When political office holders are cornered as Sports Minister Kofi Adams is now, they can be pathetic.
Cornered by the smelly raging visa scandal, the worst to hit the Sports Ministry which he superintends and the country for that matter, he is desperately seeking answers to the mounting queries from both the media and other stakeholders.
Some of his responses are falling short of logic.
As he tries to hold on to the weak reed to avert drowning in the choppy waters of public scrutiny, he is ready to go down with anybody who comes his way, the way of drowning persons.
The visa scandal has put too much strain on the Minister, his defence so far not enough to exonerate him. Even if the President does not relieve him of his functions as Minister, his image is losing so much deference that continuing to be in office would not inure to his benefit.
Unlike Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa who has had his party colleagues rallying round him as he too faces a financial scandal, Kofi Iddie Adams is carrying his own cross, alone and perspiring under the scorching mid-October sun.
A few days ago, Kofi Adams decided to follow Paul Adom Otchere’s Good Evening Ghana programme which zoomed in on the visa scandal.
The discussion was about the signature of Kofi. Did he sign the correspondence to the US Embassy seeking support for visa applicants from the National Sports Authority (NSA)?
For the umpteenth time, he denied signing the correspondence. This is not the time to own up so easily, not when over forty names on the media list were anything but journalists.
To Paul Adom Otchere, he rained invectives because, in his opinion, the host was being so cheap and doing the bidding of criminals. Who are the criminals? Kofi Adams must respect Ghanaians by naming those he regards as criminals. Is he referring to the company which called his bluff to come again with one of his feeble and unconvincing responses and which sought to implicate them in the scandal?
It has turned out however that although Kofi did not sign the correspondence, same was done on his behalf by the Chief Director, which serves the same purpose. Under the circumstances, the Chief Director could not have dispatched such a correspondence to the US Embassy without the authorisation of the Minister. The appended signature on the correspondence, ‘for the Minister’ is a standard when officers act on behalf of their superiors. It represents a ministerial approval.
Kofi Adams should not push the Chief Director under the bus.
Kofi Adams is really cornered but with an assurance that the President would turn his attention from the scandal, having already descended upon a scape goat, let him relax. Under a reset Ghana, anything can happen regardless of how unusual they turn out to be.