The season is here again. It is that time of our four-year election cycle when many political actors open their mouths and vomit all manner of words before thinking about their implications. Some call it the “campaign season”; but I will prefer calling it the “silly season”.
The silly season is the period of political campaign and is characterized by all manner of loose talk, propaganda, defamation and outright insults by political actors and their media attack dogs. They make outrageous and unpardonable comments knowing very well that they are wrong. But they make them anyway, hoping to be forgiven because it is the silly season.
But for the silly season, I’m sure the gentle Amissah-Arthur wouldn’t have vomitted pure gibberish from his very honourable mouth. He is reported to have made the “one-insult, get-two-free” comment. Is it, therefore, any wonder that the attacks on Nana Addo have recently been intensified by the “sharp-teethed babies”?
Am I surprised? No, I’m not. It is pretty obvious that the Vice-President is trying to impress his boss, whose stock-in-trade is insults. After being outshone by his counterpart on the other side in economic matters, the only way to stay relevant is for the ineffective Vice-President to vomit pure claptrap. After all we are in the silly season, aren’t we?
Having failed to make any significant impact with their insults, the ruling Zu-za has resorted to fabrication of stories to tarnish the image of Nana Addo. The party planted a story in the Africawatch, a US-based magazine edited by Steve Mallory (real name, Raymond Poku) portraying the Osono presidential candidate as a sick man and unfit for public office. The story said he had acute kidney problem, a serious heart problem and chronic prostate enlargement.
I’m not a medical doctor, and I don’t pretend to be one. But the little I know about the above mentioned diseases is that a person afflicted by any of the three deadly diseases cannot be crisscrossing the ten regions of the country the way Nana Addo is doing. An uncle who is battling a chronic prostate ailment couldn’t help saying, “Nana Addo is super human to be afflicted by these three deadly ailments and still have the strength to go round the country and campaign.”
In the meantime, Nana Addo is up North making achievable promises and giving hope to the hopeless in this hopeless economy. The “one-village, one-dam” policy for Northern Ghana will definitely boost agricultural production, which will in turn improve the financial standing and living standard of the people.
The skeptics are postulating all manner of theories to discredit the policy. Why not? It is their right to disagree. But why don’t they proffer alternative policies and stop the character assassination?
Talking about character assassination brings to mind the immediate past Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rev, Professor Emmanuel Martey. How he was tongue-lashed by the sharp-teethed babies! His only crime was that he had the nerve to reveal that some politicians had once tried bribing him with a house, a vehicle and a whopping USD 100,000, which he rejected.
It is worth noting that the former Presby Moderator never mentioned any name. It is, therefore, revealing that it is only those standing under the eagle-headed Umbrella who seem unhappy with the revelation. A clear case of a person wearing a cap that fits perfectly, isn’t it?
The silly season has once again given political comics like Hassan Ayariga the opportunity to exhibit their comical prowess. He recently organized a press conference and said a lot. But it all amounted to one thing: NOTHING. Even my three-year-old son could tell the man is a political stooge.
We may be in the silly season. Political actors and their stooges may continue to insult or exhibit their comic skills. But the electorate is not bereft of common sense. We simply can’t afford another four years of “create, loot and share” under the reign of greedy bastards.
Unlike superhuman Nana Addo, I’m only suffering from a mild cough and a slight headache. Fortunately for me, Dr Hassan Ayariga has a cure for both. His “Ayaricough” mixture and “APC” pill would come in handy.
See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!