Ghana - An Impulsive Sammy Gyamfi, A beguiling Agradaa, Crisp Dollars, And Outrage, Plus Lessons

Let me start by nailing my colours to the mast by stating that I’ve never met Sammy Gyamfi, the newly appointed CEO of Ghana’s newly-created GOLDBOD company.  In opposition, Sammy was an effective thorn in the flesh of the now-opposition NPP, exposing, decrying, and condemning that administration’s blatant and brazen corruption and other ills.
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This is why alarm bells began ringing in my head earlier this past weekend, when a highly patriotic and nationalistic Ghanaian made a cryptic, sad, and blunt post on Facebook condemning Sammy for getting caught on video “spreading dollars in public” – something that warranted immediate condemnation, if true.
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A quick search on Facebook showed that the headline or summary was exaggerated and not so black and white.  The incident was more nuanced than a few words in a Facebook post could explain.  In watching the video, which is less than a minute, Sammy is shown about to enter an SUV – apparently at a funeral.  We see him stop for a moment to politely  accept to take photos with the charlatan Agradaa and her husband.  
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You would think handshakes and photos were enough.  But the beguiling former fetish priestess turned self-acclaimed evangelist and prophetess, proceeded to follow Sammy as he sat in the car to make a  request for a money gift. (It takes a certain character to make requests for cash/"fuel" when they meet certain personalities.) 
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Thereupon Sammy was seen with his back to the open door – clearly unaware that he was being recorded – counting some dollars ($800  in total) to hand over to the controversial and manipulative woman.  She then, in an infantile and triumphant fashion, raised the note in the air, with the boastful declaration: “Who say woman no dey?”.
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Here a few notable observations, pointers, and lessons from this unfortunate situation:
1.  THE OPTICS:  The whole thing looked bad, ugly, and unfortunate, for two main reasons: 
1.  Sammy gave out US dollars, and not our local currency, the cedi; 
2. The requester-recipient is a notoriously loud and complicated character, who is known to have worked (or at least advocated) against the  the ruling NDC when the party was in opposition.  Many feel she should be the last person receiving any financial help from anyone in the NDC.  Many people are genuinely angry, upset, and disappointed.
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2. COMPARISONS WITH THE NPP SANITATION MINISTER WHO HAD MILLIONS OF CASH STASHED AWAY IN HER HOME:  There are some people trying to equalize what we saw in Sammy’s video with the brazen, blatant, and bad corruption of the notorious NPP minister, Cecilia Dapaah.  It is simply disingenuous to try and equalize these two situations.  It is ei-ther plain political mischief, an emotional response, or a failure to be nuanced about this incident.
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3. CALLS FOR RESIGNATION OR DISMISSAL: A resignation or dismissal should be on the cards if Sammy is proven to have 
1. Committed a crime; 
2. Contravened/Violated the president’s code of conduct for appointees; or 
3. Stolen the gifted dollars from state coffers or through some corrupt means.  
At this moment, none of these preconditions are met.  It is extreme to call for Sammy’s resignation or dismissal, which would be tantamount to using a Kalashnikov to swat a mosquito – not “the general.”  On the other hand it would be worrying if the public does not express outrage and disappointment over his poor judgment.  Our people are watching.
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4. COMMON PRACTICE: Let us all be frank to admit that political figures and persons of substance are constantly being approached by people with financial requests.  Personally, many of those who approach me with such requests would first flatter me with titles like, “Honourable,” “Boss,” “Daddy” or “Your Excellency” before launching into the most heart-tugging request for money.  Sometimes the requests are such that you immediately wonder if not obliging would make the requesters go out and spread disinformation about me as a tight-fisted, selfish and ungrateful person.  Sammy Gyamfi is not the first – and will not be the last – person in the public space to give money to those who ask.
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5. LESSONS:
A. WISDOM IN INTERACTIONS:  Certain persons, certain characters, and certain personalities must be kept as far away as possible from our unsuspecting ap-pointees and public officials.  They can make officials take certain dubious ac-tions without realizing it.  Some characters must be avoided, as best as possi-ble, because they can easily get you into trouble, without even trying.

B. ZERO OR LOW TOLERANCE FROM THE PUBLIC:  This should and must serve as a valuable lesson for all appointees and public office holders, that the discerning and conscientious citizens and voters do not want to see/hear anything that smacks of monetocracy, irresponsibility or corruption, even if it is during an im-pulsive moment of generosity.  The people are vigilant.  I do not envy the next public official who will be caught up in any such money-related incident.
  
C. THE CEDI:  Many people resent the fact that Sammy appears to have a ton of dol-lars in his car that he could so generously give to characters like Agradaa.  Maybe 8000 cedis would not have attracted as much opprobrium as 800 dollars.  Some are also questioning how Sammy came by those dollars and why he was keeping so much cash in his car.  

D. EYES AND CAMERAS EVERYWHERE: We don’t want our public officials to be-come paranoid and overly-sensitive in public, but there should be greater aware-ness that whatever you do in the public sphere, even with the best of intentions – will be easily captured and shared.

E. THE FINAL SAY:  Sammy Gyamfi has rendered a sincere and unqualified apology, expressing regret over the incident.  The Presidency can now decide to take any commensurate action to deal with this unfortunate indiscretion.  This could take the form of a reprimand, a fine, or some form of community service.  But dis-missing him would not be in the best interest of Ghana and Ghanaians.  He de-serves a second chance, in my humble opinion.  All appointees should learn and be guided.

Source: Ben Dotsei Malor