An Open Letter To U. S. Senator Hank Johnson

Dear SenatorJohnson,

I shall go straight to the point: For the sake of  the ordinary people of our homeland Ghana, you must persuade the U.S State Department to issue an immediate travel  ban, on Hon. Kennedy Agyapong. Sir, the painful reality of our society, is that our nation's only hope, in the fight against high-level corruption, is a free press. We cannot rely on our political class to do so willingly. A Rght to Information  Bill has languished  in Parliament for over a decade, for example.

By his barbaric actions over the years - including publicly revealing the identity of Ahmed  Hussein-Suale - who was subsequently murdered - Kennedy Adjapong has acted in ways that constantly jeopardise  the stability  of Ghanaian democracy. Reckless politicians like him must be stopped from finally tipping  our country  over the precipice.

In any serious nation, he would have been expelled from Parliament, and from his political  party, long ago. Yet, he continues to wield considerable  influence in  our country  - mostly through the issuance of public  threats  that amount to holding the governing party (ironically a political party full of decent men and women frightened of this ogre) to ransom.

Sir, please do everything in your power,  to get the U. S. State  Department  to place  a travel ban on  Hon. Kennedy Adjapong, as soon as  practicable. And,  for good measure, get  your counterparts  in the European Parliament,  to do same too.

That is the only way to get verbally-aggressive  politicians like him in our country to understand clearly that they cannot play fast and lose with the human rights of journalists in Ghana, without attracting international opprobrium, which  stops them from traveling to the U.S. and Europe  - and also results in the freezing of their offshore  bank accounts  and assets  too.

Enough is enough. We refuse to be cowed by the powerful people in Ghana who instigate violence against journalists. Help those of us within Ghana's media fraternity, who do not fear the barbarians in the midst of our nation's political class,  to empower our younger  colleagues to stand up against these would-be oppressors - hypocrites  posing as believers in democracy:  but who  in reality are greed-filled oligarchs, who brook no opposition to the realisation of  the selfish ends they seek, in our fear-laden society of today. Haaba.

Thanks.

Kind regards,

Kofi Thompson