Ripples From ‘Diplomatic Sex Scandal’ Story...

‘WORKING GIRL’ BOSS WANTS PRESIDENT OBAMA TO ‘DISOWN’ ANAS !

The New Crusading GUIDE‘s attention has been drawn to the’ message’ below which was authored by EVELYN ANKUMAH, the owner of “WORKING GIRL“ and addressed to the President of the United States of America (USA), Mr. Barack Obama. The ‘message’ has also been placed at the website of her Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), the Africa Legal Aid (AFLA). EVELYN ANKUMAH and her outfit, readers would recall, have sued our ace investigative reporter, Anas Aremeyaw Anas and the publishers of this paper over a story titled : “DIPLOMATIC SEX SCANDAL“ which is pending before an Accra Fast Track Court.

However, Madam Ankumah appears not inclined to await the outcome of the litigation she and her outfit have initiated in a court of competent jurisdiction and has therefore opted to take her fight to the doorsteps of the White House in the USA by akwardly seeking to get President Barack Obama to ‘renounce‘ or ‘withdraw‘ what she perceives as his (Obama‘s) recognition and/or endorsement of the journalistic investigative prowess of our reporter, Anas Aremeyaw Anas during the historic speech to Africa delivered by President Obama from the floor of the Ghanaian Parliament in July this year . Madam Ankumah is entitled to her assessment of the professional standards of this paper and our output including that of Anas. That is her democratic right . However, we would have thought that anybody so sure of the righteousness of her case and cause in addition to the wild claims of some ‘victories’ allegedly already chalked in court in the case under litigation, would have exercised some restraint, patience and display some confidence in the legal/judicial system (due process) to allow the latter determine the veracity or otherwise of the story put out by the paper which provoked her legal suit in the first place. But alas that was not to be! Now we have a strange, stuffy, egoistic, incoherent and almost unintelligible ‘message’ addressed to the world‘s most powerful President; seeking the retraction of his recognition of the journalistic drive/output of a young investigative and adventurous reporter whose recognition is not restricted to President Obama‘s acknowledgement during his historic visit to Accra, Ghana.

For whatever it is worth, the Editorial Board of The New Crusading GUIDE has decided to publish the full text of the ’message’ under reference for the perusal of the reading public and for posterity as well. Please stay tuned for further developments ...

Breaking The Silence: Ankumah’s Message To Obama

By Evelyn A. Ankumah

Reading the September 2009 issue of “O Magazine” I came across the following words that truly struck me:

“Women and power: Is there a more incendiary combination of words in the English Language? Drinking and Driving? Teenagers and sex? A woman can never be too rich or too thin, but … she could be too powerful, for which -if she wasn’t smart enough to camouflage herself- she generally paid the price. Sometimes she got burned at the stake. Sometimes she got run out of town. Sometimes she simply got sexualized, which has been the easiest way to neutralize, if not destroy, an accomplished woman.”

I was struck. It was as if the author was writing about me. Many of her words simply matched what I am, have experienced and have felt. I am quite powerful, accomplished. I was burned by media fire, I was forced to leave my country and I have been sexualized. The only thing I would add is this: “And when she fought back, President Barack Obama bore false witness against her”. Let me introduce myself. My name is Evelyn Ankumah. I am mother of eight year old twin girls, daughter of a loving father (now deceased) and resilient mother; wife of a Legal Scholar; sister, friend, colleague and cousin. I am also a lawyer with professional experience in Europe, North America and Africa. I work as Executive Director of a Pan African NGO, Africa Legal Aid established in The Hague, Accra, and Pretoria.

Most of my professional life has been spent outside my native Africa, perhaps, as a result of which, I realize the need to emphasize African perspectives in international justice. I had not been as preoccupied with Gender. As a woman, yes, I have a bias for Gender. As a human rights advocate, I understand the marginalized and vulnerable role of women in society. As a person, I believed the sky was my limit, and I had taken for granted that I could compete with men and people of all races if I wanted to.

I am my father’s daughter; the daughter of a remarkable man, who “always stood tall in both dignity and honor”. I grew up, sure of my father’s love. I am glad that my girls will grow up, just as I did. I have to say that in the last few years, I have noticed that men can be bullies, takers, and opportunists. Still, I didn’t think anyone could violate me without my permission. Certainly, not someone I didn’t know. But I was wrong. In April this year, five years after relocating to my native Ghana, I fled my country with my husband and daughters, after a series of brutal, politicized tabloid media attacks which were gendered. I was accused of running a brothel, by an award winning tabloid reporter, who invited readers to visit You Tube to view his “evidence”. The libelous article came out on a Friday, and the tabloid reporter and his publisher had a field day that weekend in the Ghana Media, telling a sensational story that a human rights lawyer with diplomatic status was running a brothel. In fact, the tabloid reporter chose the title “Diplomatic Sex Scandal” for his article. They did a lot of damage, and if the reaction of Mr. Donald Teiteilbaum, U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, and the Lincoln Community School in Ghana, are any indications, our daughters, can never attend school in Ghana again!

