OPINION: Spio-Garbrah, the new Team B Captain?
I have mostly known Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah from a distance. I only had a few interactions with him while he was the Minister of Communications under President Rawlings, and even criticised some of his actions in there.
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Before he eventually became a minister under Rawlings’s second term, he had been nominated for the same ministry by Rawlings during his first term but during his vetting by Parliament he was disqualified because he was not registered a voter for the elections.
When he was disqualified, some of us in the media bemoaned the fact that Spio had what many of us at that time thought was suitable for someone to become the information and communications minister, considering his rich experience in the media industry.
Not many of us, though, became too enthused with his tenure as Communications Minister, as some of us, on a number of occasions, had to raise concerns about his very arrogant postures each time he had interactions with the media. Despite the misgivings some of us had about his performance as Communications Minister, I still find Spio-Garbrah as a brave man who speaks his mind and sticks to it.
Attitude
I was, therefore, not surprised that in 2009 when President Mills left him out of his ministerial appointees, he publicly described Mills’s ministers as ‘Team B’, comparing them to the ‘Team A’ ministers under President Rawlings, of which he (Spio) was one.
At that time, many had spoken against the performance of many of the government’s ministers, and questioned their ability to function as ministers, so perhaps Spio was speaking the mind of such people.
When Spio-Garbrah described the ministers of the Mills Administration as ‘Team B’, some felt that he was only being spiteful because he was left out of the appointments.
His posture at that time showed that he was seriously against the policies and governance style of the Mills administration. But others, even from the NDC, applauded his boldness in criticising his own party’s government.
The attitude of Spio-Garbrah towards the government didn’t change much when President John Mahama took over following the death of President Mills. Again, Mahama sidelined Spio and many felt he continued with his bitterness against the government for not involving him, particularly for not giving him a ministerial appointment.
Surprise
In view of his declared stand against the government of Mills and also that of Mahama, many thought that he was not going to accept an appointment from President Mahama as Minister of Trade. In fact, he has surprised many political watchers by graciously grabbing the position with his two hands and all alacrity, indicating that he was indeed very hungry for a ministerial appointment.
Some of us were therefore waiting for him to go through vetting and assume office to help Mahama turn things around. However, during his vetting this week, many have been surprised by the high degree of cowardice he showed.
While Spio had boldly and publicly described his colleague party members and former ministers in the Mills Administration as ‘Team B’ ministers, he lost all courage before the vetting committee when he was questioned about his description of his government’s ministers in 2009.
Surprisingly and very strangely, Spio-Garbrah says he was misunderstood. ‘Walahi’! How can Ekwow Spio-Garbrah now back-paddle and seek an escape route in ‘misreporting’ and ‘misunderstanding’ of his message.
It has in recent years become the hallmark of our politicians to speak without any serious thought of their message and turn a round to blame the media for misreporting or they simply reclassify their message as ‘campaign talk’ which has no merit.
I never expected Spio to behave the way he did at the parliamentary vetting this week by stating that his message or description of the ministers under Mills as ‘Team B’ was misunderstood. At least, many of us who know a little about football know what team ‘B’ means. So how did Spio-Garbrah expect us to understand his ‘Team B’ classification?
I thought Spio-Garbrah was going to be the man that he is, and the brave man I had known him to be and stick to what he said in 2009 and admit that indeed the ministers’ performance at that time was that of team ‘B’ players. His sharp u-turn has confirmed the thinking of some people that his statement was made because he was peeved for being left out.
Credibility
For me, Spio-Garbrah has dented his credibility, not only among his fellow NDC colleagues, but some of us as well. He has shown himself to be a real coward and perhaps a political opportunist. How is he going to work with some of the ministers under Mills whom he described as ‘Team B’? Does he think they will trust him?
As a communication practitioner, Spio should have long repaired the damage he caused his colleagues before now. Having failed to do that before accepting his current ministerial appointment, he has dug his own grave as his own colleagues are going to watch his performance and compare it to the ‘Team B’ players under Mills.
From what Fiifi Kwetey and others did by way of mounting political platforms to malign people and later turning round to describe their utterances as ‘political campaign talks’, and the big u-turn by Spio-Garbrah, are our politicians learning any lessons?
As it is now, there is no doubt that Spio-Garbrah assumes office as the new Team B Captain of the NDC government, and his colleagues are very keen to pay him in his own coin by judging him by his own measuring rod. For now, I’m only imagining the atmosphere and temperature at the first cabinet meeting he will attend and the kind of reception he is likely to receive.
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Well, we are waiting to see the new Team B Captain in action soon. Come on, Spio, prove yourself as a worthy captain!
PS: Is the Ghana Police Service being responsive to the citizenry or it believes it is above the law? What about its Public Relations Department? This is the 31st week when this column has sought answers from the Inspector-General of Police over the unlawful killing of Adjei Akpor, the 22-year-old man his men allegedly killed at Adenta on January 6, 2014 but both the IGP and the Police Service have not deemed it fit to respond, neither has the service instituted any enquiry.
The widow and children of the deceased deserve justice and we shall continue this fight until the IGP and his service behave as a modern Police Service that is responsive to the public. One lawyer has graciously offered to take up this case, but the family needs funding for the court fees. Meanwhile, we are still waiting for other human rights lawyers to join in handling this case for the defenceless family, as well as philanthropists to donate to cater for the court filing and other fees.
— The author is a journalist and political scientist. He is the Head of the Department of Media and Communication Studies, Pentecost University College, Accra.
Writers email: fasado@hotmail.com
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