By Abdul Razak Bawa
This is not a biography of a man many of us in the media admire so much, he is one person every fair minded person will adore and come to appreciate his intellect and wit, even when you disagree with him.
He is a colossus in the media and an astute politician, even though he is yet to put himself up for election, what I am about to do, however, is a small observation about certain aspect of his life.
Kweku Baako, has been described by many as having a PHD in demonstration, a tag he gladly accepts and gloats over, because no living soul in Ghana, has more experience in organizing and leading a demonstration than the man with the ‘documents’.
As someone who has a history of holding leaders accountable, a history of speaking his mind, a history of leading demonstrations, a history of speaking for the common man, his description of the Kume Preko Reloaded as a Flop, betrays him as a man with a psychological baggage from the past.
Contributing to a panel discussion on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’ via text, Kweku Baako said the call for the resignation of the president and his vice was wrong.
“In terms of numbers, it was a flop. Even the message was confusing; asking both the President and Vice President to resign is actually wrong,” he said.
No. Kweku Baako, you don’t say something like that, when the economic hardship is biting everyone. All the demonstrators sought to do, was to draw the attention of the president and his government the plight of the ordinary citizens. Mind you, Martin Kpebu, who is one of the leaders, is a distinguished lawyer, in fact one of the best in the country and is capable of providing for himself and his family.
I can understand the limitations of people like, Ernest Owusu Bempah, but the failure of someone like Kweku Baako to appreciate the importance of a demonstration, regardless of how many people turned up, is unforgivable.
As someone who has been in the forefront of organizing many historical demonstrations in the country dating back to the 70s, Mr Baako knows that, the outcome, placards, messages and the fall outs, and what certain incidents, might not be the intention of the organizers of the demonstration.
Secondly, the main purpose of every demonstration is not about the numbers, it is the intention that counts, not how many turned up.
We have heard of many demonstrations, which were organized purposely with the intention of making money by the organizers, but not this one, it was simply to drive home the fact that, Ghanaians are suffering.
The organizers are not stupid, at least not as Kweku Baako takes them to be, they know the call for president Akufo-Addo to resign is an impossibility, but they made it nonetheless. Even a simple acceptance by African leaders, that they are responsible for the problems, is alien to them. So no matter the calls for the president to resign, it will not happen today, not tomorrow, not even during our lifetime.
Kweku Baako, must spare us the double standards, when it was your turn to demonstrate, it was right to do so, you did not care how many people turned out, provided your message was clear. We have had one man demonstrations in this country.
The incident that started the Arab Spring, which began in Tunisia in 2010, in response to corruption and economic stagnation, was the sacrifice of one man, Mohamed Bouazizi. He didn’t need to assemble thousands of people to put across his grievance, that single sacrifice started a domino effect that saw the fall of leaders in about five countries.
Kweku Baako, must remove the scales from his eyes and appreciate the message the Kume Preko Reloaded organizers were putting across to the government, especially his friend, Nana Akufo-Addo.
Kweku Baako, should know that Rome was not build by men who took one step forward and two steps backward. He should know that a man who takes a step forward and two steps backwards is retrogressing.
President Akufo-Addo, is not only taken two steps backward, but ten steps backward and that is the reason, why people who clamored for his presidency are now saying he has been a disaster. Perhaps the only person who is still yet to see that, is Kweku Baako.
Kweku Baako, has had his day. He was among the voices that convinced Ghanaians that, president John Dramani Mahama was a failure and the Messiah they have been praying for is Nana Akufo-Addo.
It is obvious from his comments that, he does not feel the pains of Ghanaians. His friend is the best and perhaps he is also benefiting from the spoils of war.
But he should remember that it is not when we are in the ground that we are dead; we are dead when we no longer feel the horror of our fellow humans’ are going through.
The government of Nana Akufo-Addo has failed all Ghanaians. If there is any semblance of decent life in any corner of the country, it is life created by the likes of Martin Kpebu in spite of their government.
Kweku Baako is just being disingenuous when he said the demonstration was a flop. He knows that, it takes more than numbers to pronounce a demonstration as successful or not.
Kweku Baako should take a vow of seclusion and quietness, as he has already done by staying away from radio discussions. It is being a while he appeared on Newsfile on Joy FM and Kokrokoo on Peace FM.
It is double wickedness to foster Akufo-Addo on Ghanaians and deprive them of expressing their frustration.
I now understand what Charlotte Bronte meant when she wrote that, “Conventionality is not morality. Self righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns.”
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