The tabloid reporter in question has won a number of awards. Shortly after he libeled me, it was all over the media that he had been nominated for a CNN African Journalist award. The nomination and other awards were his “evidence” against me, and other dubious stories he’s told. I lodged a complaint with CNN. He did not win any of the categories. I don’t take credit for this, but according to him, my complaint cost him a CNN award. More importantly, I found out that awards in journalism are not always based on merit, but the ability to tell a “good story”. A good story could be a sensational story. There are hardly that many sensational stories in this world, and for the same reporter to find all the sensational stories? Those deciding on awards don’t check whether the story is true, or whether the evidence is real. Often, the journalist himself enters his name to compete for an award, and if he is backed by his publisher, then that is all the reference he needs. What if the reporter and publisher are partners in crime?

In this case, both the reporter and publisher are friends/patrons of a woman we are in court with, in a landlord tenant dispute, and she was losing the legal battle. In fact, the day the story was published, she went with strong men to seize the premises, including all the belongings, and had new locks ready when the story was published. This woman, with the 2Ms: Military and Media (tabloid) connections, has been cited for contempt of court, but has repeatedly failed to appear in court, pretending she has not received the court summons. I brought an action for libel against the tabloid reporter and his publisher, and they became more violent in their media attacks. They even got the new administration to unilaterally terminate the Headquarters Agreement between the Government and AFLA, claiming that the Agreement had been fraudulently procured. The Ghana Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice intervened in the form of mediation, and all is well now. Even though I fled the country, I continued to pursue my action for libel and the two court rulings have been in my favor and against the defendants. Some three months ago, just before the legal vacation, upon my request, the Judge ordered the defendants to submit their evidence in court within one month. Up until today, defendants have not submitted their so-called evidence.

Firstly, defendants sought to have the case dismissed, but the court ruled in my favor to proceed with the action for libel. One would think this “credible” award winning reporter would have welcomed my lawsuit, for the public good and, to use President Obama’s words (see below), to expose the “truth of what is going on in societies”. Secondly, defendants opposed my application for an interlocutory injunction. Again the court ruled in my favor reasoning that if my application for injunction is not granted it could result in immeasurable harm to me. So, one could conclude that I had initiated a non-frivolous, well founded case of libel, a case involving the truthfulness or lack thereof of the tabloid reporter and his publisher.

Gender Experts have since described my experience as an undertreated form of Gender Violence perpetrated through the Media. See Dr. Pinkie Megkwe, “WHEN THE MEDIA BECOMES A WEAPON OF WAR AGAINST GENDER PROGRESS”.I was recovering from the libel. The rule of law has a way of healing.

But then President Barack Obama came to Ghana. In the President’s message to Africa, he out of nowhere praised the tabloid reporter I have sued for libel for his “courage in telling the truth”. This he said, in spite of the pending libel action and despite the court rulings against the defendant. President Obama’s message to Africa echoed the importance of democracy, including replacing strongmen leaders with transparent institutions. We all know that President Obama stands for these noble principles. Yet, it would seem that his endorsement of a defendant in a pending libel law suit sought to replace the decisions of a democratically constituted court with, and I say this with all respect, empty statements of a strong man President. The proper place for such pronouncement would have been in the Court room if the President wanted to serve as character or expert witness for the defendant. However, I doubt if the President knew enough about the defendant to testify for him. In fact, President Obama does not know whether the defendant tells the truth. Yet, he effectively bore false witness against me, and other persons whom the defendant might have libeled, in a country where the masses are gullible to any information.

President Obama himself may not have been aware of the libel action or the rulings against the defendant. Yet, U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum, appointed in 2008 by President George Bush, knew. He knew because I informed him in writing due to my board membership at the Lincoln Community School in Ghana. The U.S. Ambassador appoints three members while the other members are elected by the parent community. I was an elected member. While the U.S. President may have been misadvised or misinformed, he spoke those words of endorsement and only he can undo his mistake.

Elsewhere, A.P. van der Mei, my husband has argued that there is a link between Obama’s (innocent) endorsement, and my critical stance on rule of law issues on the American school board. In that case, the President should ensure that his representatives and their representatives refrain from further improper influence and/or interference in the action I have initiated. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, I WOULD LIKE TO SENSITIZE YOU TO THE FACT THAT, THE RULE OF LAW AND EQUALITY OF ARMS WOULD SEEM TO DICTATE THAT YOU RETRACT YOUR ENDORSEMENT OF THE TABLOID DEFENDANT IN THE PENDING LIBEL ACTION, WITH THE SAME PUBLICITY AS THAT OF YOUR ENDORSEMENT. IT IS THE NOBLE THING TO DO!

Does the current situation in Africa provide cause for celebrating 21st October, Africa Day of Human Rights, and the Anniversary of Africa Legal Aid? In Gambia, we have a strong man implicated in massive human rights abuses; in Liberia and Sierra Leone, strong men have been implicated in widespread mayhem; in Sudan, Uganda, the DRC, and the CAR, strong men have been implicated in genocide, crimes against humanity, and genocidal rape on a mass scale. And in Ghana we have an award winning strong man tabloid reporter implicated in perpetuating media rape, and then the strongest President in the world drops by to congratulate him, invariably encouraging the African youth to follow suit. Strong Men have not served Africa well!

Long Live Gender Justice; Long Live Africa Legal Aid