“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, 23^rd 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)

THE MASQUERADE IS REMOVED

It is often said that each bubble in a cooking pot of soup fights hard for supremacy that none listens to the cry of the pot itself, so when the pot burns, all the bubbles perish. If we don’t eat yam for the sake of palm oil, we eat the palm oil for the sake of the yam.

I had never envisaged a situation where the ‘All powerful’ Afari Djan would be brought down to the level of ordinary mortals to enable him have a taste of life at the other side of the great divide. Here was a man who started life as an ordinary man, but has mutated to become a snarling snake and a ravening marauding beast. He arrogated to himself powers he did not legally possess and felt like a powerful deity who has soared above the reach of ordinary mortals. Afari Djan forgot that he had started life as a proletariat. He has now become a bourgeoisie and is acting and talking like one of them.

When Ghana ushered in the Fourth Republic after more than a decade of military dictatorship, he was appointed a member of the INEC (The Board which oversaw the electoral process in the country). The demise of Nana Oduro Nimapau paved the way for our now discredited Dr Kwadwo Afari Djan to be catapulted to the exalted position of Chairman of the Electoral Commission. 

Once he attained the pinnacle of his career as head of the Electoral Body, he put in measures to ensure that everybody, from the highest papacy to the lowest clergyman became subservient to him. He became the Lord and Master of all that he surveyed. He raved, shouted, intimidated, insulted, kicked and even cursed ordinary Ghanaians whom he despised very much. He became arrogant and had no patience with the ordinary man on the streets. He radiated and gravitated towards the rich and the powerful. For money he has it in abundance. His buildings are uncountable. He has an uncompleted building at Ayigbe Junction, Israel, near Alhaji. Work on the project had been in abeyance until the last two years, giving credence to the rumours that he might have compromised his position as an impartial referee in the December, 2012 Elections. Ghana Must Go Bags might have done the deed. 

He had absolute power which corrupted him absolutely to bring him down from the top of his supposedly mount Olympus abode. 

Afari Djan tested the pulse of the nation and came to the conclusion that we are ‘pliable’ because we did not complain about his dictatorial tendencies. He became emboldened and started stretching his tentacles until he felt he had got almost everybody at his beck and call. 

Who could stop him? Who could cage him? None, he thought. 

His cheerleaders goaded him on, and they were many, all ready to do his biddings for their own “noko fio”. All kinds of accolades were heaped on him.  Some even went to the ridiculous extent by describing him as the best thing that ever happened in the country and on the continent. Whilst some advised caution, those who did not have the interest of the nation at heart suggested that he, Afari Djan must be given a blank cheque to embark on his chosen route to Golgotha. 

But the worst was yet to come. In accordance with the adage which states that “those that the gods want to destroy, they first make mad”, 2012 began the eventual fall of “Almighty” Afari Djan from grace to grass. This man of great controversy allowed the praises being heaped on him to becloud his sense of reasoning. He saw himself as a demigod with the rest of us as his devotees and acolytes.

Like Rehoboam in the Holy Bible, Afari Djan, surrounded by praise singers, threw caution to the winds and courted mischief for himself and the country. Those who offered constructive criticisms were tagged saboteurs and enemies of state. Under such circumstances, one could only keep quiet and wait for the propitious moment when fate would smile on us with the disgrace of “almighty” Afari Djan. And it was not long in coming.

It was Afari Djan who, against all intent and purposes decided to create 45 New Constituencies with less than Four Weeks to the December 2012  Elections. Genuine concerns were expressed by Civil Society, The Clergy, Professional Bodies and other individuals about the “foolishness” of such action.  But in a move which could only be construed as having disdain for opponents of the move, Afari Djan went ahead and created the so-called 45 Constituencies. He dared his opponents to go to court if they had “balls”.

“Almighty” Afari Djan had stated in clear and unmistakable terms that if it came to issues involving Elections in the country, he (Afari Djan) was that EC personified. He exhibited his “one man show” posture during the submission of nomination forms by Presidential Candidates of various political parties and their representatives.

