President Akufo-Addo’s Kwaku Ananse Ways

Kwaku Ananse is an interesting and enthralling character with extremely crafty and cunning disposition. He believes he is wiser than any other creature and therefore all good things must be possessed by him, he is witty but allergic to criticism or any form of rebuke. In African folklore, Kwaku Ananse is known for his tricks and shape-shifting tendencies. In a nutshell, he believes he is the embodiment of wisdom and can therefore not be criticised, corrected or advised. However, he believed he has the right to criticise every Tom Dick and Harry in the village.

Kwaku Ananse spent years collecting all the wisdoms of the world in a wooden pot. As he tried to hide the pot inside a tree he could not find a way to place it high up in its branches, His little son Ntikumah showed him the way, Kwaku Ananse was so embarrassed that he started throwing tantrums and threw the pot down onto the grown, it bursts and the wisdom seeps away.

These are the exact physiognomies of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in the last eight years of his reign as the president of Ghana he has personified all the traits of Kwaku Ananse. The president is so allergic to advice and criticism. He is of the opinion that he is wiser than anyone in this country, as a results, some of the very people he appointed have become his archenemy.

President Akufo-Addo fell out with some of his key allies such as Boakye Agyarko, who he appointed as minister in charge of the energy sector, Martin Amidu who was his Special prosecutor, all because, in his grandiose mind he believes he was wiser than them and they dare not tell him what they believe is the truth, but should rather be subservient to his deviant and aberrant ways of doing things.

Even in opposition he fell out with the likes of Paul Afoko, Kwabena Agyapong, Sammy Crabbe, Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe and Charles Wireku Brobbey.

When the then Auditor General of the republic Daniel Yaw Domelovo investigated and indicted the president’s closest associate Nana Yaw Osafo Maafo for illegally paying $1million to Kroll and Associates for no work done, he was shamelessly sacked by the president just to protect his confederate, with the flippant excuse that he had attained his retirement age. The president then hurriedly appointed the deputy Auditor General whiles Domelovo was in court challenging the unjustifiable dismissal, only for the newly appointed auditor general to clear Nana Yaw Osafo Maafo of any wrong doing, clearly KWAKU Ananse has had his way. When the Supreme Court ruled that, the dismissal of Domelovo was unlawful, the president did not have the humility to at least apologise to Domelovo for the injustice. Poignantly and ironically, president Akufo-Addo remained the only president in the fourth republic to ascent to the presidency on the mantra of independent judiciary, rule of law and human right.

This is the exact attributes of Kwaku Ananse, he enjoys being the puppet master where everyone else must be subservient to his authority and machinations. The fact that the president could not sustain his working relationship with men of integrity like Martin Amidu, Daniel Domelovo, Boakye Agyarko, Professor Frimpong Boateng Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe says a lot about his ego and unquenchable appetite to always have the last word whether he is right or wrong. The greatest mistake we have made in this country is trusting candidate Akufo-Addo when he outwitted us with his artificial humility with his “try me” rendition which vice president Dr. Bawumia is emulating in order to deceive us ones again. Folks, Kwaku Ananse is trying to pull off one of his last trickeries by deceiving us to tortuously give him another term through his vice president.