By Isaac Ato Mensah<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Accra \u2013 Monday 27 July, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) includes essays that involve a real world scenario, specifically, the newspaper extract of something some CEO has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The candidate will then be required to give a critique of that quote, while suggesting what additional information will be needed to make the quote complete and solid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Watching Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana\u2019s Minister for Finance, in that viral three-minute video extract of an interview he granted on Peace FM\u2019s \u201cKokrokoo\u201d programme on Friday after the mid-year budget review presentation, we are amazed by his blatant whataboutery on the Kroll scandal; Ken Ofori-Atta is influenced by and immersed in rudimentary groupthink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking in a mishmash of Twi and English, Ken Ofori-Atta told Kwami Sefa-Kayi, the host:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Senior Minister [Yaw Osafo-Maafo] said that the way the evidence is, it is not something he could release so if you like come to the office and examine it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I also do not properly understand why this Kroll matter alone should be an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the matter of six billion or so that could not be validated, that one too there were plenty of people to be surcharged on the local level and mostly would have been the past government\u2019s people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How come COCOBOD\u2019s matter alone has resulted in this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we do our work, we should allow a bit of mutual respect and discuss things before we escalate it\u2026..because it is not every wrong I see that I bring out otherwise I won’t be able to focus on my work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I hope we can understand each other and move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ofori-Atta\u2019s response shows not only a lack of respect for the interview process through his poor preparation, but also the \u201cwhataboutery\u201d typical of ghanaian groupthink within the corridors of power, among the middle class, in the media including social media, and \u201ceverywhere else you turn\u201d, as my mentor has sadly observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ofori-Atta\u2019s response was flawed; he knew the listeners had no evidence of the particular comparisons he provided for them to make informed judgements; and he was pleading an alibi in a post hoc fallacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a nutshell he implied, admitted and justified wrongdoing at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, the current administration\u2019s chief apologist, had explained on Face to Face on 21 July on Citi TV that \u201cwhen the Akufo-Addo government took office\u201d Ofori-Atta submitted to the auditor-general for vetting \u201cI believe\u2026.11.8 billion\u201d which had seen prior approval within various ministries, and when the auditor-general \u201cdid the audit\u2026.over five billion\u201d were \u201cquestionable\u201d and were not paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe auditor-general would have normally, ordinarily seen it after it had been paid,\u201d Gabby explained,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
suggesting that the current administration has been transparent to a fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then he charged: \u201cI will also question the auditor-general, who is on leave, that why, how come, with all the stuff that he has to do, your focus has been on Kroll and Associates?\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, there are \u201c3 Simple Habits to Improve Your Critical Thinking\u201d courtesy of Helen Lee Buoygues the renowned business leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c1. Question assumptions 2. Reason through logic 3. Diversify thought\u201d, she wrote on hbr.org on 6 May 2019, adding, they \u201cmay sound easy\u201d but are \u201crare in practice, particularly in the business world, and too many organizations don\u2019t take the time to engage in robust forms of reasoning. But the important work of critical thinking pays off\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She also warned against \u201cgroupthink\u201d and emphasised the importance of diverse perspectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many decades after my mentor has warned and continues to warn students and the ghanaian middle class \u201cDon\u2019t think, just know; you do not know enough yet to think\u201d, public discourse has still not risen to where the media and the middle class know the rubrics of asking and answering simple questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clearly, we can only start making sustained progress when we all embrace the methods that allow us to engage in critical thinking, otherwise the mediocrity will continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feedback: ato@writersghana.com; www.writersghana.com; LinkedIn, Isaac Ato Mensah; Instagram, @atomenswriters; Twitter, @Atomens; Facebook, Writers and Shakespeares Ghana; Telegram, Isaac Ato Mensah; Quora, Isaac Ato Mensah; WhatsApp, (+233) 020 022 0353.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Writers and Shakespeares Ghana Limited exist to be a moral and intellectual guide to the best practice of PR and integrated communications around the world, beginning with Ghana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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