Is it a curse come upon some Ghanaian PhD hold
The author tries to fathom why some Ghanaian PhD holders or Professors behave unwisely
ers or professors to behave unwisely in a manner unbefitting of highly educated persons? Truly, education bestows knowledge upon people but does not obligatorily acquire them wisdom.
Akan elders often say, “Esono efie nyasan na esono nwoma nyansa”, to wit, “wisdom acquired through home upbringing is different from knowledge acquired through formal education” They rate one’s home-acquired wisdom higher than their formal education knowledge.
In a short while, we shall see if our elders were, or are, right to hold on to their belief. There is this Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, the Executive Director of the National Identification Authority (NIA), and a principal royal of the Juaso stool, casting doubt on the integrity of highly educated Ghanaians.
He goes on air to reveal to the nation a conversation he allegedly held with His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. He says the president has instructed him not to employ New Patriotic Party (NPP) loyalists at NIA. Therefore, he will not employ any but others, presumably, people who are apolitical (not interested in or connected with politics, or not connected to any political party).
Assuming the president had that conversation with him, in the hope of leaving behind an appreciable legacy of having built a powerful state institution which is neutral and devoid of partisanship, should the professor have to come on air to announce it to the whole nation and the world? By announcing it on air, what did the professor intend to achieve?
If the president wanted the world to know about his secret intention of not employing any NPP loyalist at NIA, would he not have gone on air himself to divulge it? Was it not for a good reason that he confided in Attafuah alone, rather than disclosing it to the public?
How could Attafuah tell a Ghanaian who is partisan from the one who is apolitical, before offering them a job at NIA? Does he know that some Ghanaians do hold both National Democratic Congress (NDC) and NPP membership cards and always claim to be a member of the ruling party by presenting that party’s membership card?
Will a person desperately looking for a job disclose to the interviewer or employer his political affiliation once knowing they will not be employed when such information is revealed? How then could the professor tell the true nature of the person in terms of their political inclination? Does he understand that “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face”?
Does the learned professor understand what is “positive discrimination” and when and how it is applied? From my experience or understanding of positive discrimination as happened in both the United Kingdom and South Africa, ”Positive discrimination is the process of increasing the number of employees from minority groups in a company or business, which are known to have been discriminated against in the past.”
I have in the past alerted Ghanaians to how Ashantis were being discriminated against in the public sector employment under the NDC regimes of the late President Professor John Evans Atta Mills and former President John Dramani Mahama. I had better quote the references of such publications below than to go back narrating the whole story over again.
https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/artikel.php?ID=234317
https://www.modernghana.com/news/596173/is-asantehene-now-awakening-to-the-ndc-government.html
Would it therefore be wrong for a public institution under say NPP, to employ more of Ashantis, who unfortunately happen to be NPP loyalists? If an institution under NPP fails to employ more of those people who had earlier been discriminated against but happen to be their strong supporters, then NPP is committing political suicide.
If anything at all, why not balance the number of employees with respect to their political or apolitical background than to say, “I will not employ NPP loyalists because the president has said so”
Do the president and Attafuah want to see the ongoing rotational cycle of 8 years in power 8 years in opposition between the NDC and NPP broken, or they want to ensure it continues? Is Attafuah’s behaviour any good towards breaking that devilish “pull Ghana down” cyclical rotation of 8 years in power 8 years in opposition as is ongoing between NPP, the visionaries, and NDC, the visionless?
He is alleged to have sold his piece of land to finance NPP to come to power. Good, and thank you to him. However, does that grant him the licence to seek to bring NPP down by his thoughtless revelation? I, Rockson Adofo, have helped in my own little way to bring NPP to power in 2016. I had by spending money in the little ways as I could, writing to persuade people to vote for NPP, especially Nana Akufo-Addo, organising prayer crusades, etc., I have immensely played a role in the success story of NPP like any other electorate that voted for NPP.
DJ Sarkodie of Sources radio in London, had helped canvass for NPP and garnered the party more votes to bring her to power than Attafuah could have achieved through the sale of his so-called piece of land. Is winning an election not by majority numbers garnered? Sources Radio got more votes for NPP yet, he has NEVER been recognised, let alone, had a thank you said to him or offered any job by any member of the NPP leadership. He is completely unknown to them but one day, the NPP will realise their folly for being so ungrateful to biting the hand that fed or feeds them.
Do those members of the NPP leadership who are now holding lucrative positions in government and in other parastatal companies care if NPP went into opposition today? NO! Why because they would have made their money by then.
I see the statement by Attafuah as very stupid and politically incorrect at this time that the president and the NPP government are incurring the wrath of the public for the economic hardships they are going through as brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic but not necessarily, any fault of theirs.
Why could he not apply common sense as he may have gained through proper Akan home upbringing, thus, wisdom? To many an NPP loyalist or sympathiser, it has become the situation of “monkey de work, baboon de chop”, to wit, the ordinary person is doing all the hard and dirty work while someone more important sits down in comfort somewhere enjoying the fruits of the sweat and toil of the commoner.
“Once bitten, twice shy”. NPP loyalists will learn a lesson from this. I hope the NDC will not capitalise on this in their play of populist politics for all bad reasons.
For how long will many a Ghanaian PhD holder or professor behave awkwardly stupidly without being chastised? I shall entreat readers to read my recent online publication titled, “Why this shameless anti-Law, anti-Supreme Court and anti-EC attitude by some Ghanaian scholars and CSOs?” under the web link:
Why this shameless anti-Law, anti-Supreme Court and anti-EC attitude by some Ghanaian scholars and CSOs?
I hope you have not forgotten how Kpessa-Whyte, a PhD holder and a lecturer at the University of Ghana, made a mockery of himself as a principal witness for former President John Dramani Mahama at the Supreme Court when he mounted the witness box for cross examination. As one of the appointed NDC guys to go into the EC’s strong room to ensure the integrity of the collation of the 2020 presidential election, we were only to be shocked as a nation and discerning Ghanaians what this lecturer was there doing other than what he was supposed to do. A PhD holder indeed!
Actually, something is wrong with some Ghanaian PhD holders, especially, the professors. Why do they seem to lack wisdom, concluding from the behaviours of those mentioned in my recent publications? Anyway, let me leave them to wallow in their own stupidity.