REACTION TO THE UK GUARDIAN’S STORIES BASED ON WIKILEAK’S US DIPLOMATIC CABLES LEAK: REVEALS GHANAIAN ELITE'S MANY THIRD-RATE INDIVIDUALS !

Reaction to the UK Guardian newspaper’s stories about Ghana, based on the WikiLeaks US diplomatic cables leak, by sections of the Ghanaian media, and some members of the country’s political class, illustrates perfectly, how our political and media landscapes are peopled mostly by third-rate individuals. The former Ghanaian President Kufuor’s reaction, said to have been given in an interview on Accra’s Citi FM, if true, really does take some beating – especially when one considers the fact that he did go to Oxford University (Exeter College). He is quoted in a Wednesday, 15 December 2010 www.ghanaweb.com general news web-page article entitled, “Kufuor Slams WkikiLeaks – Guardian expose” in which he makes the most outrageous statements about the integrity of the UK Guardian newspaper, during the aforementioned radio interview.

According to www.ghanaweb.com, when Accra's Citi FM’s Richard Sky asked President Kufuor whether he thought “the Wikileaks-Guardian publication was not a fair reflection of his Government’s performance” Mr. Kufuor responded: “What did Guardian say about Kufuor? And you are Ghanaian and Guardian is not in Ghana. Do you want to believe Guardian who might be paid to do something, criminal against Ghana? Is that what you want to believe?” Incredible. How can an educated man (who studied in one of the world’s best universities in the UK!), who has also been Ghana’s president before, say such an outrageous thing about a global Liberal media icon like The Guardian, I ask, dear reader? Perhaps leading a regime that corrupted so many Ghanaian journalists during its tenure has had an adverse effect on President Kufuor’s sense of objectivity – when it comes to the small matter of judging media houses and journalists?

Thanks to the duplicity of his New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime, which spent zillions of old cedis of hapless taxpayers’ cash (mostly purloined from the Tema Oil Refinery’s coffers and from the bottomless-pit of his national security minister's secret budget), to buy the consciences of so many Ghanaian journalists (and in the process making a complete nonsense of the reason for the repealing of the criminal libel laws), there are precious few journalists in Ghana who have any personal integrity. As a result of that, today, a cursory glance at the columns of Ghanaian newspapers, will lead to only one conclusion: that yellow journalism is alive and well in Ghana. It is thriving as result of the gargantuan sums funneled to corrupt sections of the media and individual journalists – a huge disservice to Ghanaian democracy. It has also caused egregious harm to the well-being of ordinary Ghanaians, and slowed the growth-processes of Ghanaian democracy. Pity. With respect, those in President Kufuor’s inner circle must advise him to weigh his words, a great deal more carefully, than he has been doing of late – lest he is included in the "A" list of the third-rate individuals who people our political and media landscapes: and are ruining the enterprise Ghana with their perfidy. A word to the wise…

Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.