Among the clique of people surrounding Akufo-Addo, who ill-advise him, solely to be able to achieve their selfish interests is Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo.
Yaw Osafo Marfo, who readily changes his attitude like a chamaeleon, is a bully, power conscious, misuses power, and has negative ethnic sentiments towards other ethic groups, most particularly, against Ashantis.
On 20 January 2020, the British Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson paid an official visit to Ghana. Upon his arrival, followed later was a function, after which was a pose for the cameras with President Akufo-Addo, the vice-President Dr. Bawumia, Yaw Osafo Marfo, and the first and second ladies of Ghana. Unusual against protocol settings, Mr. Osafo Marfo pushed the vice-President, Dr. Bawumia to the rear, standing with the two ladies, while Osafo Marfo took the Veep’s position in the front role by flanking the British PM on his right hand side, and Akufo-Addo on his left hand side. Vice-President Dr. Bawumia, was made standing innocently like a hapless pupil in obeisance right behind his bullying “master” for the moment, Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo. It is most probable that such might not be the first time that Yaw, the bully, has usurped the position and role of Dr. Bawumia, as vice-President.
Osafo Marfo’s negative ethnic sentiments and as a typical bully have had expression as he has managed to impress on his Achimota school days junior, President Akufo-Addo, to distance himself from NPP big wigs in the Ashanti Region, while indeed, these are, without any prejudice, people who are full of political strategy, and political wisdom all the days from the United Party era, who could put right most of the erroneous political miscalculations of President Akufo-Addo, and to make the NPP stand firm in unity.
Voter apathy in particularly the Ashanti Region did not spring up out of nothing, it has its generated teleological sources, of which only one has been mentioned in this script.
Yaw Osafo Marfo is in fact, and without mincing words, the most mischievous brain behind the all-Akyem/Akuapem dominated Akufo-Addo’s first term administration that has registered such a big time failure.
Yaw Osafo Marfo, as Finance Minister in the Kufuor administration, was the one who in 2001, claimed to have contracted for a US$2 billion loan for Ghana from a hairdressing shop at a location only God knows where, near Shepherds Bush in London.
While in Washington DC, it was this same glib-tongue Yaw Osafo Marfo who in his unilateral apology for the deportation of Aisha and Ellen Hwang, told Ghanaians in the USA and the world that, the two Chinese sisters were excused punishment in our penal institutions for having exploited Ghana of a massive magnitude of Gold, and rare specie Rosewood timber, and were rather deported in order to save a US$2 billion Sino-China deal. This claimed apology was quickly rebutted by the China ambassador to Ghana, and rubbished as a pure fabrication and a concocted story from the imagination of Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo.
In wasteful attendance from Ghana on that executive trip was the then Wenchi MP and Planning Minister, George Yaw Gyan Bafour. It was during this encounter that a concerned and patriotic Denver, Colorado-based Ghanaian resident, and an anti-galamsay campaigner, Prof. Solomon Owusu cornered “Mr US$2 billion fanatic” Yaw Osafo Marfo with a “heavy downpour” of pertinent questions, and brought the Senior Minister down to his knees.
In a subsequent visit by President Akufo-Addo to the USA, Solomon Owusu was by plan, at all costs excluded from the conference hall where the President would be addressing his mainly Ghanaian audience. Sesqui-size ultranormal body built guards were detailed to keep Solomon Owusu at bay at the entrance, which they did execute well.
Yaw Osafo Marfo has been doing more harm than good in the already loaded Akyem-centred and failed Akufo-Addo first term administration.
Will he continue with the same trend during his second term as President?
Your guess is as good as ours.
The secretariat of the 1956 UP tradition committee
