I have never been convicted – Capt. Koda

Lawyer for Captain Edmund Koda (rtd) has denied allegations that his client had links with some Serbian nationals who were brought into the country to train selected people drawn from across the country in the art of civil insurrection.

A statement signed by Nana Asante Bediatuo stated that the "only Serbian Captain Koda knows is the former coach of the Black Stars", Milovan Rajevac.

This statement is in reaction to an earlier press release from the Ministry of the Interior.

The release signed by the sector Minister, Prosper Bani and issued on Monday among other issues, recounted how Mr. Koda escaped from lawful custody into exile.

He further noted that “As a young officer, Captain Koda had been involved in the AFRC regime. Following accusations of corruption he was convicted together with a colleague and incarcerated in the Ussher Fort Prison.”

However, the statement from Nana Asante Bediatuo indicated that Captain Koda was acquitted and discharged.

Yes, Captain Edmund Koda was involved in the uprising of June 4, 1979, which brought the AFRC regime into power. He was a member of the pre-trial investigation team. He and other members of the team were accused of having embezzled funds and were tried twice on the same charges by the ‘People’s Court’.

On both occasions, Captain Koda was acquitted and discharged. He was, however, imprisoned in the Ussher Fort prison. Indeed, the Chairman of the AFRC, Flt. Lt. J.J Rawlings demanded their release in November 1979, a request which was refused by the Liman government.

Captain Koda, and his other colleagues, eventually broke jail and sought political asylum in the United Kingdom. The Francois Commission, headed by Appeal Court Judge, Justice Francois, was set up to investigate the jail break.

At the hearings of the Commission, Squadron Leader Dagbe, the President of the People’s Court, admitted that Captain Koda had been acquitted and discharged at the trial on the charges of “embezzlement”.

Captain Koda has never been convicted of corruption as is being claimed by the Minister of Interior. Refer to Francois Commission report which is available at the Supreme Court Library. Perhaps, it is equally unsurprising that a simple check of official records to confirm basic facts is also fraught with incompetence" the statement indicated.

RESPONSE TO STATEMENT BY PROSPER BANI, MINISTER FOR INTERIOR

The attention of Captain Edmund Koda (rtd) has been drawn to a statement released in the evening of Monday, March 28, by the Minister for Interior, Propser Bani, titled “Arrest of 3 South African Nationals”.

In the era where the Mahama Government continues to justify the unjustifiable, and our security agencies blatantly flout an order of the court, we are not surprised that a Minister, who is mandated to ensure internal security, as well as the maintenance of law and order in the country, would also join the fray and spew palpable falsehoods in the bid to link the NPP and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to violence.

The following false statements were made by the Minister which we wish to correct:

Bani: “As a young officer, Captain Koda had been involved in the AFRC regime. Following accusations of corruption he was convicted together with a colleague and incarcerated in the Ussher Fort Prison.”

Fact: Yes, Captain Edmund Koda was involved in the uprising of June 4, 1979, which brought the AFRC regime into power. He was a member of the pre-trial investigation team. He and other members of the team were accused of having embezzled funds and were tried twice on the same charges by the ‘People’s Court’. On both occasions, Captain Koda was acquitted and discharged. He was, however, imprisoned in the Ussher Fort prison. Indeed, the Chairman of the AFRC, Flt. Lt. J.J Rawlings demanded their release in November 1979, a request which was refused by the Liman government.

Captain Koda, and his other colleagues, eventually broke jail and sought political asylum in the United Kingdom. The Francois Commission, headed by Appeal Court Judge, Justice Francois, was set up to investigate the jail break.

At the hearings of the Commission, Squadron Leader Dagbe, the President of the People’s Court, admitted that Captain Koda had been acquitted and discharged at the trial on the charges of “embezzlement”. Captain Koda has never been convicted of corruption as is being claimed by the Minister of Interior.

Refer to Francois Commission report which is available at the Supreme Court Library. Perhaps, it is equally unsurprising that a simple check of official records to confirm basic facts is also fraught with incompetence.

Bani: “Captain Koda’s current arrest comes on the heels of a previous security alert in 2014, after his name popped up in a National Security investigation of the activities of some Serbian nationals who were brought into the country to train selected people drawn from across the country in the art of civil insurrection. A training dubbed “Assaulting the pillars of power”.

Fact: This is the most ludicrous of all the statements made by the Interior Minister. For the avoidance of doubt, Captain Koda did not meet any Serbian in 2014 or any other time, let alone engage the services of Serbian nationals, or any other persons, to train Ghanaians in the art of “civil insurrection”, which is a treasonable offence.

The only Serbian Captain Koda knows is the former coach of the Black Stars. Is it not curious that Captain Koda, since 2014, has been walking a free man and has not been invited for questioning by National Security or the BNI on this serious charge?

Is the Minister saying that our country’s security would allow a man who has attempted to destabilize the country walk free? Indeed, Captain Koda was in the custody of the BNI? Why was he not charged or questioned on this Serbian issue? Why did he only learn of this matter from the Minister’s statement?

This is not the kind of conduct expected from a Minister of Interior. We are surprised that a high ranking member of government would lend himself to being used for this kind of propaganda.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. The Mahama government is obsessed with trying to tag the NPP, and, indeed, Nana Akufo-Addo, with violence, with no shred of evidence. Indeed, the terrorists and mercenaries which this government claimed had been imported by the NPP have been deported during the pendency of the case and without being subjected to trial.

Nana Akufo-Addo has spent his adult life fighting, not with weapons of destruction or war, but his courage, his patriotism, his mouth, his sense of justice, and his love for freedom, democracy and development in Ghana. No amount of propaganda can take away that fact.

We continue to urge the people of Ghana to ignore the claims made by the Minister of Interior against Captain Koda as merely coming from a desperate government clutching at any and everything to advance a dubious and ultimately embarrassing, self-defeating political agenda.

……signed…… Nana Asante Bediatuo Lawyer for Captain Koda