Nana Konadu Will Castrate Men - Mrs. O’Sullivan-Djentuh

The mother of Selassie Djentuh, the young man who was tortured and given an identification haircut at the seat of the presidency in 1999, on the orders of the then First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, because he was dating her daughter, has resurfaced, with a special message to the delegates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Ghanaians general on the presidential ambition of Nana Konadu.

Mrs. Maria O’Sullivan-Djentuh says that Nana Konadu will castrate all men in Ghana if she should be given the mandate to become the president of Ghana.

Mrs. O’Sullivan-Djentuh, who has remained silent after her son was terrorized and she herself and the husband had to make time at the Nsawam jail, all through the machinations of Nana Konadu, yesterday told The Enquirer that no Ghanaian will be safe under a Nana Konadu’s presidency.

According to her, Nana Konadu has displayed over the years that she could not be trusted to be the mother of the nation.

“The woman is vindictive and such a person cannot simply be the president of the nation. It is not possible for somebody who can organize an identification haircut to lead Ghana,” she said.

Mrs. O’Sullivan-Djentuh told The Enquirer via phone that she was not surprised to hear that Nana Konadu was contesting to lead the NDC in 2012.

“Knowing the type of person she is, I was never amazed because I know her to be somebody who is overly ambitious,” she said.

She told The Enquirer that at the time of the incident in 1999, she suspected that Nana Konadu was running the affairs of the country, instead of her husband, Jerry John Rawlings.

“I am saying this because she had so much power that she could order abduction and issue orders for an identification haircut,” she said.

She told The Enquirer that the NDC delegates should not disgrace themselves as mothers and fathers and vote massively against Nana Konadu.

“I am appealing to the delegates that they should not vote for Nana Konadu because she picks on people to the extent that she will like to see them out of the world,” she said.

Mrs. O’Sullivan-Djentuh said that one important question that Ghanaians should keep asking is what really happened between Nana Konadu and her close friends.

“The fact that all her close friends have left her in quandary because she has an attitude problem,” she said.

According to her, Nana Konadu should not have ventured into the race at all, but because she has a sinister motive, she decided to contest against Professor Mills.

“Nana Konadu should be now be at home to make sure that her daughters get good men to marry for them to make kids for her to look after them as a grandmother,” she said.

Asked about her feelings after the incident in 1999, she told The Enquirer that Nana Konadu would be last person she (Mrs. O’Sullivan-Djentuh) would be afraid of in the world.

“Nana Konadu is not God and therefore I will never get scared of her because of what she did to me and my family,” she added.

She told The Enquirer that she was of the view that Prof. Mills must be given the chance to finish his term and that he should not be disturbed as Nana Konadu and others are doing.

It would be recalled that on August 16, 2000, Anthony Kofi Mensah Djentuh, aged 58, a former senior civil servant, and his wife Maria O’Sullivan-Djentuh, aged 49, a businesswoman, were convicted by a circuit Tribunal in Accra, the capital, of assaulting a public officer and offensive conduct.

The charges were in connection with their attempts to find out what had happened to their 23-year-old son, Selassie O’Sullivan-Djentuh, after he was reportedly abducted and assaulted on January 15, 2000 by members of the presidential guard.

The presidential guard at that time was made up of commandos from the Forces Reserve Unit, an elite commando corps, and was responsible for the security of the then President J.J. Rawlings. On November 5, 1999 Selassie was knocked off his motorcycle by a truck and he required hospital treatment for serious injuries.

His mother’s attempts to find out the identity of the truck driver from the police, and warnings she received not to pursue the inquiry, raised fears that the accident had been a deliberate attempt on Selassie’s life.

In early January 2000, two members of the presidential guard known to the family reportedly threatened Mrs. O’Sullivan-Djentuh that she and her son would “disappear”; she reported the incident to police but no action was taken.

On January 15, 2000 Selassie and two of his mother’s employees-William Katey, a foreman engineer, and James Narh, a security guard-were abducted by armed men and taken to the Castle.

There, they reportedly had their heads shaved with rusty razor blades and broken glass, were interrogated, beaten and threatened, witnessed the assault of other detainees, and were held in a dark and overcrowded cell with insufficient space, and were even made to lie down on the floor to sleep.

Selassie was questioned about his relationship with the President’s daughter, Ezanetor Rawlings.

The three men were released without charge on January 17. On January 15, 2000, when Selassie’s parents heard of his abduction, they went to the Castle to seek information.

According to reports, one of the two officers who had previously threatened Mrs. O’Sullivan-Djentuh told her that she would never see her son again, and when another officer lifted his hand to her, Mr. Djentuh warded off the slap with his arm.

After learning nothing of his whereabouts at the Castle, they reported the abduction to the police who authorized them to broadcast a radio appeal.

On January 16, Mr. Djentuh was detained by police and taken to the Castle on January 17 where he was interrogated by members of the presidential guard, including his wife’s business, and warned against saying that his son had been abducted.

He was released late that night. Shortly afterwards he and his wife were charged.

Since then, the Djentuh family and people associated with the case were reported to have received further threats.

On March 5, 2000 Selassie was prosecuted on charges in connection with the road accident, convicted and fined by a Circuit Court Tema, near Accra.

Also in March, property belonging to Mrs. O’Sullivan –Djentuh’s business were bulldozed and demolished by armed police who, when challenged, produced a court order allowing the demolition of the property-but on a different piece of land.

At the trial of the Djentuh parents, no evidence was produced that they had deceived a public officer by reporting the abduction of their son.