He showed disdain for lesser mortals when he raved and shouted and cursed some of them. He even tore the forms of others with the explanation that they had submitted them. No amount of explanation would placate him. Those who were aggrieved with his fatwa could go to court, so said “almighty” Afari Djan.

Thus, many Candidates were prevented from participating in the December 2012 Presidential Elections on very flimsy excuses. This deprived the nation of revenue which might have accrued to the coffers of the EC, if Afari Djan had been a little bit flexible.

But earlier on, the EC under Afari Djan had done the unthinkable when it did away with the services of Teachers during the Registration exercise. Some of us cried foul, but the EC Chairman, cheered on by hired press and crowd countered our arguments with verbal insults.

I am therefore surprised to hear the EC attributing its statutory breaches and violations during the December 2012 Presidential Elections to incompetence and inexperience of its staff.

This admission of incompetence goes to confirm that Afari Djan is gradually coming down to earth to stay with the people who had helped him to the top. But will the people accept him as one of their own? He has to prove to them that he is not the “Saul” we know in the Holy Bible. Saul showed genuine repentance, was baptized and became known as Paul. But has Afari Djan repented? And if he were to be ‘christened’, what would be his new name? I think Jammed would fit him well.

Almighty Afari jammed had before the December 2012 Elections made certain pronouncements about the conduct of the election. He had said it loud and clear that nobody would be allowed to vote if the person did not go through biometric verification. He had also said that if there was over-voting by even one vote in any polling station, the result of the entire polling station would be annulled.  And these edicts were enforced in some polling stations.

In a polling station in O.B.Amoah’s Constituency (Aburi/Nsawam) there were three extra votes. The contending parties took the case before “Almighty Afari Djan who decreed that the three extra votes be taken away from NPP’s tally.

Again, it came as a shock to hear the EC state in its response to the NPP petition that everybody who voted in the December, 2012 Election had gone through biometric verification. But the NDC has alleged that at the Kibi Magistrate Court’s Polling Station in Akufo-Addo’s background, people had voted without being biometrically verified – a fact which has been corroborated by the NPP. So, what is Afari Djan saying here?

But the “Great” and “Almighty” Afari Djan exhibited his abhorrent for criticism when he refused to listen to the NPP’s appeal to postpone the announcement of the Presidential Election Results by 48 hours to enable it present evidence to back up its claims that there had been statutory violations in the conduct of the Presidential Election. But Afari Djan would have nothing of that.

Listeners will bear me out that the December 7, 2012 Election had been inconclusive on the first day and voting had to be extended to the following day. Therefore Afari Djan’s insistence on announcing the results on Sunday to meet up the 48 hour deadline does not hold water. The Election had ended on Sunday and between Saturday and Sunday makes it 24, not 48 hours.

Afari Djan’s weird logic here could only mean one thing. Mad Emperor Nero’s spirit had taken possession of his soul, spirit and body. His intransigence has taken us to where we are today.

So, I wasn’t surprised to hear him exhibiting disdain for ordinary mortals like Fiifi Boafo of Oman FM/Net 2 fame. His vitriolic and unprovoked attack on the presenter exposed him as someone who was possessed by demons and needed some form of exorcism which was provided when he made his appearance at the hearing petition of the NPP before the Supreme Court.

But did you see that miserable man in glasses chewing gum during the hearing? And the cameras did not help matters when they made him the focus of attention. Here was somebody, who about five months ago was the Capo of King-makers in the country. He was the Coach, Match Commissioner, Referee and Linesman at the same time. He determined who to use in a match and the position to be played by each actor. He will remove you from the team if his countenance likes you not. 

The gum chewing began at a slow pace and graduated to a quicker pace. At a time it was if he had not eaten for days and the gum was to assuage his hunger and thirst. A friend called to say that he could hear the audio effect of Afari Djan’s gum chewing on the television.    

But was the man smiling, sneering or talking to himself? That I do not know. But something also caught my attention. His glasses were removed and put on many times during the proceedings. I counted the number of times this was done. They were ten and that reminded me of the last press conference of General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong before he was executed. 

