President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
Instead of facilely calling on President Akufo-Addo to unite the country at large, the Oyokohene of New Juaben, Nana Kodua Kesse, II, must first take stock of the sort of morally unbecoming conduct that he illegally indulged in, during most of the tenure of the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress’ government that allegedly nearly landed the Adontenhene of New Juaben in hot waters.
According to Nana Kodua Kesse, his Koforidua-Oyoko palace was besieged by some angry youths in the lead-up to the 2016 general election because information had appeared on social media indicating that some National Democratic Congress’ operatives had stashed several boxes of thumb-printed ballot papers at his palace.
Now, what we really need to be discussing here is whether the New Juaben Adontenhene had conducted himself as “neutrally” as clearly stated by the country’s Fourth-Republican Constitution, in order to shield himself from the sort of apparently well-founded politically biased conduct that saw his palace besieged by purported supporters of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
We must also highlight the fact that as the Eastern Region’s representative on the Council-of-State, Nana Kodua Kesse had also been associatively guilty of being a member of a decidedly rubber-stamp institution that unwisely connived with former President John Dramani Mahama to criminally undermine the authority and credibility of the highest court of the land. On the preceding score, of course, I am alluding to the scandalous decision by the Council-of-State to facilely side with Mr. Mahama on the release of the members of the so-called Montie Three, a gang of hired NDC media goons who had threatened to have Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood kidnapped and raped, together with several of her Supreme Court associates, if the court refused to collude with Mrs. Charlotte Kesson-Smith Osei, the Mahama-appointed Electoral Commissioner, to rig the 2016 general election.
In principle, I unreservedly agree with the New Juaben Oyokohene’s call on President Akufo-Addo to unite all factions and sections of the greater Ghanaian community. But we must also significantly observe that the success of such unification efforts depends on the noble conduct of invested traditional rulers like the New Juaben Adontenhene. In decrying the attempt by some alleged members and supporters of the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party, Nana Kodua Kesse glaringly failed to tell the nation whether indeed, he had been in the pay of the Mahama government, as alleged by the livid crowd of NPP-supporting youths that besieged his palace.
In other words, Nana Kodua Kesse could behave more wisely and maturely by publicly acknowledging that, indeed, he had conducted himself in ways unbecoming of a major traditional ruler and seek the forgiveness of his own people and that of the nation at large.
As our elders say, the test of credible leadership is by a positive show of responsibility. And it is all too clear that Nana Kodua Kesse’s conduct vis-à-vis the country’s political culture has been far less than exemplary.