The verdict, sinners and Osofo’s apocalypse
Only months into a new political administration’s term of office, Jomo, the smaller political parties will usually snooze off and only wake at the sound of campaign jingles and zooming campaign motorcades when the next election gets off to a roaring start.
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Some minority parties manage to stay in the news for a while after elections alright, but it is often all in connection with bickering over who worked hard and who didn’t during the campaign, who is to blame for whatever brought electoral defeat or a poor showing and who run off with campaign motor cars or cash or both.
The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) recently fended off with great aggression, some news reports of large sums of campaign cash that had reportedly not been accounted for, accusing reporters of corruption and mercenary political motives. The party’s reaction has since stopped the snooping reporters dead in their tracks, yes sir.
I wonder whatever happened to Dr. Charles ‘Tarzan’ Wereko-Brobby’s United Ghana Movement, Jomo. It was supposed to be the political party to beat all political parties, with a great manifesto whose core vision was to grow, tend, develop and harvest the human resource needed to drive national economic growth, much in the same way as a farmer tends crops, see?
Age has caught up with me, old chap. I forgot that he put the UGM on a shelf and rejoined his old party, the New Patriotic Party. Now, he is at war with the party all over again! His critical comments about the NPP’s Supreme Court petition disputing the results of the 2012 presidential election have greatly displeased party leaders.
He has in recent weeks been busy fighting his political demons, taking flak from hard line party activists chagrined by his dissent and throwing some back in turn. Having obtained a PhD at the age of only 25, he says, he hardly listens to fools who have done practically nothing with their lives. If he ever listens to fools, he is unlikely to suffer them gladly!
Dr Wereko-Brobby has been suspended from the NPP for two long calendar years for all his troubles. The politician may go to sleep soundly on the thought that it will all be over soon for everyone.
With the close of the cross-examination and re-examination of witnesses in the hearing of the dispute on Wednesday, counsel for the petitioners and respondents are set to address the court a fortnight hence. The court will on July 31 fix a date for its judgment and then, we shall be done with this galloping judicial nightmare of a presidential election dispute, or shall we..?
Renowned pastor Dr Mensa Otabil has this strong sense of foreboding, Jomo. He seems to see the apocalypse hurtling towards us like that astral rock scientists named Icarus, which years ago, threatened to get into the path of the earth’s orbit and shatter us all to powder-fine pieces.
Dr Otabil’s comments on matters spiritual and political have a tendency to get him into the headline news in a way that makes some people break into an angry dance. He came under some criticism from those who think in times like this, the nation could do with words of hope and encouragement from a man of God.
There were those who went to Otabil’s defence with the argument that a man of God should not shirk his duty to inform people about a looming catastrophe and ask them to pray to avert it. Dr. Otabil said he could “sense evil falling on Ghana.”
”Coincidentally, Catholic Archbishop Emeritus, Peter K. Sarpong in an article in the Catholic Standard this week, drew a rather startling distinction between the two arch types of evil: Moral evil and physical evil.”
He explains moral evil which is also referred to as sin, as referring to actions that go against the will of God, such as idolatry, adultery, lying, murder etc.
Physical evil on the other hand, the archbishop explains further, refers to undesirable or unwanted occurrences in the lives of men, such as drought, floods, fires, tornados, motor and train accidents, etc.
There is a school of thought, he adds, that in many cases, physical evil is a consequence of moral evil. Proceeding from that premise, Jomo, the evil Dr Otabil senses is about to befall our mighty republic, will most likely be in retribution for our sins, anaa..?
You know what, Jomo? I am well and truly fed up with this persistent and unrelenting threat of violence and chaos everyday. Aba! Methinks it is time to stop the threats and let us have one great, beautiful war and be done with it finally. A war to shame all wars, that will dispatch us one and all to hell or heaven: Politicians, political activists, pastors, corporate executives, armed robbers, highway bandits, media people, peace campaigners and war mongers alike!
God has shown our nation far more love and patience than we deserve and that is in spite of our war-mongering ways, and it is probably time He let us go our stubborn way to final ruination, since many appear to prefer that to living in peace and unity and diligently serving God and country for better or worse.
Article by George Sydney Abugri
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