When Honour Is Peeled From Riches

I knew it would come to this. In fact, I looked into my crystal ball and saw it coming like 'kakai'. What goes up will surely come down. The Akans say 'If God picks a stone, He takes time to throw it' (Se Nyankopon fa bour a onto no ntem). The sages say one should leave the stage when the ovation is loudest. Kwasi Nyantakyi refused to heed this call by the sages and ended up with 'Nyantakyigate' hanging on his neck.

Since taking over as the President of G.F.A, Mr. Nyantakyi (do I even have to add the “Mr” to his name?) has been consumed by greed, selfishness and sheer avarice. He rode roughshod and strutted the land with impunity and thought he was so powerful that no son of man could bring him down. They say power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That is what happened to dishonourable Nyantakyi.

If disgraced Nyantakyi had concentrated his dubious way of extorting monies from so-called investors on the administration of football when he had an encounter with Tiger Eye operatives, I would not have bothered myself writing this piece. For this crook to drag the name of our incorruptible President and Veep in the mud,  Nyantakyi should go for a crush helmet because this piece is going to be the first salvo. Nana Addo has suffered a great deal in the hands of his political opponents but finally triumphed when Ghanaians decided in 2016 to give him the nod only for a 'criminal' like Nyantakyi to drag his name in the mud.

Where was Nyantakyi in the early seventies when Nana Addo, as the general secretary of the Movement for Freedom and Justice, and his senior colleagues  in the person of General A.A Afrifa, Afro Kwabla Gbedemah etc. took on the then Head of State, General Kutu Acheampong when the general decided to introduce what he called Union Government? I don't believe Nyantakyi was old enough to vote during the referendum and neither did he join the campaign of the 'No Unigov'  team. Nyantakyi grew to meet a democratic dispensation which opened the floodgate of corruption so he joined the bandwagon and became rich overnight. And did I hear Nyantakyi telling 'Tiger Eye' operative that Nana Addo sold his father's house in London to use the proceeds to campaign? Foolish talk! What is wrong with that?  What about Nyantakyi's father? A pauper who could not make ends meet.

I travelled from my holy village to have an appointment with a gentleman in Accra and heard Nyantakyi video was going to be premiered on 6^th June, 2018. Instead of travelling back to my holy village, I decided to wait, get a ticket to watch the video. Much as I tried I could not get a ticket. A friend told me that the tickets had been sold off and he knew a guy who bought more tickets in anticipation of selling them at higher prices to those who could not get one. I gave him money to get me a ticket. Unknown to me, he was the same person who had the extra tickets. We parted ways and within five minutes, he returned with the ticket. This is Accra for you!

On that fateful evening, I was one of the first to visit the theatre because as a villager, I did not want any hustle and bustle with shoving and pushing. Fortunately, I had a 'smooth' entry and sat on my seat, waiting for the show. I knew so many people who came later. Some sat closely by my side but they did not recognize me because I do not have my picture embossed on my column – Time With Angel Gabriel. If it were  Kwasi Biney, Agya Ogboro, Cameron Duodu and the other crack columnists in the Daily Guide, they could easily recognize them. As an invisible and elusive Angel, they did not know the man sitting there among the crowd. As for me, I knew a lot of them but I decided to be as elusive as I have been over the years.

As they started screening the video, my heart, soul, eyes, and entire body got fixed on the screen as if the Lord Jesus Christ was on his way on his second coming. What I saw and heard sent tears running down my cheeks. Oh Ghana! Have we come this far to disgrace ourselves? As I was walking out of the theatre, a journalist who knew me so much decided to interview me and all that I told him was, “Honour has been peeled from riches”. He asked me to explain what I meant by honour being peeled from riches and I told him that of all the wealth that Kwasi Nyantakyi has accumulated and his fat bank accounts, he has been reduced to a common criminal and his name will forever be written in bronze.  It took a hidden camera and a small recording device to bring down this mighty man. With modern technology staring us in the face, one must know when to open his or her mouth.

THE FIRST PRESIDENT TO REPORT A CITIZEN TO THE CID

When I heard block-headed so – called political commentators taking against   the President for reporting Kwasi Nyantakyi to the CID, I wondered whether such persons have their heads on their necks. Apart from the fact that Nana Akufo-Addo is the President of the Republic of Ghana, he is also  a citizen of Ghana and  he also knows the tenets of democracy. He will not sit down for his fellow citizen to use his name to dupe people, thereby destroying his hard-earned reputation.  A citizen of Ghana goes out there to dupe an investor and tells the so- called investor that the President is his best friend and that if the so- called investor is able to part away 5 million dollars to the President and 3 million dollars to the Veep, he will be able to get him contracts. An investigative journalist who recorded the video shown it to the President and the President, a lawyer of international repute, reported the case to the C.I.D and you tell me he was wrong? What did you expect him to do? Fold his arms, sit aloof and keep quiet? That to me would have been politically suicidal. The President had told Ghanaians in the run-up to the 2016 elections that he was not corrupt, had never been corrupt and would never be corrupt. Therefore, if somebody wants to tag him with a corrupt deal, what do you expect him to do apart from reporting such a person to the C.I.D for investigation in order to exonerate himself?

For now, I do not know how Nyantakyi will be able to uncoil himself from the grip of the law. The President of the Republic of Ghana, who is also the commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, is a complainant in this case. The name of the Veep was mentioned in the video and he is the Chairman of the Police Council.  Martin Amidu, the Special Prosecutor, is gathering evidences to prosecute corrupt Nyantakyi and other thieves at the GFA. The Attorney General and Minister of Justice is an appointee of the President and the thousands of Ghanaians who watched the video are witnesses. Who will defend Nyantakyi? He can run but he can't hide because the Interpol is there to fish him out.  Yes, he can beg the President who may decide to let sleeping dogs lie, but can he beg all Ghanaians who have already drawn their swords and ready to mow him down for disgracing them?

Oh Kwasi! Have you seen where greed has landed you? Since I am not a judge, I do not know how long you will be jailed but surely, you will leave the comfort of your luxurious mansions and have time with prison warders.  Kwasi Nyantakyi has now become what the Akans call “Otofo” when “Otofo” is about to go into the grave when he dies,  he puts his hands on the necks of so many people and goes into the grave with them. “Otofo” will not enter the grave alone. Many officials of G.F.A and referees will join Nyantakyi in the grave because “Otofo” Nyantakyi will not go without a fight. The President is out there fighting corruption and he will surely succeed, God willing.