IMANI Veep, Presidential Staffer in 'dirty' war of words

Graphic.com.gh Politics Aug - 06 - 2014 , 13:41 2 minutes read

Last Tuesday, Mr Stan Dogbe, a Presidential Aide at the Flagstaff House, and Mr Kofi Bentil, Vice-President of IMANI Ghana, engaged each other in a war of words on social media, which later degenerated into vicious personal insults.

The development came as shock to some members of Ghana's social media community who viewed Stan and Kofi as "respectable gentlemen".

It was Kofi Bentil who set the stage for the confrontation, when he suggested on Facebook that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government had the habit of lying to Ghanaians and disrespecting them.

Ostensibly angered by the comment, Stan Dogbe dared Kofi Bentil to test his credibility by contesting parliamentary elections. Dobge, who has been actively involved in shaping public perception of the government, added that Bentil would lose “miserably” if he dared embark on such a venture.

The reference to "credibility" apparently did not go down well with Kofi Bentil, who promptly fired back with a call on the Government Communicator not to be "silly":

Dogbe also raised the stakes, accusing Bentil of jealousy and envy:

Bentil then "drew blood" by implying that Dogbe was a "rapist". In April 2006, a female student of the KNUST accused Dogbe of raping her, but he strenuously denied the allegation, and the matter was eventually settled out of court.

At that point, commentators on the page expressed disappointment at the undignified exchanges and implored the two gentlemen to end hostilities, as it did not portray them in the positive light. Even the Founding President and CEO of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe, weighed in:

But Stan and Kofi said 'not just yet':

Dogbe took strong exception to Bentil's "attacks", describing the IMANI Vice-President as "intolerant and arrogant" and offering an ominous warning that he could be sued for his 'rapist" remark.