Happy and sad

Yesterday has been a happy and a sad day all wrapped in one. Let’s start with the happy part of it. My day began with a splendid conversation with Reverend Osei Kofi.

This man needs no introduction but given our country’s demographic profile, it is possible that some Ghanaians may never have heard of him and his exploits. So, here is a brief history.Rev. Osei Kofi, who is now a Christian pastor, was once the best footballer in Ghana and possibly in Africa. He won credit for inspiring Ghana’s second AFCON cup in 1965 staged in Tunis, Tunisia, where the Black Stars defeated the hosts in the final game.

He was the joint top scorer in that tournament. Known as the “wizard dribbler” for his skills, the Koforidua native once turned down a fortune to play in the United Kingdom where a leading team wanted to sign him on. Now, 80 years, Rev. Osei Kofi is a regular pundit on a football programme on Peace FM radio.

The brief 20-minute conversation I had with him revealed that he has lost none of his enthusiasm and intelligence. His love for Ghana is abundantly clear. He shows no bitterness that he spurned a fortune for the sake of a country that hardly honours its heroes. In fact, the conversation centred on his memoires which will come out soon. He regaled me with tales from Ghana’s history with a recall memory that is cinematically precise.

This conversation led me to wonder why we don’t have the tradition of using former top players as commentators and pundits in Ghana. Most people who speak on football “authoritatively” in the Ghana media would probably find it difficult to tell their left foot from the right on a football pitch.

Their analyses are often pedestrian and biased and no better than what any fan would say. Some are sports journalists who do well with backgrounders, histories and so forth, but because they did not play the game at a high level, they are unable to provide personal examples and insights of their own. We have many articulate former footballers in Ghana. They will enrich our football on the pitch and in the media.

So my conversation with Rev. Osei Kofi was uplifting and joyous but it was not long before something different spoilt my mood. Over the past few weeks, I have been thanking God that so far, overt partisan politics has not been introduced into issues around Covid-19. My prayer was that this trend would continue while we all manage this disease and while the government provides the lead as the focal point in this endeavour.

Last Tuesday, former President John Mahama gave various gifts to 20,000 household in various parts of the country. Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Mr Mahama alleged that the government was distributing food to those who showed New Patriotic Party (NPP) “party cards”.

He provided no evidence in his speech. My reaction to this was gut-wrenching pain at the thought that the floodgates were opening for partisan politics to complicate the already difficult management of this pandemic.

There are two sides to this allegation. Either the government party, NPP, is guilty as charged, which is bad; or the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is making the allegation to be heard, which is also bad. It is a lose-lose situation.

There is a video making the rounds of Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings distributing food to some people in Accra. That is not a bad thing to do, especially for a Member of Parliament but the video clip shows her furiously repeating the allegation of “party card” for food without any evidence. If she provided any evidence, it was not captured in the clip making the rounds.

At this point what one has to say is to call on the government to ensure that food being distributed to people in need will be shared according to need and not party affiliation.

If the NDC has any evidence to back its allegation, it should not only make it public but make the most serious representations to the government and the Council of State.

All over the world, responsible government and opposition parties are teaming up to find solutions to this deadly pandemic which is the most serious challenge we have faced since we became an independent state.

There will be time yet for politics. Cool it now.

Nana K.G-A