Prof. Ransford Gyampo
A heated debate has erupted between Prof. Kwaku Azar, a lawyer lecturer based in the United States and Prof. Ransford Gyampo, the Current Managing Director of the Ghana Shippers Authority, over the concept of neutrality in Ghana’s politics.
The two academics have clashed over the role of neutrals in holding the government accountable, with Azar accusing Gyampo of being disingenuous about his own neutrality.
Ransford Gyampo who led University Teachers Association (UTAG) to numerous strikes during the previous administration only to grab a juicy appointment at the inception of the Mahama administration.
According to Kwaku Azar, “The so-called neutrals were far harsher on the current president during his first term than they ever were on the former president who just left office.”
He argued that this pattern has played out time and again in Ghana’s politics, with the so-called neutrals being historically harsher on the New Deliverance Congress than the Noble Progressive Party.
Ransford Gyampo, a Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, however, fired back at Azar, stating, “Not even your failed and incompetent paymasters who paid you 100 cedis a month to be insulting people that even your parents respect and want to meet so they can learn from, can bait us from speaking against a government that is less than two months old.”
He emphasized that his conscience cannot be swayed by partisan interests.
Kwaku Azar countered Gyampo’s statement, saying, “Their true intent is far simpler and far more mischievous. It is their way of whispering to the masses: ‘Ah, see how quiet they are now? Where is their fire? Where is their criticism? Have they been bought? Are they now compromised?'”
He argued that this approach is either mischief, an attempt to rewrite history, or an open confession of being newcomers to the political scene.
The debate between Azar and Gyampo has sparked a national conversation on the role of neutrals in Ghana’s politics.
While Kwaku Azar accuses Gyampo of being disingenuous about his neutrality, Ransford Gyampo insists that his conscience cannot be swayed by partisan interests after grabbing a juicy appointment from Mahama.
BELOW IS THE FULL STATEMENT BY KWAKU AZAR:
Neutrals, Yaanom, and the Politics of Convenience in Umuofia
In the great land of Umuofia, where politics is a national pastime and hypocrisy is sometimes mistaken for strategy, a curious phenomenon has been unfolding.
A few Yaanom, those ever-zealous partisans who see politics not as governance but as war, have developed a new hobby. They now call upon the so-called “neutrals” to comment on the state of affairs under the new president.
But let us not be deceived, my brothers and sisters. These calls are not born out of any genuine interest in governance, policy, or the sacred duty of keeping power accountable.
No, no, no!
Their true intent is far simpler and far more mischievous. It is their way of whispering to the masses:
“Ah, see how quiet they are now? Where is their fire? Where is their criticism? Have they been bought? Are they now compromised?”
This, of course, is either sheer mischief, a desperate attempt to rewrite history, or an open confession that they are newcomers to the political scene.
Because, if we are to speak the truth in Umuofia, we must say it without fear or favor: the so-called neutrals were far harsher on the current president during his first term than they ever were on the former president who just left office.
Yes, you heard that right. It is not just about the presidents. This pattern has played out time and again in Umuofia. The so-called neutrals have, historically, been harsher to the New Deliverance Congress than the Noble Progressive Party. This is not an opinion. It is a fact, written in the winds of political memory.
And if we are to be even bolder, let us state what many fear to acknowledge: the departing president’s undoing was partly due to the long rope that these same neutrals gave him.
Ah, what a rope!
So long that he could jump, dance, even swing from it—thinking himself untouchable—until, alas, he tied himself into knots.
The very lack of early, piercing criticism allowed him to believe he could get away with things that no New Deliverance Congress regime could have dared to attempt. And in the end, it was that false sense of security, that dangerous complacency, that hastened his downfall.
But let there be no confusion: neutrals do not need any urging to question wrongdoing. It is their nature.
Their conscience does not answer to political summons.
But, and this must be emphasized, they will not be co-opted into the business of propaganda, nor will they manufacture outrage where none is warranted.
A government that is barely two months old must first govern before it can be called to account.
And who, indeed, are these people demanding outrage so soon? Many among them have no moral standing to issue such calls. If they had even a shred of self-awareness, they would quietly take a seat at the back of the room and allow time to cleanse them of their own sycophantic afflictions.
But this is Umuofia, where the pot is always calling the kettle black, and those who shouted themselves hoarse in praise of the last regime now demand absolute vigilance from the very people they once scorned.
The dance of hypocrisy continues, but the neutrals, as always, will dance to their own tune.
Da Yie!
-BY Daniel Bampoe
