๐๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐๐ผ๐ฟ
Delayโs interview with former President John Agyekum Kuffuor brought yet another timeless lesson.
Before that, let me be honest: I followed Kuffuorโs presidency closely, partly because my guardianโs family were die-hard NPP. I admired his early seriousness about holding officials accountable for corruption.
But I was not impressed when โNo tolerance for corruptionโ somehow became โCorruption has been with us since Adam.โ And the cronyismโฆ state lands and properties quietly ending up in the hands of party bigwigsโฆ
That said, listening to Kuffuor explain why he resigned from the PNDC government has brewed in me a new respect for him.
Kuffuor narrates that Rawlings spoke down on ministers during a cabinet meeting, shouting at them as though they were criminals or suspects, not colleagues. Even before that, he felt the PNDC leadership was disorganised and lacked clear policy direction.
And so, despite being a minister, he resigned.
๐น ๐๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐, ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ปโ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ถ๐บ.
And remember โ it was a military regime.
๐น ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ.
๐น ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ โ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ.
๐น ๐๐น๐น ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ผ ๐ด๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ณ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ.
Think about that.
There were very real personal and professional risks โ and yet he resigned.
๐น He could have stayed quiet.
๐น He could have played along.
๐น He could have endured humiliation just to protect his salary and political career.
But he didnโt.
He resigned.
๐น ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ถ๐๐.
๐น ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐.
๐น ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐.
Today, people want us to believe that loyalty means bowing to bad leadership, defending destructive policies, and silencing voices of conscience. Those who criticise wrongdoing from within are labelled traitors, sellouts, and disloyal.
๐๐โ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ! ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐.
We have more professors and PhDs in government than ever before. We should be more critical, more independent-minded, and more civilised than our forebears.
Instead, we are loud and proud about destructive “obedience”. We glorify partisanship and blind loyalty to party over country.
Kuffuorโs resignation is a reminder: principle still matters.
๐ฌ๐ฒ๐โ๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ.
๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐.
