Book REVIEW: The Man, the Myth, the Maybe: Reviewing 'The President Ghana Never Got' by Manasseh Azure Awuni.
Introduction
On Thursday August 08, 2024, Manasseh launched his book titled the
‘‘President Ghana never got’’ at the Christ the King Church, and I was present.
Prior to the launch date, Manasseh and his team had mounted a spirited
publicity across mainstream and social media, with the author labeling the book
as being ‘‘explosive.’’ Typical of Manasseh, trust him to pique people’s
interest using vivid imagery, sometimes exaggerated diction and style, just for
traction. I had wanted this preliminary review to be on just the event but
after having read almost 50 pages, I can’t help but to state that all that
Manasseh has done was to put his blog posts and media reports into a book. So
far, and especially on matters he had misconstrued as being scandalous, he had
not made any additional findings except for his repetition of media reports and
the comments by CSOs, as well as his own.
Contents.
At the event, some sections of the book were read. Some of the
statements were quite damning to a point where the readers had to jokingly
issue disclaimers. I wasn’t surprised that Manasseh will describe the book as
being explosive. I have read many of his articles and watched enough of his
documentaries to know how good he is at playing on people’s emotions with
words. Truly, anyone who thinks he/she will find something beyond
rumormongering, personal attacks, tribal bigotry, bare face lies, exaggeration
and body shaming, should rather stay off the book. If the author claims his
piece is explosive then it is to the extent that it attacks President Akuffo
Addo and especially his cousin, Ken Ofori-Atta. For instance, in the book
Manasseh repeatedly accused Ken Ofori Atta of being the main architect behind
the SML contract without providing a scintilla of evidence to back such claims.
(p.274). He also repeated the discredited lie that SML’s consolidated contract
was for a 10-year period (p.267). Even with the benefits of hindsight, Manasseh
callously repeated this misinformation and failed woefully to provide any
evidence, just as he has always done in some section of the media. Again, some
of the book’s chapters, in my view, are so unfair to the persons involved.
These include ‘‘Debt Paying Ministerial Appointments & Why Akuffo Addo
Hates Reshuffle; ‘’A short man born on a Tall Anthill’’; ‘‘How One Supreme
Court Judge was Appointed to Appease Another’’, Murder, Arrest & Exile:
Woes of Journalists Under Akuffo Addo.’’
Context of the Book
In a Joy News interview on August 07, 2024, Manasseh admitted that he
felt he would be unable to meet his deadline if he was to go through the
procedure that had been suggested to him by the President’s lawyer and Gabby
Otchere Darko to have an interview with the President. Knowing that the current
political climate bodes well for his book, he did not want to take chances.
This should obviously expose the political nature and political currency that
the author wants his book to carry. If there are any positives I have picked
about the book, then it is the recounting of some events in both our
contemporary and historic politics. No wonder the Review was done by the Head
of the Political Science department at the University of Ghana, who joined the
publicity efforts at a point. Don’t get it wrong, everything about the diction,
direction, style and substance of this book makes it political. Sadly, the
business entities referenced in the book will have to pay a political price,
nonetheless.
Security at the Event
It was almost 30 minutes to
the program and preparations were dutifully underway with young men and women
now trying to mount booths and get the place ready for the event. I had entered
the hall without a single security check. From the gates into the hall, there
was no clue that any proper security arrangement had been made. With all the
pre-launch hype and talk about the launch of an explosive book about the
president that Manasseh is convinced has been intolerant of journalistic
freedom, one would have thought that the chief architect would take steps to
protect his audience, which included many distinguished persons, across media,
academic, civil societies and many others. Sadly, that was not the case.
I kept wondering how someone who claims to be a victim of an
unfriendly political climate would organize a book launch a few meters away
from the presidency and have no visible or traceable sign or semblance of a
security plan. The only plausible answer I could give to my curious mind was
that perhaps Manasseh, as usual, has either been overexaggerating the perceived
threat on his life or he truly did not care about the security risk, if any,
that his patrons were exposed to. Sadly, this exaggerated view is what
dovetails into so many international standards, including Press Freedom and
Good Governance Index, which have not served the reputation and international
outlook of the country well.
Manasseh’s Speech
During his speech, Manasseh stopped at nothing cataloging the
challenges that he has faced in the journey as journalist. He did not mince
words demanding of authorities to ‘tolerate’ journalists, even when they did
not like them. Listening to him, I get the sense that, as has been the
disposition of most people in the Civil Society circles, these individuals
think civil activism should qualify them for unfettered access, freedom of
expression, even to a point of no accountability. In his speech, Manasseh vividly
recounted all the challenges he has faced owing to what he describes as the
intolerance of the current political regime towards dissent. Indeed, in page 16,
he states ‘‘I have been one of the worst victims of Akuffo Addo regimes’
crackdown on journalistic freedom’’. If truly this were the case, how come
Manasseh could gather courage to speak to people that are within the closest
echelons of the President, who his latest book is profoundly critical of?
Someone who claims has been threatened to a point where he had had to seek
asylum in South Africa, Germany and United States, is the same person claiming
to have spoken to the people within the inner closets of the president,
gathering materials for the book. Isn’t it bewildering?
Conclusion
If you listen to Manasseh speak and with some of his exaggerated
narrations and accounts in the book, you will think that Ghana is either on the
brink of collapse or at its worse state of insecurity. As I brood deeply into
these issues, I am compelled to ask the following questions:
1.
Was Manasseh just being
irresponsible by ignoring all his perceived security threats that he and his
patrons could be exposed to, when he organized a politically exposed book
launch without any proper security detail?
2.
Given all the different places Manasseh has
been opportune to travel to and the people that he has met in the course of his
work, could it be said that Manasseh truly profits, financially and
professionally, from his exaggerated stands on matters?
3.
How does Manasseh convince
anyone that after having successfully concluded several interviews with people
within the corridors of the political establishment, he can still claim he has
been victimized by this regime?
4.
Will it be unfair to conclude
that Manasseh’s decision to launch this rather damning book a few months into
the elections be construed as amounting to political sabotage?
5.
How do you convince me that out
of numerous journalists who have been critical of this current administration,
Manasseh and a few of his ilk are the only persons that have been singled out
for victimization. How about Kwesi Pratt, Bernard Avle, Randy Abbey, Umaru
Sanda, Kojo Yankson and many others, even the ones that have brutally attacked
the president’s person?
Some of the CSOs and
Journalists must know that as they demand accountability, the same measure of
accountability will be required of them. The adage that he who calls for equity
must come with clean hands must be true for them, and when people demand the
same, they should not, in the interest of fairness, cry foul.
More on the contents soon.
#KingofComms
Comments
Post a Comment