He removed his glasses and put them on Eighteen times before the end of the press conference. I wonder what was going on in the mind of the executed Head of State as he made his press conference. At the thought of that, my usually strong heart melted and I began to have pity on Almighty Kwadwo Afari Djan.

But does he deserve any pity? Does this “troubler of Israel” deserve your pity? I guess not. For here is a man who disregarded all ethics of nature and became “untouchable” “unreachable” and “unstoppable”. But power is not permanent but transient. The masquerade around Afari Djan has been unmasked leaving only the hideous face of Medusa. Who say man no dey? When iron meets iron, one of them will bend. It seems the iron in Afari Djan is about to cave in

Is this the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end of the Great and All Powerful Kwadwo Afari Djan? Only time will tell. But for now Afari Djan has jammed. This is the simple truth.

Credit: Knocking them cold with Uncle Dan, DAYBREAK newspaper (every Tuesday) 

GENERAL BEATS UP JUNIOR

The image of Ghana’s Armed Forces, which previously had an international shine when it came to peace keeping missions around the world, is in tatters today owing to an act of buffoonery perpetrated by one top soldier currently heading a Ghana peace keeping contingent in the DR Congo. 

Enter Brigadier-General EMK Yeboah, a Sector Commander appointed by the Ghana Armed Forces for the noble duties of assisting other peace keeping nationals at his level to design strategies to bring an enduring peace to the crisis-hit nation. It has emerged that, rather than work to keep the peace and hold high the flag of Ghana among his peers at the Command Level on the turf, the Brigadier-General revealed the stuff he was made off when he ignored all sense of military finesse, diplomacy and protocol and punched to pulp a junior rank (name withheld).

It is not clear the cause of the physical attack on the junior, but reports reaching DAYBREAK indicates that it was “nasty.” 

The victim did not reply but attempted only to parry the punches as the uniformed-by-accident Brigadier-General sent out a flurry of punches. 

When he had gotten drunk himself from the brutish act, the General after hoping in vain that the punch-drunk soldier would regain consciousness, reluctantly caused him to be moved to a first level barracks medical treatment. 

Information reaching DAYBREAK from DR Congo and the diplomatic community including files from Abuja on the incident revealed that when that also failed, the victim was taken by the UN Mission to a second level modern medical facility on account of the gravity of his condition.

That failed to work either. As we do this piece, the venomous punches of the Brigadier-General who proved he has little piece himself to offer, has ultimately landed the victim in an expensive South African facility. Diplomatic sources in DR Congo confirmed that the victim was sent to “Level 3 in South Africa after UN doctors in DR Congo (level 2) could not take care of the soldier”

Back home in Ghana, at the Armed Forces Command HQ, the matter is being swept under the carpet. When DAYBREAK called the Public Relations Directorate for a comment, however, the Director, Colonel M’Bawine Atintande, declined a comment. “I will not comment on it,” he stated.

Brigadier-General EMK Yeboah’s conduct contravenes Section 25 of the Armed Forces Regulations on quarrels and disturbances. Offenders, according to the Code, face imprisonment, after court-martial proceedings – even if the incident involved provocative words or gestures.

Source: DAYBREAK

Investigate Mills' death

Wicked men have emerged from the rubble of democracy and are now occupying the highest positions in our land. These new Pharaohs who were once sheep have now mutated to become ravening wolves. They have deceived, intimidated and manipulated their prey into total obedience. 

This reminds me of the Jones Cult in Guyana. The “Supreme Master”, Jim Jones established his kingdom on earth at a place he named Jonestown after himself. He wielded absolute power for his word was law. He had money, more than he needed. Women, the most beautiful, especially married ones were at his beck and call. In short, he was the master of all that he surveyed. 

Jim Jones knew he was suffering from cancer which had reached its advanced stage. He had enjoyed life to its full and realized that the end had come. But he did not want to die alone. 

What did he do? In 1974, he had some concoctions mixed with a deadly potion. He told his devotees that the world was coming to an end and would like members of the cult to go to paradise in a group.  His devotees were all lined up to drink the potion which did not give life but death. It started with the children, the women and finally the men. His personal security operatives were drafted to the scene to ensure that the edict was carried out to the last order.

