Adieu, tweaa DCE
The dog that is fated to lose its way in the bush will remain deaf to the hunter’s whistle- Prof Wole Soyinka.
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The last time I wrote about the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Ahafo Ano South in the Ashanti Region, Mr Gabriel Barimah, whose lack of decorum has popularised tweaa, to the extent that it had been banned in Parliament,- I suggested that he should have been sacked.
Because the sanction was not deterrent enough, the DCE took the sneers and jeers to be signs of approval and commendation. That is how dependence, exclusively on party loyalty and patronage rather than adherence to principles and merit in appointments to political office, could lead all of us into mediocrity and haughtiness.
Indeed, in many jurisdictions political activists undergo long years of public service before they offer themselves for political office. Now and then, some gifted individuals come up without any prior experience. Even then, once they enter into mainstream political office they subject themselves to sustained learning, especially in the area of winning the trust and confidence of people by being humble.
Humility then becomes a major yardstick for political success. Not in our case where political office is used to cheat and abuse the people. Electoral choices are informed by base things such as how handsome or presentable a candidate is, ethnic background and party affiliation.
That is why puerile statements like “even if we put up a goat to contest at a particular constituency we would win hands down” have not deserted some of us. That again accounts for some of the empty rhetorics of political activists including ministers of state and members of parliament in contempt of the feelings of our people.
The President should have dismissed Mr Barimah based on the investigations which found him culpable of political misconduct, since he abused the trust of the people. But not when he made a fool of himself by being clownish. That is what T.S. Eliot describes as “there is no greater treason than to do the right deed for the wrong reason”.
The Ahafo Ano South DCE was removed not because of the disrespect he caused to the chiefs and people of Mankranso, but because he was an embarrassment to the government. Such developments show disdain for the public.
We need to change our understanding and appreciation of politics to go beyond winning power for our party to using the power in the best interest of the people. Without the mandate and support of the people government has no meaning nor function.
More importantly, there is the need to move away from the spurious notion held by some people in government that when it comes to issues of government, the rule of law does not matter.
To such people whatever proposals or policies that come from government, whether as a collective or the idea of an individual hiding behind the group, must not and cannot be challenged or rejected. Therefore, those seen as impediments must be ruthlessly dealt with to pave the way for implementation.
What such people must appreciate is that while these policies or programmes might have resulted from thorough processes, the public is not privy to those processes and the enthusiasm with which the promoters pursue them cannot be the same from the public.
Returning to Mr Barimah, now that he has been relieved of his position as DCE, would he be able to relate to the people he so scornfully treated with his outburst of not being co-equals?.
His ambition of ever becoming a member of Parliament , which he alluded to that by the time he arrived his popularity would have soared, and for which he expected to be saturated with media attention, has evaporated. His situation reminds me of an incident between my closest childhood pal, Kwame and me.
We went to hunt for a rat. We were sure to get the rat. We decided to harvest some cassava, cocoyam and palm fruits. We even agreed about who would eat which part of the rat and which of our friends we would invite to join in the meal.
We moved into action by pushing a palm frond through the hole. After a few pushes, we relaxed and just then the rat rushed out and escaped in front of us. With that, we lost the appetite for any meal. We sadly returned home and never discussed our failure with any other. It has since taught us never to count our eggs before they are hatched.
Mr Barimah has learnt some lessons. Our DCEs and other political officeholders must show humility and civility so that when they are dismissed, they would have at least public sympathy. I empathise with him because his dismissal is the right deed but for the wrong reason.