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Politics of Thursday September 10, 2020
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
2020-09-10
Former President John Dramani Mahama and veteran journalist Elizabeth Akua Ohene
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Veteran journalist Elizabeth Akua Ohene has once again launched an attack in the political space, this time against former President John Dramani Mahama for what she describes as his penchant for hurling abusive words at his opponents.
His attack follows John Mahama’s recent endorsement of an article by Bolgatanga Central Member of Parliament Isaac Adongo, which classifies some relatives of President Akufo-Addo involved in the controversial Agyapa deal as the ‘Akyem Mafia and Sakawa Boys. ‘.
While President Akufo-Addo expressed his disdain and disappointment, John Mahama, who seemed unfazed by the mounting outrage, insisted that he has endured worse treatment from his successor.
He said in an interaction with TV XYZ, “He [President Akufo-Addo] he was an opposition leader calling presidents before him everything you can think of, including ‘Professor Do Little’ and then describing someone as a ‘Simpa Panyin’ and I don’t want to repeat the other things he said .. He is the president who has called out his critics detractors and Jeremiah. “
Countering this argument, Elizabeth Akua Ohene has described the former president as a sensitive man who can barely handle the rough course of the political arena.
For her, the former president has shown over the years without a doubt that “he knows how to insult without even trying.”
“Mr. Mahama has proven himself to be a walking, breathing and laughing insult,” he wrote in a recent article titled “Finding the Best Insults.”
The veteran journalist who appears to be on a spree to attack critics of the PNP government in an attempt to justify President Akufo-Addo’s reactions, sought to analyze John Mahama’s comments and some other abusive terms that have been employed by politicians. in the past. years.
He concluded that terms like “Dr. Dolittle”, which was used by the PNP to describe the government of the late President Mills; The naysayers and Jeremias, used by Akufo-Addo to describe critics at the NDC are not insults.
“Since President Mills is sadly no longer with us, be careful not to say anything hurtful about him, but I do not think a description of little activity during his presidency can be taken as an insult …” he wrote.
He added that “Perhaps Mr. Mahama is a man of a very sensitive disposition and cannot bear what is called the rudeness and tumult of politics and that is why he regards Dolittle, Naysayer and Jeremiah as insults.”
“While he was president, Mr. Mahama used to provide the best copy for insults that could be used against him. If someone called the candidate Mahama a dead goat, that would be considered an insult. And if you are looking for an Akyem Sakawa correlation, you should listen to Candidate Mahama: “When it comes to unleashing violence, no one can beat us at it.”
“… He said that the people of the Volta region had been a special target for a military invasion. Earlier, during the 2016 elections, he had said that “his brothers from the north,” like Bawumia, had no future in the New Patriotic Party (PNP). He knows how to insult without even trying … “
Read his full article below;
Elizabeth Ohene writes: Finding the best insults
I wrote an article for the BBC in 2010 that I called Flying Insults. So I started that article: “This is a difficult subject for me. But there are so many bad words circulating in Ghana these days that it is impossible to ignore the subject of insults. It is in the sphere of political and public discourse where things seem to get out of hand ”.
I would like your indulgence if you extracted parts of that article while trying to write about the insults in our political sphere today, ten years later. As the French would say, plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.
The president had what I call a face-to-face moment with a delegation from the Conference of Catholic Bishops when he urged them and everyone else who has been calling for a clean, non-insulting campaign to be specific and call out the abusers.
In other words, if Elizabeth Ohene insults Kwasi Anyomi Ohene, give her a call and don’t say people shouldn’t insult.
President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo cited the example of the standard-bearer of the Democratic National Congress (NDC), former President John Mahama, endorsing a reference to Akyem Sakawa.
Mahama has spoken on the subject ever since and, far from offering an apology for his choice of words, or hiding behind a claim that his words were misrepresented or taken out of context, he felt he was only matching President Akufo-Addo. in the field of insults.
According to Mr. Mahama, President Akufo-Addo long ago lost the right to complain about insults because he had regularly insulted and insulted people. Mahama cited as evidence to support his claim that while he was in opposition, Akufo-Addo had called then-President Atta Mills Dr. Dolittle and since he became president, he has called his naysayers and Jeremiah.
