Many years ago when I was growing up, most commercial vehicles were made up of Bedford mummy trucks. One fascinating thing about those vehicles were the inscriptions found on them. It was observed that most inscriptions were done according to the state of the vehicle, for example a fairly new vehicle usually had words like Sea Never Dries, Envy No Man, I shall Return, Chop Time No Friend, Otan ni aduro (Hatred has no remedy).
Popularly among the inscriptions on old and rickety vehicles were: Poor no Friend, Ele Mawusi (It is in the hands of God), W’ano pe asem (You like Gossiping) and “Onipa Hia Mmoa” (Man Needs Help).
Stephen Atta Owusu in his feature article, “Inscriptions on Vehicles – Funny and thought-provoking”, tells a story about a chief who unreasonably collected levies from drivers entering his town. One aggrieved driver wrote in front of his vehicle: “The Chief in this Town is Stupid”, Some elders of the town approached him and advised him to erase the inscription immediately since the chief will not be happy to see such insulting inscription. The driver erased it and replaced it with “STILL”; implying that the chief was still stupid.
Stephen continued with another hilarious story: A driver who hated Rawlings for ordering the shooting of the senior Army officers in the former government, wrote in front of his lorry, “May God kill Rawlings”. The police arrested him during a road-check and took him to the police station. He told the police that he had not finished the sentence when the paint got finished so he was on his way to buy more paint to complete it. Surprisingly, the police allowed him to go and complete the sentence and come back for inspection. He hurriedly went home and added, “enemies” to the inscription to read: May God kill Rawlings’ Enemies.
There is growing concern globally about the need for anyone who wants to lead a country to declare his or her medical status because of the consequences of having a sick person as president. It is believed that terrorism has escalated today because of the wrong decision taken by George H.W. Bush with regard to the Gulf War which experts think was influenced by ill-health.
President Bush was reportedly diagnosed with hyperthyroidism around the time of the Gulf War, and it is believed that the disease made him more aggressive, and that affected his ability to think.
Sadly enough, there is astounding revelation of cover-ups when it comes to the health of presidents. History has it that Grover Cleveland, the 24th president of the United States concealed his oral cancer, and managed to smuggle a surgeon and his team onto a friend’s yacht to remove a tumor from the roof of his mouth during a smoke-screen fishing expedition in 1893.
The most recent of such cover-ups that comes to mind is one involving the Late President Evans Atta Mills. At a point when it was very obvious that the late professor was very ill, his handlers made him jog on the tarmac at the Kotoka International Airport to prove his fitness; but unfortunately, he died a few weeks later!
Nana Akufo-Addo has on several occasions fallen down, and it has been whispered about that he is very ill. Not too long ago, the Africawatch magazine in it’s August edition published a detailed and revealing report about the health status of him to the effect that he is suffering from life-threatening diseases including prostrate cancer, acute kidney injury, and an enlarged heart.
Steve Mallory, the editor of the Africawatch magazine, is a confidante of Nana Akufo-Addo who led Friends of Nana (FONA) in the US to raise funds for Nana’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.
Interestingly, the personal medical doctor of Nana Akufo-Addo has come out to rubbish the report. He said on Joy FM’s News File show about a week ago that the claims by the Africawatch magazine is false and do not have merit. If that is the case, then such damaging report by Steve Mallory cannot and should not be glossed over. One could quibble here and ask: why is Nana Akufo-Addo not suing Steve Mallory and the Africawatch magazine?
Another question begging for an answer is: why does Nana Akufo-Addo travel abroad after each round of campaign? As I write, according to a press release by the press secretary of the NPP flag bearer, Eugene Arhin, his boss left the shores of this country in the early hours of September 9, 2016, for the United Kingdom to attend a birthday party of his nephew, and is expected back on September 25, 2016.
What sort of Ananse story is that? Almost three solid weeks to attend a birthday party of a nephew, at a time that the 2016 campaign is heating up? This one paa diee, I can’t think far, and I can’t think madness! Is there something the handlers of Nana Akufo-Addo are trying to hide from the public?
I wish to state here, and now that the Office of the President is very demanding and stressful; and requires someone who is fit to take up that job. It is, therefore, not unreasonable for those who seek that office to provide medical records showing that they are physically strong enough to do the job they seek.
I want to believe that ailing presidential candidates take such unfortunate risks because of pressure from their political parties and handlers. There is, therefore, the need to help them to stay alive because Onipa hia mmoa. For this reason, I am challenging all presidential candidates for this year’s election to undergo a health examination conducted by a team of independent doctors to avert any future disaster. Never again!
This call must be the fulcrum of this year’s presidential election, and I will volunteer to lead a pressure group to ensure that this important exercise is carried out. President Mahama is a friend and a brother to me; but if it is established through this exercise that he has a life-threatening ailment, I will advise him to step aside, and if he goes ahead to contest, I will vote against him because I love him and I want him alive.
