Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s recent lament over the passing of Ernest Kumi is a masterclass in selective sympathy. With solemnity, he attributes the late Kumi’s death to the emotional toll of a court case initiated by the NDC. He speaks of sleepless nights, raised blood pressure, and the cruelty of political prosecution. But what he fails to mention,what he dares not confront,is the trail of torment his own government left behind.
If sleeplessness is now a metric of injustice, then let us count the nights James Gyakye Quayson spent fighting for his right to serve. Let us recall the years of legal warfare waged against him, the relentless court appearances, the character assassination, the electoral sabotage. Quayson was not just prosecuted,he was persecuted. And not by accident, but by design.
Under the watch of Bawumia and Nana Addo, the machinery of state was weaponized against dissent. Opposition voices were not debated,they were silenced. Appointees were not challenged,they were removed. Citizens were not protected,they were profiled. The rule of law became a tool of vengeance, not a shield of justice.
Where was this compassion when NDC members were dragged through courtrooms for daring to win elections? Where was this empathy when activists were brutalized for speaking truth to power? Where was this moral outrage when journalists were threatened, when judges were intimidated, when the very soul of our democracy was put on trial?
Dr. Bawumia’s sudden concern for political casualties rings hollow. It is not grief,it is performance. And it is not accountability,it is deflection. You cannot mourn selectively and call it leadership. You cannot erase your own record and call it righteousness.
If the Vice President wishes to speak of pressure, let him speak of the pressure his government placed on the judiciary. If he wishes to speak of intimidation, let him speak of the fear his administration instilled in civil society. If he wishes to speak of loss, let him speak of the trust, the dignity, and the democratic integrity that were lost under his watch.
Ghanaians are not forgetful. We remember the arrests. We remember the court cases. We remember the silence that followed every injustice. And we remember who stood behind it.
So let us not be lectured on compassion by those who governed with cruelty. Let us not be shamed by those who weaponized the law. And let us not be distracted by crocodile tears when the country still bears the scars of their rule.
History will not be rewritten by press conferences. Truth will not be buried by soundbites. And justice will not be mocked by those who once denied it.
Let the record speak. Let the people remember. And let those who inflicted pain be the last to preach about it.
