By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Like most pathological skirt-chasers who are caught, literally, with their pants down, Transitional-President John “Paradigm-Shift” Dramani Mahama is in abject denial, when he rather laughably declares that he is no womanizer (See “Prez. Mahama: I’m No Womanizer” Ghanaweb.com 9/18/12).
If, indeed, the former Rawlings communication minister wants to be taken seriously by eligible and potential Ghanaian voters in the frenetic lead-up to Election 2012, and there is absolutely no reason for anybody to believe that he does not, then the former parliamentarian from Bole-Bamboi, in the Gonja enclave of the Northern Region, had better operationally define for his audience precisely what he means, when Mr. Mahama looks them straight in the eye and boldly lies about the quality-of-life misdemeanor with which he has long been charged by both his political detractors and admirers alike. Failure to do so, needless to say, would be tantamount to public nose-thumbing; and Mr. Mahama, of course, is smart enough to fully recognize such default is one that would certainly not redound to the black-ink side of his political ledger.
I raise the preceding concern, because while he clearly admits to having fathered not just one or even two but several children out of wedlock, nonetheless, his rather quaint attempt to reduce this grievous behavioral deficiency to a purely domestic issue between Mrs. Lordina Mahama and himself will not wash. And even as yours truly has observed time and again, in the sort of democratic governance in which Ghanaians are presently engaged, there is only a fine line between the private and public aspects of the lives of prominent and powerful politicians like the famed, or infamous, author of “My First Coup D’etat, a maiden memoir some of whose contents have been mired in controversy, largely verging on the ethical and behavioral.
Well, since he appears to be pussyfooting, so far, on the critical leadership question of his personal morality, let me offer the most logically obvious answer to the fact of whether, indeed, President Mahama is your typical obstreperously lecherous African politician. And, of course, fortunately or unfortunately, the correct answer is: “Unquestionably, President John Dramani Mahama is a womanizer of the first order.” For, needless to say, the primary definition of a womanizer, in this particular context, is one who forensically appears to be too sexually incontinent to be able to responsibly contain himself within the sacred bounds of matrimony.
At this juncture, and for the sake of fairness, yours truly volunteers the fact that he has himself pre-maritally fathered a daughter by a Nigerian woman, for whom he regularly remits the court-ordered financial support in the sum of $1,000.00 (One-Thousand Dollars) per month. My daughter was born some 15 years ago, 7 years prior to my settling down as the married father of two boys, ages 6 and 4, by a home-girl, as it were. Since then, yours truly also voluntarily offers the fact that he has not been involved in any extramarital affair or relationship whatsoever. Significantly also, I unreservedly volunteer the fact that I am just a couple of years younger than Mr. Mahama.
Anyway, what makes the widespread allegation of lechery against President Mahama serious is the fact that the man, reportedly, appears unable to candidly account for the total number of children he has fathered, both in and out of wedlock. For instance, the opposition-leaning Daily Guide newspaper recently made the following forensically verifiable allegation against Mr. Mahama: “Incidentally, a curious omission fueled this perception [of sexual incontinence] when [Mr. Mahama] was first selected as the running-mate of the then-Candidate John Evans Atta-Mills in 2008. Mr. Mahama’s official Curriculum Vitae (CV) released at the time indicated that he had nine children. However, the CV was quickly withdrawn and replaced with a new one stating seven as the [accurate] number of children he had borne.”
It goes without saying that what Ghanaians are dealing with here concerns trust and moral integrity; and on both counts, President Mahama is found to be woefully without credibility. And in the Woyome Age of Ghanaian Politics, the two foregoing salient behavioral ingredients are indispensable for this accidental president who is desperately seeking to be democratically confirmed as the substantive premier and foremost citizen of our august Republic on his own merit and integrity.
You see, womanizers, especially those who have no qualms about fathering children out of wedlock, are far more likely to succumb to the criminal act of bribery and corruption in order to sustain their financially consuming addiction. Let the reader make no mistake, whatsoever! Indeed, by his own admission, President John “Paradigm-Shift” Dramani Mahama appears to be a clinically indisposed – or sick – man who needs to promptly check himself into an “asylum” or medical institution designed for the rehabilitation of people suffering from acute satyriasis, or the pathological inability to keeping their “Space-Shuttle” on its launching pad and only being launched into its designated sacred space within the legally sanctioned bounds of matrimony.
Needless to say, the fact that his own father, the late Mr. Emmanuel Adama Mahama, “had 19 kids by various women,” ought not to be accepted as normal conjugal practice by a globally respected democratic Ghana. “That was then; and this is now!” as New Yorkers are wont to say. Besides, Mr. Adama Mahama is not known to have aspired to the highest office of the land. In other words, Ghanaian youths also look for role models among the ranks of our national leadership; and on the latter score, President Mahama is as good as yesterday’s fingered fufu (foofoo).
*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., is Associate Professor of English, Journalism and Creative Writing at Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, Garden City. He is Director of The Sintim-Aboagye Center for Politics and Culture and author of “Selected Political Writings” (Lulu.com, 2008). E-mail: [email protected]. ###