THE ALHAJI MUNKATA SAGA: A LITMUS TEST PRESIDENT MILLS MUST PASS!

In the opinion of many of the discerning and patriotic Ghanaians, who believe in the principles of June 4, 1979, Ghanaian democracy will not survive, if President Mills’ regime were to eventually turn out to be yet another bunch of hypocrites, out to take our nation for a huge ride, in the manner some of their predecessors did – and use their positions to send their personal net worth into the stratosphere at our nation’s expense.

It is for that reason that so many patriotic Ghanaians are determined to do all they can to help President Mills succeed – so that he can leave a legacy behind that will ensure that Ghanaian democracy not only survives but also thrives.

For such Ghanaians, how President Mills handles the many serious allegations made against the minister for youth and sports, Alhaji Munkata, will be an indicator of his sincerity, about fighting corruption.

Naturally, in the light of the latest revelations, the fate of all those government appointees who spoke on the government’s behalf, about matters arising out of the episode, in which an air force plane took some government officials and their friends to watch a football match in the Ivory Coast, is tied to that of the minister for youth and sports.

Of particular interest, will be the veracity or otherwise, of the allegation about the apparent payment of some ten thousand dollars by the ministry for youth and sports, in respect of costs associated with the use of an Ivorian airport by that air force plane. As we recall, those spokespersons did claim that the costs of the trip were borne by a private company.

If that particular allegation turns out to be true, then what are we to make of the fact that we were in effect told a pack of lies about there being no costs incurred by the state, when a number of government appointees went on what it now turns out amounted to a junketing-trip to the Ivory Coast to watch a football match?

Clearly, all those officials who kept a straight face and told us what now amounts to monstrous lies about a private company sponsoring the trip must be sacked immediately – as they would have been caught in what appears to be a web of deceit they deliberately spun to hide the truth from the public about precisely who financed that trip.

Surely, they must also be made to face the music too: if they fed the public with untruths – as that would make them unworthy of holding public office in a regime that says it abhors corruption and intends to prosecute all the members of the previous regime who were corrupt?

There are many Ghanaians who often say that the private lives of public figures are none of the public’s business. However, one can safely say that one can get a fair indication of the integrity of public figures by the way they conduct their private lives.

In our interactions with others in our every-day lives, we are either both principled and honest individuals or we are none of those: and are rather unprincipled and dishonest characters – because one cannot compartmentalize one’s life and be honest in certain things and be dishonest in others.

It is invariably the case, for example, that individuals who are not honest in their private lives, and deceive their spouses by breaking their marriage vows, almost always turn out to be corrupt individuals – who are untrustworthy and thus unfit to hold public office.

If it turns out to be true that the minister for youth and sports did actually spend public funds on his girlfriend, then that alone indeed would warrant his being sacked immediately and prosecuted for willfully causing financial loss to Ghana – and he ought to be made to face the Fast Track High Court on that charge as soon as it is practicable for the Attorney General to prefer charges against him.

It is important that any wolves in sheep’s clothing who may be lurking in the Mills administration understand clearly that they were not brought into the government to steal public funds – and that they will end up in prison one day for sure if they do so. The people of Ghana are simply fed up with having corrupt individuals running their nation’s affairs – and looting our national treasury.

The idea that any minister can be as arrogant as to choose to spend taxpayers’ money on his girlfriend and then turn round to threaten and victimize the official who exposed him is just so outrageous – and any such minister certainly ought to be prosecuted.

A nation in which millions of families cannot afford three square meals a day, and in which hundreds of thousands of children of school-going age end up not getting an education, because their families cannot afford to pay for their education, is not one in which elected officials can live the life of Riley – and live playboy-lifestyles cavorting with sundry bimbos at public expense.

Ghanaians are waiting to see how President Mills deals with all those who are found wanting in this saga. One hopes that he will pass this litmus test. If the allegations are true, then he must definitely make the minister of youth and sports an example to all the members of his regime – by instantly dismissing him and asking the Attorney General to prosecute him. A word to the wise…