Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has joined the polemics club – a place he would regret showing affinity for.
He is reported to have dared the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to bring it on.
The party, he said, would surely meet its match when it opens fire on its main opponent, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He has called its bluff and reminded us about the ‘biegya’ mantra from the Montie FM stable of infamy.
The Veep is not known to love this club but with his notice he appears to have left us in no doubt about his intention to join and draw the fire as the case may be.
Sustained fire is what soldiers refer to it, albeit this is on the verbal level, nowhere near the field or target firing. It can be damaging though because by the time he comes out of the ring, he would be so ruffled that he would review his decision to return.
As the Veep, we would have expected him to provide the cooling system to reduce the overheated president as he (president) fires mostly off target across the country – his target being the NPP flagbearer.
Having been in hibernation for a long time, sometimes even forgotten somewhat, his decision to move to a Montie mode will definitely open his underbelly for fire from boys his kids’ age.
Knowing him as someone not used to the rigours of the political terrain, we would rather he stay out. But since this is the only way he can be relevant to a system from which he is hardly heard, this could be good for him but at a cost.
The NPP operatives have announced their readiness to return fire where appropriate, and have in the past few weeks maintained the course.
Their ‘babies with sharp teeth’ could give their NDC counterparts a run for their money. But in the end, it is the country’s political temperature which would be raised inappropriately and unduly.
When the Veep joins the polemics club to which his boss the president is already in and somewhat leading the charge, the game would be nastier because there would be more pebbles his opponents would hurl at him. And interestingly, his opponents know the points to hit; and we bet it could be image-denting which is why we would rather he comes out of the ring.
For someone who is more of an introvert, it can only be imagined how much fight he can manage in a political ring which is not for the uninitiated.
Perhaps while in hibernation, he has studied adequately the ropes of political insults from among others like the Montie 3 convicts whom he could have been visiting on daily basis while the gang was incarcerated.
Ghana should not have room for such unruly conduct from her rulers whose newfound love for insults is assuming a worrying dimension.
We are not surprised therefore that those who engaged in such polemics are generally rewarded for their enterprise. This is a fitting way of recognizing political and moral misconduct in a country by leaders whose conduct does not correspond with their words.