Accra, Sept. 17, GNA - Hundreds of Ghanaians, especially friends and sympathizers of Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), on Wednesday commemorated the 100th day of his incarceration.
The Free Tsatsu Movement, a human rights advocacy group, used the occasion to mobilize support for signatures condemning the "miscarriage" of justice in the annals of Ghanaian judiciary.
When the Ghana News Agency arrived at the Freedom Centre, venue for the 100th day commemoration, a large crowd, including leading members of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), social advocates, media practitioners, lawyers, economists, religious leaders, MPs and security officers, had thronged the centre to sign the book. An Accra Fast Track High Court, presided over by Justice Henrietta Abban on June 18 sentenced Tsikata to a five-year jail term for wilfully causing financial loss of more than 2.3 billion old cedis to the state and misappropriation of public property.
Professor John Evans Atta Mills, former Vice President and presidential candidate of the NDC, in a brief interaction with newsmen after appending his signature, described Tsikata as devoted, selfless and committed individual who deserved national award for bravery and innovation instead of incarceration.
Prof. Atta Mills said: "Mr. Tsikata, during his tenure in government and other engagements rendered selfless and dedicated service to the nation and should not have been treated this way. "If you serve a nation that does not honour its heroes, you will think twice about making certain sacrifices."
Prof. Atta Mills said Tsatsu did the best that he could and rather than throwing him into jail, he deserved an honour. Mr Tony Lithur, a legal practitioner, reiterated his call on the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) to speak out against the jailing of Tsikata, saying the inability of the Bar to do so had cast a slur on the integrity of the association.
He urged the GBA not to keep mute on Tsikata's sentence, which he described as unfair.
Mr. Lithur reminded Ghanaians that the nation had ceased to be under military rule long ago and it would be wrong to repeat the mistakes of past governments, especially military regimes. "These mistakes must not be repeated, doing so would have a negative effect on the country's democracy...Ghanaians will have problems if people continue to compare constitutional rule to that of a military rule," he stated.
Mr. Lithur appealed to the government to look at Tsikata's case in the light of the 1992 Constitution and allow the judiciary to administer justice independently with no political influence. "Judges must protect the fundamental human rights of Ghanaians no matter who appears before them," he stated.
Mr. Kwesi Pratt, Editor of the Insight newspaper and a member of the campaign, said they were interested in ensuring that every Ghanaian got access to justice irrespective of their political affiliation. He indicated that "no matter what has happened to our history, nobody must be denied justice".
Mrs. Esther Cobbah, wife of Tsikata commended the public for the total support over the last 100 days.
Mr. Sekou Nkrumah, son of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first President, told the GNA that Tsikata served the country with distinction, especially in the roles he played in establishing an oil industry and stressed that he should be celebrated and not jailed for a crime he did not commit. 17 Sept. 08
