Attivor ‘goofed big time’ – Baako

Editor-in-chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, has described comments by former Transport Minister Dzifa Aku Attivor that the erstwhile Kufuor administration specifically targeted Ewe officials in former President Rawlings’ government for conviction as a “big time goof”.

Mrs. Attivor, who resigned from the Mahama government a couple of months ago in connection with an overpriced bus branding scandal, told party members at a rally in the Ketu South Constituency, a few days ago, to ensure the NPP did not return to power, otherwise, an Akufo-Addo government would embark on a jailing spree of Ewes just as former President John Kufuor did during his tenure, citing the imprisonment of former government officials Victor Selormey and Dan Abodakpi to buttress her point.

But Mr. Baako, speaking on Newsfile on Joy FM Saturday, April 30, said: “What she did…it lacked logic, it lacked consistency, it lacked facts, truthfulness...”

“If you took the cases that went to court under the NPP administration one by one and looked at those who were charged for prosecution and those who were eventually convicted and sentenced or those who were acquitted and discharged, it will not support her case. I don’t know why we are doing this to ourselves.

“She goofed big time. Selormey, Abodakpi, and Tsatsu Tsikata. Three Ewes. They got convicted and sentenced by courts of competent jurisdiction.”

According to him, it was evident that Mrs Attivor shared the view taken by some sympathisers of the NDC and the NDC itself that the convictions against such persons during the reign of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) were “politically procured” and amounted to “selective justice” – a view he did not share – adding that she had further weakened her argument by going off a tribal tangent.

“I am sure Madam Attivor was coming from within that context. If she had gone on that trail (that there was politics at play in the convictions) all you could be doing is to challenge her on issues of legal and judicial arguments, and not the ethnocentric [charge],” explained Mr. Baako

“…Throwing the thing in the realm of ethnocentrism … is why she got it wrong. If you want to continue with your propaganda that whatever happened was selective justice and persecution, that’s your headache.”

Mr. Baako said a similar allegation was made by the counsel for Mr. Abodakpi, Tony Lithur, who had stated that there had been a miscarriage of justice in the trial of his client that condemned him to a jail term for willfully causing financial loss to the state in 2007. However, the lawyer failed to appear before a Justice Brobbey-led committee set up to look into the allegations, which found no evidence of wrongdoing.

He said several NDC officials were tried during the NPP regime and the convictions did not imply there was any ethnocentric agenda at play against Ewes. He mentioned the convictions of Kwame Peprah, George Sipa Yankey, and Ibrahim Adam – all non-Ewes – in the Quality Grain case, as an example.

“So, it’s clear that based on facts, based on logic, based on records, she goofed, and it’s worse when she said it within the realms of ethnicity or ethnocentrism. That made it worse,” insisted the veteran journalist.

“You can’t just get the logic, her facts…”

He urged Mrs. Attivor – who he described as a “great lady” – to “come, express remorse, retract, and apologise”.