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| Funk At The Castle? |
1/5/2007 |
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With the election fever gradually crawling in on most Ghanaians, it is common place to see many people clamouring to vie for the nation’s topmost job — the Presidency.
Until the various parties settle on their actual candidates for the elections, all manner of people would want to run on the ticket of a particular party of which they are members.
Some may even dare to go independent. But can anyone imagine the celebrated KSM running as a Presidential candidate in 2008?
Save your reaction, because that itself is an issue, the honourable gentleman of comedy is battling with as he turned 50 last December.
Apart from not being sure if that is part of the mid-life crisis he is currently facing, he is sure his profession as king of comedy may affect his chances since many would take it as one of his usual jokes.
“ Why, does KSM think that the Presidency is for jokers? What does the richman’s ‘Bob Okalla’ take us for?” were the few reactions KSM thought would greet the announcement that he was going to run for President since that is how most people see him in Ghana.
To some extent, he may be right considering where and how he even chose to reveal his intentions. At his special 50th birthday show, repeated on Christmas day by popular request and dubbed KSM @50, the satiric comedian told his audience he had had this nagging thought which was gradually becoming a desire to become a Presidential candidate for the 2008 election.
At the two shows, classic by all standards and so different from all the other shows he had previously done, the host of TGIF on Metro TV gave an insight into the struggles most people of his age go through — first hand meeting face to face with old age. How does that meeting and subsequent discussions go?
He described that meeting as frightening and old age as an intruder as it visits when you least expect. The fright stems from the fact that it lays bare all the realities of turning 50.
It presents the fear of not being able to live up to expectations where, instead of relying on natural strength, men resort to stimulants and aphrodisiacs to remain sexually active.
In other write-ups, others had talked about his mastery in making the audience laugh till they held their ribs with his witty jokes, trying to make fun of all the socio-politcal issues that had come up in recent times.
However, it was his intention to bring his own trademark to the Presidency that held the audience spellbound.
Should he finally make up his mind on the Presidency, KSM intends to make the Presidency more funky to the point that it would inject some life and rhythm into the people’s lives.
To him, Ex-President Rawlings brought some down-to-earth attitude to the Presidency, President Kufuor has brought some laid-back attitude to the job that our ‘Kumasiano’ people say “Kufour ama President die aye akono.” To wit, President Kufour has made the Presidency so enticing. The result is that everyone wants to aim for that job.
Rather than play the cherished national anthem, God Bless Our Homeland Ghana at every state function, a more funky tune that would send people tapping their toes to the beat and probably do some jigs to it would precede most of his national broadcasts.
It probably would be a strategic move as being funky would appeal to the youth, who are in the majority in this land and are at the moment looking for someone they can really identify with in such a high office.
What probably would do the trick for KSM is the fact that he has already been identifying most of the major issues of great concern to Ghanaians one being the incessant power outages.
By his narration, he has already found out the root cause. By his account, anytime school children visit the control rooms of the Electricity Company of Ghana, the officers take them through the various systems.
One of them is how electricity is supplied or cut to the various areas. He vividly recounted what probably goes on in the room: “Children this is where power is supplied to the various areas.
The various switches represent the various areas. So if you want the power at Dansoman to go off, you push the switch knob up like this, if you want the power to be supplied, the knob is pressed down like this,” he quoted the tour guide as demonstrating to the visiting children.
One thing is sure. If Arnold Schwazzneger was able to leave his Rambo films to become the Governor of California, then surely, KSM could be President of Ghana.
He can count on my vote and many of the people who think like me because I want a funky President.
Story by Rosalind Amoh
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