WE believe many are surprised at the news of the deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), William Quaitoo, tendering in his resignation and the president accepting the resignation without any reservation.
The former deputy minister’s action is very unusual of our public figures and thus the surprising aspect of it.
INDEED, there have been numerous instances where government officials erred and in some instances, embarrassed the entire nation and their offices. Ordinarily, in some of those instances, those officials should have resigned from their positions. They did not but instead, they damned the consequences and stay on to save their jobs.
IN the case of Mr. Quaitoo, his resignation follows alleged disparaging comments he made about northern farmers. The former deputy food and agriculture minister’s comment attracted loads of bashing from a cross section of Ghanaians and particularly some unimpressed northerners with some calling on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to relieve him of his post. According to Mr. Quaitoo, he tendered in his resignation in order to bring peace among those offended by his comments.
IN the wake of that distasteful comment, he is on record to have rendered an open apology which apology was not wholly accepted by some.
FOR instance, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sagnarigu, Alhaji A.B.A. Fuseini, averred that he would not accept the apology of Mr. Quaitoo because he felt the damage from those comments had already been done. The same was with Presidential Staffer, Clara Napaga Tia Sulemana, who stated that Mr. Quaitoo’s apology was not enough.
FOR us at Today though we believe what Mr. Quaitoo said was highly unnecessary, we think he has done the honourable thing by resigning. It is our hope that the resignation would put the matter to rest so we can move on as a country.
CAN we learn any lesson(s) from Mr. Quaitoo’s situation and his subsequent resignation? Yes, Today believes a lot of lessons can be learnt from what has happened to the resigned deputy MoFA minister.
FIRST, there is the lesson of how public officials must conduct themselves. A public figure must know what to say and what not to say, especially where their pronouncements may have negative impact on national cohesion and cast the image of the country in bad light.
OUR public officials must know that their action and inaction should unite us as a people and as a country aspiring to grow and develop.
NOW that Mr. Quaitoo has resigned honourably, we want to use the opportunity to call for a ceasefire, and expect that the matter will be put to rest. More importantly, it should also serve as a wake-up call to government officials on how they conduct themselves.
