By Isaac Ato MENSAH
Accra – 16 January, 2019
Nana Appiah Mensah, aka NAM 1 has operated a Ponzi scheme and is in trouble together with his employees.
What is there to defend about this shameful unethical conduct?
‘He who defends everything defends nothing,’ said Frederick the Great (FREDERIKUS).
Long before Frederikus, philosophical enquiries into all matters which the human mind can ponder have been debated and sound ethical judgements given.
But here we are in Ghana, playing political football or spinning the subject of legal and ethical breaches into obfuscation.
When are we going to join the league of nations that are serious; nations where when a company deceives the public, it feels a moral impulsion to return clients’ monies or replace a product or face the full rigours of the law?
This article is not directed at NAM 1 nor his employees at Menzgold; it is directed at the political parties who trivialize and muddy the serious matters which their respective political administrations incompetently failed to address.
There are so many messages flying about on social media for and against NAM 1.
A not insignificant number of these are sponsored by politicians to discredit each other, no doubt.
Our politicians do that all the time; that is their stock in trade, but ethical voices have to speak up and be counted.
Where is the Institute of Public Relations Ghana (IPR-Ghana) in all of this?
Is political communication their concern; is it practised by their members or not?
We live in a country where IPR-GHANA has successfully lobbied against individual non-members being employed or awarded contracts by corporate Ghana.
They have rightly succeeded in getting corporate members into their fold who demand membership of IPR as part criteria for employment into PR roles.
What is the rationale behind that? Is it not to prevent unprofessional and unethical practice?
So why do they dodge and hide when issues of serious national interest such as this fool’s gold matter that has plagued this nation for months?
It used to be the case that in times like this, the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) will speak.
When they started dodging due to political influence the public called on them to speak.
Then the National Peace Council (NPC) provided an alternative moral voice.
Oh, there was the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) too, sometimes hot and sometimes cold.
Suddenly, there is is silence; no official position from these groups to inform the public.
Whatever rankings we give to these groups, IPR-GHANA has yet to solidify its relevance as a moral voice on political communication in Ghana.
Maybe it is time to call on IPR-GHANA to give the public some answers.
Yes, IPR-Ghana is a private organisation, BUT it has corporate members some of which were established with the tax payer’s money.
And when these corporate members advertise for PR positions, they add membership of IPR-Ghana as a requirement.
Is it not high time IPR-GHANA showed some “corporate responsibility” over this Menzgold spin doctoring matter?
We can offer them some suggestions;
First, identify and reprimand all political parties spinning this Menzgold scandal to their advantage.
Second, any IPR member working with these political parties should be summoned to an IPR public relations forum to submit position papers and answer questions.
Third, such IPR fora to espouse sound PR principles should be held monthly.
Fourth, suspend the membership of all members who promoted Menzgold in any form.
Fifth, publish clear guidelines on the practice of political communication in Ghana.
Sixth, tell the nation clearly if any of its ethical guidelines aka Code of Athens has been breached by its members in the political parties acting overtly or covertly.
Seventh, investigate these breaches and make the reports public.
Eighth, ditto all the above for the Ghana banking scandal.
That should provide a useful and meaningful work schedule for the IPR over the next several weeks.
A thorough execution and the public sharing of the results will certainly brand the IPR as a professional institution with an enlightening and public spirited agenda. Not so?
And of course, we are ready to offer our expertise to uplift the quality of our public discourse.
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Writers and Shakespeares Ghana Limited exists to be a moral and intellectual guide to the best practice of PR and integrated communications around the world, beginning with Ghana.