Closer look
As I am an expert on insults, I have been taking a closer look at these insults. President Mills was called Dr. Dolittle. I begin with the literal and obvious meaning of the word Dolittle. That is why I break the offensive word; a president was accused of doing little, he was not busy solving Ghana’s problems.
Since President Mills is sadly no longer with us, be careful not to say anything hurtful about him, but I don’t think a description of little activity during his presidency can be taken as an insult.
In other words, it is like saying that Elizabeth Ohene is 75 years old; it is not an insult.
Then it occurred to me that perhaps Mr. Mahama was taking Dolittle’s literary reference in George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion in which we have the characters of Eliza Dolittle and her father Alfred Dolittle.
Granted this is a play that premiered in London in 1913, there’s not much to get upset about Dolittle’s father and daughter characters.
So, I went to the most popular version of the play, in the movie, My Fair Lady, based on Pygmalion. That was a beautiful musical and the characters in Dolittle were lovely. Calling someone after them would not be an insult.
It’s like saying that an article written last year that had no reaction will bring the house down when the same article is published today.
I later found out that a Dr Dolittle Family / Adventure movie was released in January 2020, but whatever happened in that movie cannot be part of the current conversation.
Detractors
President Akufo-Addo calls his critics Deniers and Jeremias. According to the dictionary, a Negative is a person who criticizes, objects or opposes something.
The dictionary provides a sentence to illustrate the use of the word: “He continues to win despite many detractors.”
Another example could be: Free Senior High School (SHS) has been introduced and is working despite many naysayers. Or the Electoral Commission (EC) compiled a new voter registry despite many naysayers. I don’t see any insults there.
Akufo-Addo calls his critics Jeremiah. Here are the meanings of Jeremiah in the dictionary: An important Hebrew prophet of the 7th and 6th centuries and could add the name of a former president of the country and the popular name of many children since then.
Another meaning says: A person who is pessimistic about the present and foresees a dire future. All press conferences held by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the past three and a half years will qualify for adjudication as such. I thought that this was precisely what Mr. Mahama had been saying. An insult?
Rough
Perhaps Mr. Mahama is a man of a very sensitive disposition and cannot bear what is called the rudeness and tumult of politics and therefore regards Dolittle, Naysayer and Jeremiah as insults.
What about Mr. Mahama’s reaction to the president’s complaints? Akyem Sakawa. President Akufo-Addo is an Akyem. Elizabeth Ohene is a sheep. There is no discussion.
I go to Google to get the meaning of the word sakawa: a Ghanaian term for illegal practices that combine modern Internet-based fraud with traditional African rituals. The rituals, which are mostly in the form of sacrifices, are intended to spiritually manipulate the victims in order for the scammer’s fraud to succeed.
Flag bearer Mahama is happy to cite an ethnic group and group them together as people who commit illegal internet-based scams. And these people combine fraudulent practice with traditional rituals? And will this coincide with Dolittle, start by start, to borrow his terminology? Or will Sakawa be on the same wavelength as Jeremiah?
While he was president, Mr. Mahama used to provide the best copy for insults that could be used against him. If someone called the candidate Mahama a dead goat, that would be considered an insult. And if you are looking for an Akyem Sakawa correlation, you should listen to Candidate Mahama: “When it comes to unleashing violence, no one can beat us at it.”
And here was candidate Mahama in the Volta region during the voter registration exercise. He said that the people of the Volta region had been a special target for a military invasion. Earlier, during the 2016 elections, he had said that “his brothers from the north,” like Bawumia, had no future in the New Patriotic Party (PNP). He knows how to insult without even trying.
Mr. Mahama has proven to be a walking, breathing, laughing insult.
The writer, Elizabeth Akua Ohene, to avoid all doubts and just in case there is someone who does not know, is a member of the PNP with a card. She is a founding member of the party and served as Minister of State in the John Kufuor Administration and is currently the Chairperson of the NPP Disciplinary Committee.
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