Kwesi Pratt from up close: Mercenary journalism is the new national security threat (OPINION)

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Kwesi Pratt Jnr
Kwesi Pratt Jnr
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A video that recently went viral shows the hypocritical self-styled senior journalist visibly agitated over nobody-knows-what. Mr. Pratt who is often oblivious of his own contradictions was livid over what he called inflammatory remarks by leading politicians, hypocritically selected from his enemy camp.

Admittedly, many silly remarks have been made by both sides of the divide (majority coming from the bad losers) in the wake of the 2020 elections, which the NPP won. These remarks shouldn’t as a matter of basic courtesy come from any adult with proper upbringing. Some of the culprits have been former Presidents and MPs, some national security coordinators and Ministers of State. The crime of the peace loving citizens of this country is that they have decided to renew the mandate of a government that has delivered on many of its promises.

But Mr. Pratt distinguishes himself among the nation wreckers. He fell short of declaring war in that infamous video. This is a journalist who warns about the dangers of inflammatory remarks, and yet, had the temerity to publicly ‘declare the results of some imaginary electoral victory among the security services’ for the main opposition party. Many right thinking Ghanaians saw this tomfoolery as a veiled, treasonable incitement to the men in uniform after he and his deep-pocketed sponsors failed in their devilish attempt to spark street riots. It is perplexing that the hypocrite failed to address the inflammatory remarks made by Candidate John Mahama, Larry Gbevlo Lartey, Peter Otukunor Boamah, Aseidu Nketia, Victor Adawudu etc. Till date many of these guys are all over town extolling their ‘revolutionary’ credentials and brandishing their violent track records, and at the same time promising to unleash mayhem on Ghanaians until candidate Mahama is declared the winner of an election that he has been roundly rejected. The golden age of objectivity has collapsed under this curious brand of contradiction. Mr. Pratt needs to get this clear: nobody will hand over the people’s mandate to people who want to rule by conquest. Nobody can and should try anything silly. This cannot be classified as inflammatory.

The likes of Mr. Pratt are many and they represent all that is wrong with our current dispensation-hypocrisy and/or greed. In journalism and public advocacy terms they come across as good as any regular group. Yet they are mercenaries for hire. They blarney the public with stuff which when properly unveiled point to only one thing: narrow, self-interest commercial gain. They don’t wish the country well. They have their stomachs as the main motivating force. Gossip, lies and blackmail, directed at all including lying to international agencies, are familiar tools they regularly employ.

Indeed, they even give each other out in pursuit of self-interest. Readers who are old enough will recall an interesting event in the early days of President Kufour’s rule. In that interesting episode Ambassor Alhaji Harruna Atta MOV accused a senior journalist of taking $125,000 bribe. Mr. Pratt hopped from one radio station to the other, crying and yelling. The two are now comfortably in one camp, and are united by commercial reasons against objectivity. It is trite knowledge that giving equal weight to both sides of an argument is an easy shortcut to demonstrating objectivity; Mr. KwesiPratt fails this basic test worryingly, and shouldn’t be entertained by any serious mind.

For me, the convergence of the mutinous duo in the camp of the National Deception Congress is thus not surprising. What is surprising is the childishness in thinking that when they start an inferno only the perceived enemies will be consumed. How is this difficult for a ‘No Mahama, No Peace’ disciple like Mr. Pratt to understand?

Charlatans!

By Seth Osei Darko – | Opinions do not represent the views of Daily Mail GH

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