That was how a whole lot of disoriented and vulnerable individuals perished on a single day. And what a great number of innocent souls they were! That came to be known as the Jonestown Massacre.

Alhaji Mahamadu Bawumia, NPP’s Running Mate in the December, 2012 Presidential Elections had his vehicle involved in a ghastly motor accident. Events before the accident and after made people suspect foul play. They shouted to the highest heavens that some criminally-minded persons had attempted to bring the life of the budding NPP whiz kid to a premature end. Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, alias ‘Sir John’ could not keep his suspicion to himself. He went public and spoke his mind to anyone who cared to listen.

What did people say? That ‘Sir John’ had fouled the air. Mahama’s security apparatus hounded ‘Sir John’ from his humble abode and made serious allegations against him. Others took advantage of the seemingly mild schism between him and Nana Akomea, NPP’s Director of Communications to blow the whole thing out of proportion. Thank God, sanity prevailed and the two combatants have sheathed their political swords.

Mahama’s Security Machinery made up of the Police, the BNI, and the Special Forces insisted that a thorough investigation of the accident involving Dr Bawumia be conducted. And it was done. Please, note that it was not Dr Bawumia who asked for the investigation to be conducted.

Prior to Dr Bawumia’s accident, our Former President, the late Professor John Evans Atta Mills had died under mysterious circumstances. Every available information pointed to the fact that our current President might not be unconnected with the circumstances leading to the death of his predecessor. But what did we see or hear? Every staunch member of the Nefarious Destructive Cancer took a firm stance against an inquest into the death of our former President. Various arguments, some very bizarre were canvassed against any such investigation.

 

But readers should permit me to bring out some facts which point to direct involvement of “Danger Boy Mahama who is riding a bicycle without brakes” in the demise of the former President. Till date, the powers that be, goaded by the security apparatus, have ‘violently’ resisted all systematic attempts to re-open the issue of Former President, Professor Mills’ death.

To re-enforce my belief that President Mahama is involved in the death of his predecessor, let facts be supplied to a candid world. 

In the first place, “Danger Boy Mahama, who is riding a bicycle without brakes” launched his book “My First Coup D’état” in the United States. In less than one month after the launch of the book, the former President died under strange circumstances. What do you make of that?

Again, why did he name his book “My First Coup D’état”? Whom was the coup targeted at?

As if that was not weighty enough, the late President, Professor Mills was strongly against lesbianism and homosexuality. His views were made public and he was loudly applauded by core members of the NDC. But current President John Dramani Mahama has made a 360 degrees turn back on gay issues. He is fully in support of the Gay Movement. I cannot say on authority whether he is an active member or not.

But he is a friend to the renowned Gay Activist, Andrews Solomon. The latter was the Chief Launcher at his book launch and even bought the First Copy for an undisclosed amount of money. I wonder if it is the money he got from his book launch that he paid his tax on. But that is an issue I will pursue at a later date. But suffice it to say that Andrew Solomon is an activist who goes out of his way to ensure the spread of gay activities in many countries.

Could it be that the movement saw the late President as an obstacle to the spread of their movement and that the money he donated at the book launch was meant to facilitate the elimination of late President was Mills? This is a question that could only be answered if a public enquiry into the death was ordered.

Put bluntly, could it be that there were surreptitious moves by the gay movement led by Andrew Solomon to get the former President eliminated to pave way for the spread of lesbianism and homosexuality into the country? We need to know if that was the case and the only way we could know the truth is through a public enquiry.

How much was contributed by Andrew Solomon and how much was removed from the total amount that was accrued from the book launch just before the demise of Professor Atta Mills?

Again, what would you say to the contradictions in President Mahama’s account on the death of his predecessor and that of Haruna Iddrissu?

Danger Boy Mahama who is riding a bicycle without brakes had earlier told Ghanaians that he had met with and spoken with his predecessor twice on the day he died. On another occasion, he forgot what he had told Ghanaians on the death of Professor Atta Mills and denied having met and spoken with the late President on the day the latter died.

