<<Print>>

Ever since the rape allegations about KKD broke, I have monitored with keen interest � reading and listening to virtually every single argument in this case. I am privy to concurring and contrasting medical, legal, psychological and social arguments about the merits and demerits of the allegations. I do not intend to take sides, though undoubtedly I have a bias. A bias which will not cloud my objectivity but about which I will speak regardless. �KKD � the finest� has been a mentor; his composure, finesse, style and impeccable command of the Queen�s language is very admirable. As an MC (something which occupies my Saturday afternoons lately) I must admit he awes me anytime he is on the Mic. I have learnt a trick or two from him and trust me, he is good! When the social media rumors started filtering in, in usual fashion, many including myself wished this was a hoax especially as it was getting increasingly obvious that despite the massive campaign waged to #freeKwawKesse it would take the miracle of his frail health to get him just a bail. We didn�t want another �#freeKKD� movement. The summary of facts as presented in court was that KKD had sex with a young lady of 19 years without her consent. She obliged his request to help him make-up to host a fashion show and it happened in a bathroom at the African Regent hotel aka Kufour hotel. Well, he has admitted having sex with her, but he claims it was consensual. And because you and I were not there, lets leave the courts to determine their claims. What has caught my attention in the past few days, however, has been the incessant attempts by people of all manner of backgrounds to punch holes into the young lady�s allegations. The lady whose pictures had been published all over was on TV3, vehemently denying she is the victim in this case. So who really is Ewuraffe Orleans Thompson, the lady at the center of this scandal? Well, people have questions and I want to attempt responses to some. Some blame the lady, pictured wearing a white dress with a lowly cut back for bringing the ordeal on herself � for dressing that way. Hmmm, Ok. Others question her motive for agreeing to help out with make-up duties when she probably is not a professional. �Why didn�t she shout so the other two in the living room area could hear her and come to her aid?� �If she was raped, did she immediately complain to the other two or to the hotel management?� Well, on face value, these questions and many similar ones are cogent but AND SO WHAT? If armed robbers robbed you because you bought a new TV and carried it shoulder high instead of concealing it in a car booth, are they justified? Is it not robbery? If she isn�t a make-up artiste yet agreed to help; if she kept quiet during the act and failed to complain immediately after, does that mean the sex was consensual and it cannot be rape? There are several psychological studies that document different ways people deal with trauma. Some freeze and don�t utter a word, others after such an ordeal may never utter a word about it to anyone. So what answers are we on the streets really demanding? Oh and I just watched a PR gimmick of a CCTV video of the accused and complainant, supposedly romancing (though we don�t see it on the video but only read of it in a sub title) �before going to have sex�. So if a woman romances a man, she can�t change her mind and say No to Sex later? Or because she started, she must necessarily finish what she began without protest? I find it rather condescending and vile, the avalanche of attacks aimed at this young lady. Far from admitting her story as the truth, have we thought of how many others may not have the �balls� to withstand this public ridicule and so will just keep quiet and suffer in silence? We are gradually becoming a nation of intolerant sycophants. If a newspaper reports that a pastor defiled or raped a lady, we are quick to judge; yet if it�s a celebrity, then the lady is to blame. In a country where no media house will pay a dime to break such an exclusive story, I wonder what the motivation of this young lady is, if truly she wasn�t raped. Imagine Monica Lewinsky or the lady who accused Dominque Strauss-Kahn of rape were Ghanaians. We would have forced them to retract and even apologize to their offenders. In the midst of all this brouhaha, let me phone my kid sister of similar age and assure her that if in the middle of the act and even close to his climax, she wants him to stop and she indicates it, she shouldn�t mind what the public will say, it is called rape and rape is never consensual � and we will go to court! Where is the bathroom CCTV video though? Twitter � @Pasinoman BLOG: Pasinoman.wordpress.com EMAIL � [email protected]