body-container-line-1

Expression Of Remorse Under Duress

By Daily Guide
Editorial Gender Minister, Otiko Afisa Djaba
FEB 21, 2017 LISTEN
Gender Minister, Otiko Afisa Djaba

We observed an amazing trend in the course of the Appointments Committee sittings in the past few weeks.

Members from the minority side on the committee tried hard to have ministerial nominees who in the course of their political campaigns, passed scathing or unsavoury remarks about former President John Mahama reverse same and even express remorse.

Screening ministerial nominees is a privileged and critical assignment which in our view, must be conducted with all deference and devoid of score settling.

Many Ghanaians, especially on the other side of the political divide, thought there was a certain dose of score settling in the manner in which some nominees were quizzed.

A case in point is that of the Gender Minister, Otiko Afisa Djaba, whose scathing remarks about the former president on the campaign trail and her subsequent refusal to withdraw same much later during her date with the Appointments Committee denied her the nod of the minority.

Had she swallowed her words and impressions about the former president, the story would have been different. She would have attracted plaudits from the minority perhaps for reversing her impressions and saying at that stage that former President John Mahama was an angel who transformed the lives of all Ghanaians and stopped corruption.

The fear expressed by skeptics about the sincerity of certain actions of the committee members when they screened persons they did not like or sought to embarrass could not have been more glaring.

It is not surprising that the “babies with sharp teeth” label – the coinage of former President Jerry John Rawlings – was frowned upon by some members of the minority on the Appointments Committee when Otiko referred to it and some of the members demanded that she withdrew it. She stood her ground and lost their nod, a show of meanness.

Fighting the cause of the former president could have been undertaken in more decent and concealed form.

Being principled is the mark of a gentleman or a lady. That she refused to withdraw the expression and her impression of the former President Mahama stood her apart from those who do the contrary – an attribute we think should be the cornerstone of good politics.

Be it as it may, we find it interesting that those who sought to have nominees swallow their words have forgotten so soon what they said about their political opponents, President Nana Akufo-Addo being a perfect example.

Indeed, President Nana Akufo-Addo can pass for the most vilified political personality in the country, yet those who are sympathetic to his main opponents have closed their eyes to this reality.

Politics can be made a decent occupation if we all agree to be fair in our dealings. We maintain that varying the standards in politics as some continue to do even as they hold themselves as good politicians, does not inure to the good credentials of the noble occupation of politics. What is good for former President John Mahama is good for President Nana Akufo-Addo.

body-container-line