Don’t Bleed Publicity When You get a Higher Dose of Your Own Prescription
I have observed the fear and panic reflected in the voices of some NPP members following the appointment of Affi Agbenyo to the Electoral Commission (EC). I do not know Affi personally, but I must admit that I am interested in the reactions this appointment has provoked. Perhaps it presents an opportunity for all of us to reflect on fairness, consistency, and the need to do what is right by all manner of persons.
After all, the principle is simple: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is not merely a moral principle; it is a fundamental lesson in life and godliness.
The appointments of Dr. Bossman Asare, Appiahene, and others attracted criticism because of the political affiliations and backgrounds associated with them. Miracle Aboagye and your team, kindly take a moment to revisit the arguments, defences, and support you offered at the time. The same standards you defended yesterday are now being applied to you today.
What goes around surely comes around!
Our elders have a saying about chewing the hand of an ape: chew cautiously, because its hand looks remarkably like ours. The lesson is simple: be careful how you treat others, because circumstances can change, and you may one day find yourself on the receiving end of the very treatment you once defended.
Today, the NPP is expressing concern over an appointment to the Electoral Commission. What can I say to console them? Perhaps I should borrow a few lines from the song by Ryan Shude and the Rubberman Band:
“When you cry, be sure to dry your eyes,
’cause better days are sure to come.
And when you smile, be sure to smile wide,
and don’t let them know that they have won.
And when you walk,
walk with pride, don’t show the hurt inside,
because the pain will soon be gone.”
Dream big!
ONE APPOINTMENT, A THOUSAND REACTIONS
This appointment appears to have unsettled the NPP. The tears are flowing, the arguments are mounting, and the confidence with which they once defended similar decisions seems to have taken a hit. The towel appears to have been thrown in!
My concern is that the NPP has often appeared to apply different standards depending on whose interests are at stake. Principles should not be flexible instruments that we bend to suit our political convenience. If an appointment is defensible when made by one government, we must be prepared to examine a similar appointment by another government using the same standard.
For once, let us allow them to experience how the other side feels. We should not be too quick to sympathise with those who showed little sympathy when the tables were turned against others. They were the ones who first brought the sugarcane home, leaving us to watch the flies gather around it!
The NPP criticised John Dramani Mahama over allegations of appointing family members and friends, even when he had only one relative in government. Yet, when the NPP assumed power, similar concerns were raised about appointments involving members of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s family.
When confronted with their own previous arguments, the response from some defenders was that Nana Addo’s relatives were special because they were highly educated and, after all, Ghanaians too!
Were John Mahama’s relatives not Ghanaians as well? Or they were herdsmen!
We cannot demand one standard from others and invent exceptions for others.
Let us not forget the treatment meted out to former Auditor-General Daniel Yaw Domelevo, who was chased out of office. Was Charlotte Osei not kicked out as Chairperson of the Electoral Commission? They celebrated all these with glasses of wine in hand
Those who celebrated or defended political victories at the time must understand that power is temporary. The decisions you defend today may become the very precedents used to judge you in the future.
- I pray NPP learns faster that in life, you cannot enjoy joy and laughter forever while others bear the burden of your actions. There comes a day when everyone must sit quietly and reflect.
When that day comes, Ghanaians will look for humility in your eyes, not merely in your words. They will observe it in your posture and conduct, not in the noise you make. Until then, let us allow the country some peace and give Ghanaians the opportunity to assess the issues for themselves.
No political party should arrogate to itself the right to be the country’s permanent standard of fairness, especially when the NPP keep shifting the goal posts.
There is a popular Ghanaian expression that says, “If dog bite dog, blood no dey come.” In our politics, however, the wounds inflicted by inconsistency eventually become visible, even when those responsible refuse to acknowledge them.
For now, let us not allow political disagreements to derail the urgent work before us. Our young people need jobs. Families need economic relief. Businesses need an environment in which they can grow, and the country needs leadership focused on delivering results.
Let us not be distracted from these priorities by endless political quarrels. Criticism is part of democracy, and scrutiny is necessary, but consistency and accountability must guide all sides.
To the NPP, this is an opportunity to reflect on the positions you have taken in the past. The greater victory is for Ghana when fairness, competence, and accountability become the norm rather than political talking points.
Let us learn from yesterday, act responsibly today, and build a better tomorrow.
Keep hope alive. Better days are ahead.
*KUN FA YAKUN
Source: Godwin Ako Gunn
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