Opinion: Ohene Agyekum: A true Diplomat

Having grown up in Kumasi, I saw Ohene Agyekum several times on television when he was Ashanti Regional Minister. But I never met him personally but I finally met him last weekend in Virginia and I must say he is a true Diplomat and down to earth person. His attitude and interaction with the Ghanaians at this gathering was just remarkable. This man never brought politics during the interactions and never distinguished between NDC and NPP. I must say politically, I lean toward NPP but I have to give credit where credit is due.

Unless you knew him before, you would never know that he was the Ghana Ambassador to the United States. He refused to be treated differently by serving his own food and eating outside with the rest of us with his hand. These were just ordinary Ghanaians. He spent about two hours at this gathering and he never mentioned politics even though some of us tried to bring it up.

I eavesdropped on a small conversation he was having with a lady, who I later heard is one of the NPP leaders in the Washington DC metro area, about his alleged acquisition of properties in the Virginia area. What this NPP lady was telling Ohene Agyekum was to ignore those allegations against him because she could vouch for him in anywhere that those allegations were not true.

I was later told by a reliable source that the lady came to admire Ohene Agyemkum when she met him at his residence in Maryland. The lady thought their meeting was going to be all about NDC and NPP nonsense back home but about four hours she was there, Ohene Agyekum never brought politics into their conversation but how the lady and Ghanaian community in Virginia were doing? He told her the major complaint he hears from us when he visits northern Virginia is the difficulty of getting green card through marriage nowadays. This lady came from the residence of Ohene Agyekum so dumbfounded and highly respectful of the man. I too had the same experience last weekend.

You do not have to be NDC card holding member before you can have an audience with him and that is something our leaders back home should emulate in order to move the country forward. I also hope our Ambassadors in other countries are exhibiting the same kind of selflessness, kindness and approachability to Ghanaians in the various countries they are representing without politics. The man is just approachable to every Ghanaian in the United States of America.

Ohene Agyekum is a true statesman and a true Diplomat and Ghanaians in the United States should be happy to have him as our ambassador.

By Kwaku Poku
Virginia, USA