The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, says if the former Forestry Commission boss, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, were alive, he would have amassed more wealth than the ones contained in the document purported to be his will.
According to him, politics in Ghana has become a money making venture where people enter to enrich themselves, instead of serving the interest of the masses.
Contributing to discussions on the news paper review on the AM Show on Monday, he told host, Benjamin Akakpo that, the current crop of leaders in the country have lost their desire for service and have become more concerned about wealth accumulation; citing the case of the late Forestry Commission CEO, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as ‘Sir John’.
“The truth is that our politics is just a moneymaking venture and so those who go into politics, basically what they’re doing and what they’re saying is that I’m going to look for money, if my party wins. And for those who are in power, it’s about how much wealth they can amass. We all see what the late Sir John has been able to acquire within the period of time that he was given the political position.
I don’t think that anyone can say that before he became the CEO of the Forestry Commission, he had no house or something like that. But we’re talking about the houses and when they were acquired; 2017, 2018 and 2019. And I believe that if he were still alive, perhaps, we would have seen additional houses, maybe additional forest reserves and so on and so forth acquired. And people have said, if this is what Sir John made, then there are others whose will look as fat as the Bible or the Quran”, he said.
He added that, “[Politics] is just money making. And those who’re there, young or old know that I’m into this to make money. It’s no longer about serving the country. I don’t think that any of our leaders today is really committed to serving our country. If it were the case, I don’t think that we would have been seeing the kind of things that we see today”.
In expressing his reservations about the nature of politics in the country, Mr Braimah opined that the situation appears to be getting worse under President Akufo-Addo.
According to him, even though President Akufo-Addo was projected as an incorruptible man before he became President, the prevailing situation in the country bears evidence to the contrary.
“If President Akufo-Addo was indeed committed to serving this country in the best of interest, I don’t think he’ll go and be demolishing houses to go and construct a cathedral. I don’t think that the levels of corruption that we’re seeing, we’ll see it the way it is now.
I don’t think that we’ll have a minister outside the country for 8 months and still hold on to her position as minister and a crucial ministry as that of women, children and gender and social protection. So I think it’s more about the enjoyment of the power, the enjoyment of the money that comes with it, the opportunity to amass wealth and all of that”, he said.
Earlier last week, the late Forestry Commission CEO, Sir John became very popular on social media, following the release of a document, which was purported to be his will.
As a sequel to the document, the Fourth Estate’s Manasseh Azure Awuni, published a full report on the will of Sir John, which triggered widespread conversations about the quantum of his wealth.But reacting to the public sentiments and outcry, a former aide of late NPP stalwart, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as ‘Sir John’, expressed his reservations about the ‘unbridled public commentaries’ on the will of his former boss.
Charles Owusu, a former assistant of Sir John, said he was appalled by the way Ghanaians have criticized Sir John, following the publication of a document, purported to be his will.
Speaking in an interview with Asempa FM’s Philip Osei-Bonsu (OB) on Ekosiisen, he lamented in the local twi dialect, about the manner in which the will of his late boss, has become an item of public ridicule on social media.
According to him, throughout his life, he has never witnessed such a distasteful scene where the will of a deceased is treated with gross contempt.
He therefore urged Ghanaians to be cautious in discussing the matters related to the late former Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Sir John; adding that, dead men do not talk.“When he was alive, we all knew him. The most painful thing is that, if he were alive, I’m not sure all these issues will come to the public domain. I’m not sure we’ll level the kind of allegations we’re throwing at him. But dead men don’t talk.
