Kennedy Agyapong, Shut Up: Commands Kweku Baako

“Silence becomes cowardice when the occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.” Mahatma Gandhi

KENNEDY AGYAPONG IS NO STRANGER to controversy, and when he says: 'I will strip…naked', the persons that immediately come to mind are Kweku Baako and Anas Aremeyaw Anas. Kweku Baako has 'stripped' so many people 'naked' a-a-a, over the radio and in the newspapers, and become associated with the expression which means removing the top cover or layer to expose hidden or illegal things.

That Kennedy Agyapong is a maverick politician is a truism. A 'maverick' is a non-conformist; a person who thinks and acts in an independent way, usually different from the expected norm. The word 'maverick' originated from a fabulously rich Texas lawyer, politician and rancher, Samuel Augustus Maverick of the 19^th Century, who unlike his colleague ranchers, did not brand his cattle. He did not want to inflict pain on the cattle. A signatory of the 'Texas Declaration of Independence', his son, Maury Maverick coined the word 'gobbledygook' (a talk which is long, pompous, vague…)

Kennedy Agyapong has not hidden the fact that he comes from the village called Assin Dompim; that he started life as a poor farmer's son. Till – he fell into good times. Luck may have smiled on him, while in the U.S. He now basks in abundant wealth, and he has uplifted the town's image by constructing a 'castle' called 'The White House'. When we attended his mother's funeral in mid-2017, Kennedy promised to build the Methodist Mission house – to further honour his mother.

We crossed paths way back in 1996, in one Oppong's place, and he exuded intelligence. Like him or hate him, he will speak his mind: he does not fear 'huu'. He has helped the New Patriotic Party to grow; financially supporting weaker Constituencies; he has helped finance the schooling of poor people, but he asks 'where are the rich northern people…' who have benefited from free secondary education and gone to live in Accra and other cities oblivious of the suffering mass of people in their home backgrounds?; and when Honourable Suhuyini, MP urged northerners to vote for Mahama, because Mahama was a Northerner, he swore to discontinue the help he has been giving some Northerners.

Kweku Baako is a political-critic, and like Kennedy Agyapong, he would 'strip naked' anyone who crosses his path. He always carries a h-u-g-e bag of documents to the radio stations – to support his cases.

And what is Kweku Baako saying? Sue Kennedy Agyapong for defamation? How much? GH¢25 million: for saying on Oman FM: “… (Kweku Baako and Anas Aremeyaw Anas)… are real evil guys… Kweku Baako will collapse NPP government…” On Adom FM, Kennedy refuted the claims of Kweku Baako and President Nana Addo being the best of friends: “You don't know the guy very well… they could be best of friends because of what he (Kweku Baako) can get… he is a hypocrite and never an honest man…”

Kweku Baako is seeking, among the reliefs, a court order for “perpetual injunction restraining Kennedy Agyapong, his agents, assigns and servants from further publishing any defamatory words against him.” Well was it said: “Those who live in glass house should not throw stones.” In French, it is: “Qui vivent dans des maison en verre, ne doivent pas jeter des pierre”. Or is it like the pot calling the kettle black? Or is it the Biblical edict that those who live by the sword die by the sword?

In 2015, I wrote in 'Justices Denied Justice': “Yes, Anas is an 'honourable' man, and the whole Ghanaian society is doing an obeisance to him. He, on his part, shows the emaciated faces of hapless judges, with pictures furtively taken…” You think the case of the justices is dead? No, not for some of us. It will be resurrected, or at least, rejuvenated – at the opportune time – when the scales in the eyes of Ghanaians are removed. The ethics of reciprocity teaches that one should treat others the way one wants to be treated. As far back as 1750 BC, King Hammurabi issued the Code of Babylon (or Code of Hammurabi). Inscribed in the Akkadian language using cuneiform script, the Code prescribes: 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'. These were later encoded in the Hittite Laws, Assyrian Laws and the Mosaic Law.

In June this year, Anas Aremeyaw Anas sued Kennedy Agyapong for defamation, and wanted GH¢25 million, the same amount Kweku Baako wants as damages. You see, in Akan, we say: “Atwa-mene biara suro ayeya da” (loosely translated: “The cutter of necks fears to lie supinely”). When these two 'men of integrity' launched their campaign to destroy some Ghanaians, they did so telling bold-faced lies and they thought all Ghanaians would be stiff-necked fools to be hoodwinked, some people think.

You go to a judge's house (uninvited) with some yams and tether a sheep in his compound… and you plead on behalf of your brother… who has been placed in custody by the judge… the judge innocently advises you… The next day, you show all these, and claim you are an investigative journalist, to be hailed… you receive a national award, and three of 'you' all hooded go to collect the award. Some of us nearly used the unprintable word 'n…' If we were Kweku Baako, we would say or write 'nonsense' and later say: “I am sorry”.

Some of us can hardly forget the atrocities of the AFRC / PNDC era, the progenitor of the NDC, so reconciliation will be difficult, despite the attempts by the National Reconciliation Commission on 2002. How can one forget and forgive the lies, the deceits, the atrocities, the extra-judicial killings of the AFRC / PNDC – Kutu Acheampong, Akuffo, Afrifa, Utuka…So that, when you get someone who will confront the issues, you do not care whether the words he uses are offensive, insulting or not. Thus, Kweku Baako himself acknowledges that “… you can't stop people from criticising you in a multi-party democracy” in reaction to Mahama equating criticism to insults (November, 2015). He adds that: “Sometimes that is a sign of weakness and a sign of a coward who is not prepared to fight.”

When some of us use 'kasakoa' 'kasat', 'kasa-mane-mu' to describe persons and actions and so will hesitate to write f…, s…, s…, Kweku Baako has no scruples and no vacillation, but will describe these as 'foolish', 'stupid', 'senseless' and later say, “I'm sorry”. He and his colleagues would converge at the Coffee-shop at Labone and debate issues in a court of public opinion, (the 'vox et fama communis' or John Locke's 'law of opinion' (1689) and fashioned after the British Coffee Houses which Charles II in the 17^th Century called “places where the disaffected met and spread scandalous reports concerning the conduct of His Majesty and his Ministers”) and 'crucify' anyone that falls within their range.

Kennedy Agyapong has thrown a challenge to Kweku Baako: “… you are evil guys”; “…you are not an honest man”; “… tell Ghanaians how you built your house…”; “…you are corrupt…” He says GH¢ 25 million is peanuts; when he sh… he can pay. Let him sell off some of his over 100 houses; or his numerous fleet of expensive limousines, including a GH¢8 million Rolls-Royce, to settle his debts.

The second witch in 'Macbeth' answers the first witch's question: “When shall we three meet again?… and says…: “When the hurly-burly's done. When the battle's lost and won…” Similarly, when the higgledy-piggledy, the commotion or the hubbub between Kennedy Agyapong and Kweku Baako is settled in court, and when one party has lost while the other has won, Ghanaians will know the truth.

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Africanus Owusu – Ansah