Excuse me Mr. Pianim!! Answer these questions

Kwasi Agyapong Boateng

It may sound like a simple statement but this statement raises a lot of questions that can best be answered by either President John E.A. Mills or Mr. Kwame Pianim or even better still both of them. And this is the quote:

“To me if you go to any country where there is corruption, the head of state is corrupt, if he is not corrupt it won’t happen… and fortunately for Ghana now, we have a President that at least I will put my hand in fire for that he will not steal from the people. I have seen him on two occasions give envelopes back and I didn’t see it happen under John the first or John the second but at least now we are progressing and we have a President who I think will not steal from the people.

How is he going to make sure that the people below him will also not do that; that is the question”. This is a quote from Mr. Kwame Pianim on Joy FM’s debate under the theme “Building Consensus on a National Development Agenda”. Though this is a simple quote; it has created a lot of cobwebs in my head and I would be very grateful if someone [especially Mr.Pianim] could help me clear them with his analytical brain brush.

“To me if you go to any country where there is corruption, the head of state is corrupt; if he is not it won’t happen”. This statement from Mr.Pianim to me means that Ghana has been swimming in a pool of corrupt leaders [i.e. Presidents] for a very long time. It also means that once our leader [i.e. President] is not corrupt; corruption would be at its minimal. It also suggests that once the people in a country are corrupt it automatically means that their leader [i.e. President] is corrupt. Now my simple questions are:

* Does Mr.Pianim believe in the corruption indexes and if he does how would he juxtapose his statement with the current corruption index of Ghana?
* Would someone be right to say that our current President is corrupt just because most Ghanaians are corrupt?

“And fortunately for Ghana now we have a President that at least I will put my hand in fire for that he will not steal from the people”. This means that Mr.Pianim would be more than willing to lose his hand in fire if our current President should be found or caught stealing from the people thus to Mr.Pianim, our current President would never steal from the people.

I know that Mr.Pianim is an NPP stalwart and has known Ex-President Kufuor for years; can he [Mr.Pianim] put his hand in fire for JAK for the same reason if no then why not?

1. “I have seen him on two occasions give envelopes back and I didn’t see it happen under John the first or John the second but at least now we are progressing and we have a President who I think will not steal from the people”. Okay so Mr.Pianim was there when the President gave the envelopes back to the people who brought them.

How did Mr.Pianim get to know the exact contents in the envelope: was he the giver of the envelope; is he a crony to the giver of the envelope; did President Mills discuss the contents in the envelope with him or he just guessed about the contents in the envelope?

* Is Mr.Pianim aware that attempting to bribe or influence a public officer with money or gifts is an illegal act? If he [Mr.Pianim] does, then what has he and President Mills done to those people who were attempting bribery? Have they [Pianim and Mills] reported the matter to the police? If yes; which police station and if no; why have they kept mute about the matter.

* Is Mr.Pianim suggesting that the first and second Johns are corrupt or because he just didn’t get the chance to see them with his own eyes refuse bribes, he can’t talk for them?

* How often is Mr.Pianim with President Mills at the Castle and does he think that Mills will be stupid enough to take bribes in front of him [Mr.Pianim]?

* Can Mr.Pianim draw the correlation between the President refusing two envelopes in his presence with the Progress [i.e. corruption progress] he is talking about because I can’t see it?

* “Give envelopes back?” ; Does it mean that President Mills initial received the envelopes and after getting to know its contents decided to return it? And if that was the case; couldn’t it have being that the money in the envelope was too small that is why Mills returned it?

“How is he [i.e. Mr. President] going to make sure that the people below him will also not do that: that is the question?” Anyway, who is Mr.Pianim throwing this question to; is it meant for me or my other fellow Ghanaians to answer.

If Mr.Pianim had quietly asked himself this question [i.e. Point 4] and had answered himself in a very good way; would he have come out with the kind of statement he made using the same words [i.e. Point-1]

And I would be very grateful if Mr.Pianim could humbly answer his own question [i.e. Point 4] for me.

Now to President Mills if he [Mills] thinks that this is a praise song that can be played over and over again for him to listen to and be convinced that he is indeed fighting corruption then he must re-think. Why? Because Mr.Pianim’s statement could either be used to praise or ridicule him [Mills] and his government in their fight against corruption so the earlier he [Mills] comes out to confirm or deny Mr.Pianim’s statement the better for him and we all as Ghanaians. Thus some of the questions raised could be an indictment on his fight against corruption.

For instance how can a President who claims to be fighting corruption keep mute when people attempted to bribe him and up till now those people who attempted to bribe him [Mr. President] have not being brought to book. Thus does the President know the number of people and institutions that these [i.e. bribers] people have bribed or are thinking of bribing now and in the future. President Mills should come out on this one before people start propounding their own conspiracy theories and conclusions into it.

Kwasi Agyapong Boateng
A Concerned Patriot [peekayboat@gmail.com]

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