Surely, A Fool Repeats His Foolishness!

We live in the part of the world where people easily take offence anytime the word ‘foolish’ is used in describing their perceived folly, rightly or wrongly. But two of the world’s greatest books, Bible and Qur’an, do not mince words in telling the ‘fool’ who exactly he is. I will therefore take a cue from the two books and call a spade by its real name.

​ ​Both books have described a ‘fool’ in many ways. Per some of the descriptions, almost all of us can be aptly described as ‘fools’ because we have at one time or the other engaged in foolish acts. But it depends on the kind of fool and whose fool you are.

​ An interesting spectacle played out in my neighborhood some years ago. An over-zealous pastor and his members usually inundated the ears of the whole community with their daily all-night service. One night, an angry resident went to the church to confront them, which led to heated verbal exchanges. The angry resident asked, “You fools, don’t you know that your neighbours need to have a peaceful rest?” The pastor calmly replied, “We are fools for Christ’s sake; whose fool are you?” The man quietly turned and walked away. But it is worth noting that the daily noise did stop, with the exception of Friday nights.​

​So I ask; are you the kind of fool who will never learn from his folly; the kind that will adhere strictly to religious doctrine to please his Maker; or the kind that will engage in all manner of machinations for the sake of political power?

​The fools under my microscopic lens today are of a peculiar kind. Not only do they repeat their folly, but do so with no shame as well. They are also the political kind and do not mind doing anything to win political power.

We were all in this country during the 2020 campaign and we saw what happened. Zu-za’s main campaign message was the seeming corruption in the Nana Dee government. They sang the corruption chorus so well that they began to believe their own tale. But the voters doubted Zu-za’s chorus as they (Zu-za) were worse than those they were accusing.

Another chorus from the Zu-za camp was the bizarre claim that they started the Free SHS policy. Once again, the voters refused to believe the Kwaku Ananse tale because we all saw how they demonised the policy in their campaign adverts. The resultant effect is that the voters made Mr. Dead-Goat’s resurrection attempt a futile one.

​One will expect that the events of 2020 and the outcome would teach Zu-za a lesson. But what we are witnessing on the political front amply proves the saying that the fool never learns from his folly.

Otherwise, how could Zu-za be repeating the corruption chorus to discredit its main opponent when the Umbrella is guiltier than the Elephant in that regard? Of course, Nana Dee’s appointees are not angels, but Zu-za’s accusation is akin to an overused kettle calling a fairly used pot black.

Another folly of theirs is the claim that the recently completed Kumasi International Airport be credited to President Ogwanfunu. Nothing could be further from the truth. How can a project whose financial agreement was signed in 2018 be credited to a man who had left office on January 6, 2017? Only ignoramuses will believe this cock and bull story.

It is obvious that those under the eagle-headed Umbrella are repeating the mistake they made in the 2020 elections. Ironically, they are oblivious of the fact that they are repeating a folly that let them down in the last election. It is indeed a pity to see them tickle themselves and laugh!

Many may be surprised about Zu-za’s folly, but not yours truly. For Proverbs 26:11 has stated clearly that: “As a dog returns to its vomits, so a fool repeats his foolishness.”

​See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!