I have followed Mr. Paul Adom Otchere’s back and forth presentation for the past few days in respect of Togbe Afede’s decision to return his ex-gratia to the State.
Initially, I thought it was not a good idea for Togbe Afede to clarify the issues on Joy Fm and that there was no need for any clarifications.
However, with Paul Adom Otchere rushing the following day after Togbe granting the interview for the discerning public to hear his side of the story and also to defend his personal reputation and integrity, it became very obvious that Paul Adom Otchere had an insidious agenda and sinister motivation for what he was doing and hence Togbe was right after all to be heard on Joy Fm.
When Togbe made allusions to Paul Adom Otchere as behaving like a “stomach journalist”, it was evident that Paul did not understand why Togbe may have made any such remark to personify him based on the response that Paul gave that, “Does it mean that when he supports Akufo- Addo, he is labelled as stomach journalist but when others support John Mahama , they were not stomach journalists?”
Why? Togbe never said Paul was a Stomach Politician. So why the reference to Akufo – Addo and John Mahama who are bonafide politicians and not journalists? Clearly, this suggests to me that Paul knew that people may definitely be thinking along those lines, so he had to quickly do damage control and do what amounted to pre-emptive defence of himself and his ulterior motives.Some years ago, a popular presenter, journalist and lawyer by name Mr. Nii Addy Clegg also faced such a similar situation and encounter with Paul bordering on deliberate character assassination and just as Togbe remarked that he was shocked by Paul’s behaviour towards him because Paul knew him personally and as such wondered what might have been his motivation for doing what he did, Nii Addy Clegg also made similar remarks. He also wondered why his bosom friend Paul Adom Otchere would do something like that against him.
Why do I find Paul’s behaviour repugnant, unprofessional and devilish? It is because Paul oftentimes indulges and mostly promotes one -sided text messages being read on his “Good Evening Ghana Show” without occasionally moderating with contrary views and text messaging by his hand-picked backstage staff who supports him doing live airing and telecast of his show. As such, it is evident that Paul encourages one-sided views on his show and that often spurs him on to continue his rantings and ravings and frequently justifying his assertions on issues in comparison and in reference to Nana Akufo-Addo.
For instance, Paul asserted that Togbe Afede was not above criticism even though he was his friend, and that even Akufo-Addo’s close friends and acquaintances whom he knew also personally have on numerous occasions criticized him and told him what he did wrong.
The question is, if Akufo-Addo’s friends could go to him personally to express their displeasure at some of the things he does, why couldn’t Paul do same by going to Togbe as he himself has told the whole world how close he is with Togbe? Clearly, this suggests to me that Paul has insidious ulterior motivations for publicly ridiculing Togbe Afede.
What is even more deadly about Paul’s behaviour is the fact that, the basic tenets of journalism which I would describe as “Journalism 101”, although I am not a Journalist and would not pretend to be one, I believe is the fact that before a professional Journalist publishes a story on any individual or personalities, you SHOULD first contact the other side for clarification and responses before going public.
This lack of basic journalistic probe by Paul is extremely serious because Paul is not just a friend of Togbe. Paul has unimpeded, unfettered and unrestricted access to Togbe at any time as he himself claims and Togbe also confirmed. It could even have been pardoned for journalists who didn’t have access to Togbe.
So why did Paul NOT contact his own friend, Togbe Afede before going public? There must have been obvious ulterior motivations.
As is often said, in everything one has to give thanks because when Paul thought he was discrediting and ridiculing Togbe Afede by publishing his attendance records at the Council of State meetings, little did Paul know that something positive could be gleaned from his fortituous assertions and analysis as it personally struck me that Paul had inadvertently actually projected how competent Togbe was during his stinct as a member on the Council of State.
Togbe Afede served on the Council of State from 2017 to 2020 (4years), and also chaired the Economic Committee of the Council. A cursory review of key macroeconomic indicators such as currency exchange rate, inflation etc. during that period show a positive and excellent record as compared to the current and prevailing macroeconomic indicators between 2021 and 2022. The current picture appears abysmal and offers no hope.
This suggests that immediately Togbe left the Council of State things began falling apart.
The significance of this is that the Council of State need not have or convene countless daily meetings and regularly drink tea and coffee to be effective and be wise Councillors of the President and by extension the Government.
Strangely, though Paul sought to juxtapose that in 2020 which heralded the COVID era where the Economic Team needed to work hard
and assiduously to fix the economy, Togbe Afede’s Economic Committee only had one formal meeting and as such met only once.
However, with all due respect to Paul Adom Otchere, this appears to be a very nonsensical assertion and warped analysis since during the COVID period most people worked from home and effectively resorted to telephone conference calls and Zoom video conferencing. Or is Paul telling the whole world that alternative forms of digitisation and teleconferencing are not recognized as official? Clearly, this confirms to me that Paul has a hidden agenda and sinister motivation far bigger than the reference to to him as “stomach journalist”.
Finally, Paul should know that Togbe Afede no longer serves on the Council of State. However, names and personalities listed by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as NPP economic team members are still available and serving, and as such Paul should remind them of their abysmal and disappointing stewardship and performance on the fast depreciating Cedi and rising inflation levels.
By the way, all these indicators were very positive under Togbe Afede’s chairmanship at the Council.
They should rather be attending hourly and daily meetings to fix the exchange rate and inflation rise since Paul seems to be asserting that there is a positive correlation between holding regular meetings to make an effective leader deliver results.
J. A Manso