Tuesday, April 30, 2013

“Let me congratulate you…. You’ve been asked to RETURN BACK to your job” - Tony Lithur goofs



The saying is “show me your friend and I will tell you your character”. It is also said that “birds of the same feathers congregate together”. When we were in school, anytime a teacher makes a grammatical error, one of the students will shout, “bullet” and another will respond “take cover” and everyone will pretend to run away from the unseen enemy.

On Tuesday, 23rd April, 2013, the President’s lawyer, Tony Lithur took us back to the days of D.C.Kwakye when in congratulating Dr. Bawumia on his new appointment with the African Development Bank (ADB), he made this unpardonable grammatical slip, “You have been asked to RETURN BACK to your job”. 

On sober reflection, I asked myself what legacy the NDC wants to leave for our children. You will recall that a few months ago, the Women’s Organizer of the Nefarious Destructive Cancer, Anita de Souza had made the same grammatical slip. I wrote a piece on that and received hefty blows left and right from core members of the NDC.  Yesterday, it was Anita de Souza; today it is Tony Lithur. Tomorrow, it might even be the …….
Is “return back” the legacy the NDC wants to leave for the youth of this country? Knowing the way the NDC operates, it will not be a surprise to see “RETURN BACK” creep into our dictionary, albeit through the back door. After all, one of the Deputy Ministers is on record of having said that if you see a goat, say you have seen a cow and if you hear the sound of a mosquito, say you have heard the sound of a helicopter.
Yes, this reminds me of another thing. It is the consistency with which Counsels for both the Ist Respondent and the Second attribute the “defects” in the Pink Sheets to either “administrative” or “clerical” errors. Is return back an administrative error?

Afari Djan should be committed to prison: The Supreme Court made an order to all parties in the on-going petition to make their presentation in the form of sworn affidavit. The petitioners have responded but the EC and the First Respondent have not attached any document to the petitioners.

Readers should recall that the EC had filed a writ before the start of hearing to allow it to provide the documents after the NPP has closed its case. That was rejected by the Court. Is this another way of achieving this nefarious plan which it couldn’t get in the open through the back door?

Comments by Asiedu Nketiah and “Sir John: I see everything wrong with attempts to gag the General Secretaries of the two litigating parties from commenting on proceedings of the Supreme Court at the end of sittings. The people love those comments and any attempt by whatever power will not do the public any good.  The repetition of questions and answers make the proceedings very boring and the people need some form of fun to let out their pent up feelings. In fact the two characters usually cut a comical picture of themselves when they are interviewed. They sort of serve as comic relief. Yes, they do for the duo present different dimensions to an otherwise boring session. They view the proceedings from their own fast diminishing prospective. So whatever they say is not based on the reality on the ground but what they want to hear and see. They are entertainers and they have been living up to their assigned roles. I give kudos to the duo of Asiedu Nketiah and Sir John to continue doing what they know best.

Failure of Presiding Officers to sign Pink Sheets: Yes, a Presiding Officer can determine the outcome of an election if he/she does not sign the declaration paper. The fact that an agent signs or doesn’t sign the Pink Sheet will not invalidate the result of the election. But if a Presiding Officer goes on that tandem, the results will be annulled. 

What gives legitimacy to an election is to have it gazetted by the Returning Officer. The Law makes it mandatory for the Presiding/Returning Officer to write his name and then sign/append his/her signature in the appropriate columns. If they are not important, why are the columns provided?

Can you write an application without your name and signature?  How can they identify the applicant? Again, can a Presidential Directive announcing the reshuffle of his Cabinet be enforced if there is no signature of the President or the person mandated to issue the directive? Can an appointment of a person be validated if it does not have the signature of the employer or the officer designated to sign the appointed letter?
Is it possible to withdraw a colossal sum of money from the State Coffers without the signature of the Accountant General? How can a Judgment be enforced if it does not have the signature of the Justice who gave the verdict? If a contract does not have the signatures of the various parties entering into the agreement, it is unenforceable.

So if a Presiding/Returning Officer does not sign the blue sheet or declaration sheet, it renders the results invalid. This is as simple as ABC.

At Polling Florensa Hotel A and B Polling Stations near Alhaji, the Polling Station Officers and the Police on duty drove away the Polling Agents of the various political parties while they filled in particulars which had to be entered into the respective columns before the start of polls. They were only allowed to go to their observers’ posts just before election started. Under such circumstances, how do you expect the agents to know what was written on the pink sheets?  

We should also not overlook the fact that in some of the polling stations, counting and recounting took much time to complete. Some of the stations finished the counting and recounting after 10pm. The agents of various political parties were very tired and just signed the declaration forms without bothering to find out if the writings in the various columns conform to statutory regulations.

Will a transcript sent from an Institution to another be accepted if it does not bear the signature of the Registrar or the person designated to do so? Again, how will you categorize a Certificate, Diploma or Degree which does not have the signature of the awarding institution? If such Degree/Diploma were to be presented to the office of the President, would it be accepted?

