Tears for Lauretta and Fiifi Kwetey
I have never hidden my admiration for Ms Lauretta Vivian Lamptey, the embattled Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), not just because of her beautiful looks, but more importantly due to my desire to see more women in key positions in our country’s administration.
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In this column on September 20, 2014, I stated that she was one of the women occupying top positions in Ghana that I had admired since her appointment and that with her decent looks, I was looking forward to seeing her fight for Ghanaians with her commission as Justice Emile Short and Ms Anna Bossman before her did.
Ms Lamptey under public spotlight
Since September last year when Ms Lamptey came under the public spotlight not for her achievements at CHRAJ, but for alleged abuse of her office, many of us had impressed on her to resign and protect her image but she never considered such advice seriously. I’m tempted to believe that her brushing aside suggestions to resign was based on the general common belief in Ghana that the word ‘resignation’ does not exist in the vocabulary of those in leadership positions.
In the past, some embattled people in top national positions refused to resign because of their godfathers and godmothers in high political positions through whom they got their positions in the first place, and who would normally go to any extent to protect them.
Living in a US$5,500-a-month apartment
The Daily Graphic of Tuesday, September 16 reported that Ms Lamptey was living in a US$5,500-a-month apartment for three years at a total cost of US$203,500, while on her instructions, her official residence was being renovated at another cost to the taxpayer. The paper also reported that when the tenancy expired in August 2014, Ms Lamptey moved into a hotel, costing taxpayers US$456.25 a day (US$13,687.50 a month) while three of the commission’s vehicles were at her disposal.
These revelations caused a string of public criticism against Ms Lamptey. The truth of the matter is that Ms Lamptey might not have been the only public official living in expensive apartments.
There could be several public officials residing in very expensive hotels and other apartments either due to their own ostentatious taste and lifestyles, or that some officials, as a result of dereliction of duty, had overlooked such infractions. However, what made her case serious was the fact that CHRAJ had become impotent because it claimed it lacked funds to investigate cases, while its boss was living in opulence at the expense of the Commission.
Jump before being pushed
As a lawyer, one would have thought that Ms Lamptey would have better appreciated the impact of her being sacked or suspended on her own image and career, and, therefore, could have jumped before being pushed. However, she decided to not listen to those of us who were worried for her own image.
Ms Lamptey was suspended by the President following the establishment of a prima facie case against her by the Chief Justice in view of a complaint made against her (Ms Lamptey), and the setting up of a five-member committee to investigate the complaints.
Suspending Ms Lamptey does not mean she is guilty of the charges against her. However, it is worrying that she stayed until this happened. This has not only tainted her image, but also that of CHRAJ.
I personally don’t know Ms Lamptey but had admired her since her appointment and had wished that she succeeded to pave the way for more women to occupy higher national positions as some of us have always desired. Lauretta, my prayer is that after you come out of this investigation, you would learn lessons from it and learn to sometimes listen to public opinion for your own good. Her case must also serve as a lesson for those in higher positions who never find ‘resignation’ in their dictionaries, even when it becomes necessary to resign.
Fiifi Kwetey on Facebook
Oh, so Minister of Food and Agriculture, Fiifi Kwetey, has much free time to spend on Facebook to discuss his and other people’s academic qualifications instead of using the time to plan for his ministry. One of the sectors of Ghana’s economy which has never performed better for many years is agriculture; hence, one expected a minister of that sector to be more serious with making improvements.
In this era when Ghana’s agricultural sector is beset with many problems including post-harvest losses, lack of market for certain crops, inadequate production of food to feed Ghanaians, and the many cries of our farmers and fishermen, Mr Kwetey will have time to sit on radio to discuss his and other people’s A Level results.
On one radio station on January 13, the minister, referring to Mr Franklin Cudjoe, president of the think tank, IMANI, said: “It was quite ironic hearing that this guy was even struggling to pass his A-level economics. He had to take it many times. While he took three years, three different attempts to get ‘A’ in economics, I took half of that time and below to obtain it. “I got ‘A’ in not just economics but in all my subjects in one year and my record is there in Achimota School.”
In reaction to Mr Kwetey’s statement, Mr Kofi Bentil, Deputy Head, IMANI, wrote on Facebook: “You finish 6th form ('A' Level) in Togo and come to Ghana to assume a nationality, come to Bishop Herman and drop down to write O level when you were five years older than the oldest student in the class. You make a poor 2nd lower in Psychology and Economics because you could not make it to the Law Faculty.”
Economic crisis
Is it what we want our ministers of state to do when the country is in economic crisis? Wouldn’t it be good if the time used by both Fiifi Kwetey and IMANI to engage in these unproductive invectives is rather channelled to serious national discussions which would help move our economy and democracy forward?
In this time and age, it is good for public officials including ministers and even presidents and prime ministers to engage their citizenry on social media. But this must be very productive and a supplement to other communication channels needed for socio-economic development and not for trading insults and showing academic credentials.
We must note that mere academic qualifications are useless if not used to champion societal development and the well-being of mankind. Those of us holding several academic qualifications must rather be grateful to God and show humility instead of showcasing these qualifications in pride when there is no need for that.
For me, academic qualifications and social standing are not worth anything if not used for the improvement of society.
Mr President must start to scold his ministers who are boasting with their positions without any real achievements. Fiifi Kwetey sitting on radio to praise the President as the best Ghana has ever had does very little, if any at all, to the achievements of the President, hence he must be wary of such sycophantic and praise-singing officials who are not performing but want to keep their positions.
The author is a Political Scientist, and Media and Communication Expert. [email protected]
