Before anyone is bold enough to approach you with an offer to pay for an award, it tells you three things:
- The organizers do not respect you.
- The organizers do not believe you deserve the award on merit.
- The organizers think you are corrupt enough to buy recognition.
I’m not surprised when some people complain that they were approached to pay for awards. Would anyone dare approach Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson with such an offer? No! Would anyone approach Kwesi Pratt Jr. with such an offer? No!
For the record, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson did not even know about the award. I personally called his P.A on the day of the awards to inform him that his boss had been nominated for an award, (the same awards NPP appointees were receiving quite recently) and ask that someone receive it on his behalf because he was unavailable.
Does he deserve it? Yes! His work speaks for itself. Mussa Dankwa can conduct a survey whether Atto deserves it or not and the outcome will be a resounding yes!
So once again, if someone approached you with an offer to pay for an award, ask yourself why they thought you would be interested in buying one in the first place. Maybe they think you are a thief that is why they were courageous enough to approach you. Instead of being angry at the organizers, perhaps you should ask yourself some critical question.
As for me, nobody approached me to pay for any award because they know who Kwame A Plus is. And if there is an award for the Best and Most Impactful First-Term Member of Parliament, I shouldn’t receive it but who should? You were all in this country when some people said I was going to Parliament to do nothing because NDC has an overwhelming majority forgetting that Kwame A Plus is a spirit, and an institution, not a person!
I buy my own tickets to travel to go out there to find investors. I don’t receive per diem when I travel. I pay for my hotel myself. I don’t use common fund. In fact I can use it but that money is meant for poor people-I will not use it. I use one month of planning in my first year to get all the rich men in Kwahu to think about how to reclaim Easter from Gomoa. Kwahu people make noise about paragliding. Okay, next year I will bring hot air balloons from Kenya. What will you do?
See, I even deserve an award for being a scientifically proven smart guy with common sense in commercial quantities. The many sensible people in my constituency know it, my supporters know it, and even my critics know it. I won’t die before you sing my praises. I dey blow my own trumpet “pampanana pampanana paapa papa It is paining you!”
The truth is that impact cannot be bought. It must be earned through hard work, sacrifice, results, and service to the people.
Through dedicated service to my constituency, my country, and humanity, before H.E. the visionary and sensible President ends his term, I am not hoping, but very sure that I will receive the Order of the Volta.
Until then, keep talking as my supporters and I will keep shining!