Appointment of Dr. Bawumia : Mischief was the prevalent motif on the mind of the Editorial Board of the “Ghanaian Times” when it came out with its lead story that the Running Mate of the Presidential Candidate of the NPP in the December, 2013 Presidential Election has been offered appointment by the ADB. There couldn’t have been any other reason apart for the one enumerated above.

 In the first place the timing was wrong. Since when did the Ghanaian Times get the information of Dr. Bawumia’s appointment? Why did the paper announce the appointment when Dr Bawumia was giving his testimony at the Supreme Court? By that publication, the paper sought to create the impression that Dr Bawumia has realised the hopelessness of the NPP’s petition before the Supreme Court and wants to jump ship midstream. 

True to type, papers in the NDC’s stable took up the cue and gave their own connotation to the appointment. For example, Kwadwo Adu Asare, the “deposed” MP for Adenta was on air to allude to the fact that it was Dr Bawumia himself who applied for the position. This is a blatant lie, and I dare Kwadwo Adu Asare and members of the Ghanaian Times Editorial Board to come out with concrete evidence if they are men and women of conscience.

What these hatchet men and women deliberately refused to state was the fact that Dr. Bawumia, being a golden fish has no hiding place. The meritorious service rendered by the Running Mate to the NPP Candidate in the December 2012 Presidential Election is verifiable and indelible. That could not have been overlooked. The good work done by this whiz kid to revitalize the economy of Zimbabwe was what has opened a new chapter of opportunity for him. He is being sent to achieve similar feat in Uganda whose economy is in the doldrums as a result of a civil war in the country.
I t must be made abundantly clear to the Nefarious Destructive Cancer and its hired press that Dr. Bawumia did not apply for the position which has been offered him by the ADB. “If a child washes his hands well, he eats with kings”. It is also said that it is the way a child stretches his hands that meat is given to him/her. Dr Bawumia has dined with angels and the latter are appreciating him with this appointment. He is yet to make his position on the appointment known.  The PHD syndrome must stop so that sanity prevails.
Orchestrated attempts to manipulate the December 2012 Elections: The so-called “administrative” and “clerical” errors” in the 2012 Presidential Election are nothing but calculated and well-rehearsed collusion between the NDC and the Electoral Commission to manipulate the results in favour of the former.
The first attempts aimed at cheating occurred when the EC, supported by some misguided officials at the Ghana Education Service decided to do away with the service of teachers during the Registration Exercise. All members of the NDC who spoke on the issue supported the stance.

I had earlier on warned our party, the NPP of the NDC’s attempt to cheat in the election by recruiting and training some people to be used to manipulate the 2012 Elections.  That move was co-ordinated by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and a man I initially referred to as “wofa” but whom I later came to know as Yaw Boateng Gyan, National Organizer of the Nefarious Destructive Cancer. I had verbal exchanges with some members of the NPP who did not believe me. But the facts are there and cannot be hidden.
I shudder to think of how the same “administrative” and clerical mistakes could be committed by EC’s officials especially Presiding Officers at different polling stations in the country. In an examination if a group of students make the same mistakes, it gives room for the examiner to suspect foul play. The officials were purposely trained to leave those columns blank so that they would have room to manipulate the results. If they were caught they would attribute it to “administrative lapses” as are being alluded to by Counsels for both the President and the Electoral Commission.

How can the EC talk of genuine mistakes when it did away with the services of teachers who have since the beginning of the Fourth Republic been used for both the Registration and voting exercise in the country? That argument is not tenable and could only be made by a leader of the blind. And I wonder if Afari Djan is physically blind. He could have been at first but now he is not. He does not wear his glasses in court nowadays. I thank God that the scales have fallen off his eyes and he has seen the light. But he has to do penance by telling the truth the way it is.

What was on the EC’S mind when it did away with the services of experienced teachers and replaced them with novices? Does the EC have any reason to talk about inefficient and untrained staff at this time? I do not think so.
Let me ask Afari Djan and Quarshie Idun this simple question. If they are able to answer it satisfactorily, I will be satisfied. In the respondent filing and submission of the affidavit, did it include the signature of the respondent or his accredited representative? 

In announcing John Dramani Mahama as President-Elect, did the declaration sheet have the signature of Dr. Kwadwo Afari Djan? If it did not have the signature, on what basis will the EC fault the evidence presented by the petitioners?

But before I end this piece, will somebody tell me whose error is administrative and whose own is clerical? From the available evidence adduce before the court of public opinion, Tony Lithur, President Mahama’s lead Counsel and husband of President Mahama’s Minister of Discrimination made the “Administrative” errors whilst Anita de Souza’s own can be described as “clerical”.  You want to contradict me?
I shall be back. Stay tuned.

Credit: Knocking Them Cold with Uncle Dan (DAYBREAK newspaper)

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