Attempt To Stage-Manage Presidential Reaction To Nyantakyi Affair Was Absurd

The Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, to the best of my knowledge, was not sworn to keep confidence or confidentiality with any team of private investigative journalists by either the Ghanaian electorate or the country’s 1992 Republican Constitution. And so I find it to be rather absurd to hear Mr. Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako, the Editor-Publisher of the New Crusading Guide,assert that the Anas Aremeyaw Anas exposé on rank corruption in the country, in particular the portion of the documentary regarding the sting operation conducted undercover on Mr. Kwasi Nyantakyi, the indicted President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), had been presented to President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for a sneak preview on strict confidentiality to be patently and inexcusably absurd (See “Nyantakyi Saga: Presidency Breached Confidentiality – Baako” Kasapafmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 5/23/18).

It is actually the apparent reason for the observance of such confidentiality that irks me more than anything else. According to Mr. Baako, Mr. Anas and his Tiger-Eye PI team of investigators had expected Nana Akufo-Addo and his Jubilee House’s associates to have kept mum until a public screening of the documentary, which was allegedly produced in collaboration with some media operatives from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), on or about June 6. For all one cares to know, this documentary could have been wholly produced by the globally renowned broadcaster using Mr. Anas’ Tiger-Eye PI team as a mere front to circumvent the possibility of any legal snags or challenges. Now, let’s cut to the chase here, Dear Reader: My beef here is the fact that the primary objective of the producers of the documentary clearly appears to have been purely one of entertainment, as opposed to the politically mandated obligation of President Akufo-Addo to fighting crime and rank, official corruption in the country.

Indeed, about the only count on which I am inclined to disagree with Nana Akufo-Addo is his rather rash decision to have the GFA’s President promptly arrested, even while Mr. Nyantakyiwas widely reported to be on a FIFA-sponsored assignment to Morocco, the Maghreb. But even here, one cannot wholly fault the President for taking what clearly appears to have been an impulsive decision, particularly when Mr. Nyantakyi is reported to have said that all it took to secure a lucrative government contract was to offer the President the quite decent kickback sum of $ 5 Million (my profuse apologies to Chairman Jerry John Rawlings a la Gen. Sani Abacha), with Vice-President MahamuduBawumia being on the take for a cool $ 3 Million (USD).

It is also clear to me that the 2^nd-Deputy Presidential Chief-of-Staff, Mr. Samuel Abu-Jinapor, requires some training in diplomatic sophistication and/or maturity, if, indeed, it is true that he was the one who announced that Mr. Nyantakyi had been issued an arrest order by the President of the Glorious Democratic Republic of Ghana. Ordinarily, what the President, an astute and distinguished lawyer by profession, ought to have done should have been to refer the matter to either the Inspector-General of the Ghana Police Service (IGP of GPS), or the Commissioner of the CID (the Criminal Investigations Division of the Ghana Police Service) for prompt action. Thus, the widely reported order for the arrest of Mr. Nyantakyi should more appropriately have come from the head of any one of the country’s major security agencies, and not directly from the President of our Republic.

But, come on, let’s be honest with ourselves, Dear Reader: What would have been your gut reaction – aided by a platoon of official advisers or not – if you were the President of Ghana and you were confronted with a video documentary in which you had the President of the country’s most important religious establishment, the Ghana Football Association, bragging to some prospective and potential foreign investors as follows: “I have the President in my pocket. Nana Akufo-Addo is my buddy. I see him and talk to him every day”?

But, of course, as the Dear Reader may already be seasick with my persistent request, I’d rather have the double-dipping Parliamentary salary scam-artists immediately indicted and rigorously prosecuted first and foremost. And then we can tackle the reckless Nyantakyis of our public and civil service for good measure.

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