citizens in the Nandom Traditional Area. Due to the multiple litigations facing the Nandom Naa, it was obvious he needed funds badly, as he currently has no legally employable skills, including those of the Mafia, which he had acquired during his dubious sojourn in Italy. Given Mr. Dery's modus operandi, these two quickly formed an alliance, one to benefit from the other's access to political power as Deputy Attorney General and much needed funds from the 1.3 Billion cedi election war chest for his court cases, and the other, to benefit from the other's Mafian skills in dubious operations leading up to the elections.

The two comrades in crime would find the right opportunity to put to use the benefits of this unchristian alliance on the occasion of the celebration of the annual Kakube Festival. A publication by The Ghanaian Chronicle, Volume 13 Edition No. 68 on Wednesday, December 15, 2004, detailed the atrocities visited upon the good people of Nandom, in particular, members of Dzang Yir, one of 20 Royal Houses constituting the Royal Family of Nandom, who were brutally physically assaulted and publicly stripped as a way to humiliate them in favour of the beleaguered Nandom Naa, but also to publicly embarrass an otherwise low-key but principled former Navy Commander and Rear Admiral, who is said to be at the forefront of the dispute with Dr? Imoru over the Nandom Skin. To be fair, Mr. Dery has since denied any involvement in any of the atrocities relating to the Kakube incident in Nandom. However, in the spirit of “the enemy of your friend is your enemy”, Mr. Dery perceived the ex-Navy Commander, a largely non-partisan and non-political animal, to be a stumbling block to his political aspirations. In the spirit in which he calls on religious leaders to call politicians to order, has he for once, ever since he became Regional Minister, and as Head of a Region in which such call to order is absolutely necessary (by his own assessments and admission), made any good-intended, unbiased and direct efforts at healing what is apparently a very divided Nandom, a division he is widely believed to have orchestrated? Has he for instance ensured that the moribund Upper-West Regional House of Chiefs, an institution which is dangerously becoming more political than progressively monarchical, is sufficiently funded and resourced to tackle the more than 41% of chieftaincy disputes in his Region?

If there is anyone to be called to order in the Upper-West Region, especially politicians, top of the list is Mr. Ambrose Dery himself, including other lapdogs of his ilk, such as the beleaguered “Nandom Naa”; for it smacks of nose-thumbing hypocrisy on Mr. Dery's part, to now be preaching a message of political correctness, when he has been politically incorrect all along. Like everything else, what goes around comes around, and it is sheer hypocrisy to talk about bringing politicians to order in such disconnected and passive language, when evidence exists that Mr. Dery has been an active perpetrator of such abhorrent conduct. Mr. Regional Minister, please come again. I await your response with deep anticipation and bated breath…