<<Print>>

Ernest Owusu Bempah is not the kind of politician President John Evans Atta Mills would like to invite for dinner. Not so when the young man is the Director of Operations of the Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings (FONKAR), the political grouping which has been vociferous about the declining state of governance in the country. The grouping has served an effective bulwark against the humiliating treatment and offensive remarks being unleashed on the party founder Jerry John Rawlings by President Mills, through his hounds. Inadvertently however, President Mills, in a feat of subtle rage, has elevated the FONKAR young man into an instant hero. The President had the young man kept behind bars for two days because of an allegation he hurled against his better half. The truth is that Ernest Owusu Bempah, the budding politician who has been longing for an opportunity to catch the political limelight, has now got it, albeit by default. His many radio station appearances, sulking about the debasing of the ideals of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of probity and accountability in his estimation, have not achieved for him what the arrest of last week did. He is said to be in high spirits, relishing the unexpected cause c�l�bre dropped on his laps. Today, he is the most sought-after political character in his class, courtesy of an Atta Mills gaffe. Media persons want him to talk about what really transpired as he was held by the security agents on the orders of the powers that be. Until further notice, his words would grab the headlines of leading newspapers in the country and it is justifiable. Many would want to find out the treatment he received in the dungeons of the BNI and perhaps how, just when he was about to be asked to go home after writing his statement at the CID headquarters, someone received an order from above that he be detained. His release on Friday cut short the hunger strike element he has introduced in protest politics. We bet Ernest Owusu Bempah would have loved to continue with the abstinence. Pertinent questions are being posed regarding the arrest, detention and the non-appearance of the young man in court and then his sudden release. The conclusion by many who have been compelled to follow the development since Owusu Bempah�s arrest and eventual release is that the action was a show of power by the Presidency. Had there been a sincere quest to determine the authenticity of the allegation which led to his arrest, Ernest Owusu Bempah would have been arraigned. This way, a court of competent jurisdiction could have adjudicated; anything short of this, as witnessed last week, is an undermining of the rule of law and indeed an affront to the democracy which we are all striving to enhance. It was yet another abuse of power and the security apparatus by politicians who find themselves at the helm. What a shame!