Giving an account of how the former President died, “Danger Boy Mahama who is riding a bicycle without brakes” had told Ghanaians on the day he assumed the Presidency that he and the former Chief of Staff, Henry Martey Newman had met the late President in Mills’ office on the day his Predeccessor died. The late President had detailed the duo to represent him at a function at the International Conference Centre. They did and reported back to him in the afternoon where they found him in good health.

According to the then Vice President Mahama, he had returned to his office from where he received a call from the former Chief of Staff to the effect that the former President had suddenly taken seriously ill.

On another occasion, the President forgot what he had told the entire nation and the international community. He thought Ghanaians have selective amnesia. This was during the interview he had with Shaka Shali of VOA “Straight Talk Africa’s fame.   

On Shaka’s show, the President beaming with smiles had told his host that he had noticed the absence of the former President to his office on that Monday preceding the, Tuesday which is given as the official day of death. He had gone to his office to find a note from the late President asking the then Chief of Staff and he, the then Vice President, John Mahama to represent him at a function at the International Conference Centre.

About thirty minutes’ after he had returned to his office, he received a call from the then Chief of Staff that the late President had taken suddenly ill. He rushed to the late President’s office. What happened thereafter is a story we all know.

But the contradictions in President Mahama’s two accounts are something that could only come out after a public enquiry. Haruna Iddrissu also jumped into the fray when he said he was part of the delegation that represented late President Mills at the function. But he gave the venue as the Arts Centre instead of the International Conference Centre.

So, between Danger Boy Mahama who is riding a bicycle without brakes and Haruna Iddrissu, who is telling the truth?

There are many more questions on the death of the former President waiting for answers. When are we going to get answers to those mind-bogging questions? Only a public enquiry will do.Let us go back to the Bawumia’s issue. His vehicle is involved in an accident. The car is insured. He could waive his right to receiving compensation from the insurance company. A report is made to the Police. No loss of life is recorded. That should have been the end of the matter. But No, the Security Operatives of Danger Boy Mahama who is riding a bicycle without brakes would have none of that. There must be a full scale investigation. More than one month after the accident, the Police are yet to make the result of their investigation public. 

 

I have been vociferous in my demand for investigations into the untimely death of former President Mills. My calls have reached a dead end, but I am undeterred. The President himself has not helped matters with his stony silence and inconsistency in his various accounts about the death of our former President.

Why is President Mahama and his men strongly opposed to a public enquiry into the death of his predecessor? Are they afraid of exhuming a hidden ghost in their cupboard? 

If the security operatives insisted on conducting an investigation into a motor accident in which no loss of life is recorded, what prevents the same body from conducting an enquiry into the mysterious death of a President who at the time of death, happened to be the Commander-in-Chief of the country’s Armed Forces? What double standards are the security operatives exhibiting here?

Tongues are wagging and people are whispering. Walls too have ears. Amidst the entire hullabaloo is one unmistakable message. The President’s name is linked with the death of his predecessor.

The President is the father of the whole nation. I am just an infinitesimal part of the nation. I am embarrassed and pained to hear my President being referred to as a “murderer”. I fear the consequences that will befall the citizenry if the matter is swept under the carpet. We know the disgrace that befell King David when he had Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba killed.

It is on this premise that I challenge President John Dramani Mahama to order a public enquiry into the death of his Predecessor, Professor Fiifi Atta Mills if his hands are clean. When some Ghanaian nationals were murdered by security forces in The Gambia, it was not family members of the deceased that complained. The investigations began based on the evidence of a surviving member of the stowaway.  When the investigations started, we did not know where we were heading to, but we knew we would get somewhere. And we did.

And so I am making a passionate appeal to our President in the name of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead to order a public enquiry into President Mills’ death. 

This is not an unreasonable demand. Every principled person who has no skeleton in his cupboard will see the need to do this.

President John Dramani Mahama, will you be able to stand before Baba God to say “Lord, I know nothing about the death of Professor Mills”? God is waiting. 

On a public enquiry we stand. God bless you all.

Credit: Daniel Danquah Damptey