A Ruling is made on Nana Addo’s Birthday…So?

On Monday, in line with their party’s shameful disposition, another NDC member went on record with a loose and reckless comment. In a radio interview, the NDC Member of Parliament for Yendi, Hon. Baba Iddrissu, exposed his understandable fear of being voted out of parliament in 2012, because as they say, the chickens are coming home to roost. He confirmed one more time, the NDC’s strategy of drawing Nana Addo’s name and reputation into whatever matter, no matter what. With all the happenings of the past, and the kind of impetus they come at him with, I am tempted to believe, that gradually, accusation after allegation, day after day, we are inching nearer and closer to the day when the NDC will accuse Nana Addo of being behind the rainfall levels and sunshine intensity in our country, and then, we can all be convinced of his unimaginable powers.

The Yendi MP told the whole world that Nana Addo orchestrated the High Court’s ruling that acquitted and discharged 15 persons accused of killing the late Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II. He said a few days before the court’s decision, Nana Addo had promised the Abudus, one of the factions in the Dagbon chieftaincy dispute, that he will secure the release of the 15 persons, adding that “the court’s decision was influenced by people like Akufo-Addo.”

He continued rather desperately that: “I don’t fear Akufo-Addo, I am not afraid of Akufo-Addo. I said he went to Yendi and told them that he will come back to Accra and get the guys released. I am saying it and I am a Member of Parliament, let him challenge me. I am not afraid of him, I am not afraid of him, I respect him as an astute politician, but I don’t buy his status.”

Buy his status? It is actually not for sale to people like him.

But the pick of the bunch was when he opened up his mindset for all to watch and laugh, almost reducing a rather disturbing comment to a comic episode. He questioned why and how the release of the 15 accused could coincide with the birthday of Nana Akufo-Addo.

After having a good laugh, I walked straight to Nana Addo’s office and briefed him on the MP’s comments. He had a good laugh too, but asked me two questions in the end. First, he asked me what I am doing about the MP’s comments and I told him that I asked Boakye Agyako to respond to him, which indeed he did very well. Then he asked me, rather sadly: “Krapa, is this where we are at with the politics of our country?”

The Yendi MP is telling us in essence, that out of the 365 days that make a year, 29th March, Nana Addo’s birthday, is excluded from the days when judges can make rulings, so that when a ruling is made on that day, it means one of the many people who were born on that day, could have influenced the judgment. For his information, the MP should learn that every single day of the year marks the birthday of some people in this world, prominent or otherwise, and going by his reasoning would mean no judgments can be made at all on any day, because at least one person was surely born on that day. Can our law courts be abolished then, so that we can all say good bye and go to sleep?

The fact is that as part of steps taken by the NPP to ensure a successful parliamentary primaries later this month, the leadership of the party went on a nationwide tour to educate and sensitize parliamentary hopefuls and party executives on the rules governing the elections and the spirit with which it should be conducted. At no time during our visit to Yendi, did Nana Addo say to anybody, that he will secure a ruling in favor of the 15, who were at the time, standing trial for the death of the late King. The Member of Parliament, honorable, I should say, was only blowing hot air and only proved why he is a member of the NDC.

The MP’s comments, ranting lies, I want to call it, is borne out of sheer frustration. He dreads the reality of losing the chunk of votes he got in the last election, as a result of the lies he told his constituents in connection with the death of the Ya Na. Together with his other colleagues in the Dagbon area, NDC MP’s and aspirants took the NPP to town and bastardized us, reducing the elections in those areas to a simple matter of chieftaincy. They said things they couldn’t substantiate, put out baseless fabrications and gave the people false hope, without conferring with the substance and merits of the matter. Today, with their regional office burnt down and executives threatening to quit, they can only be frustrated.

Nana Addo has been around long enough, politic and legal, to know when and where to say what. A lawyer of international repute, Nana Addo has used his legal knowledge and political experience to serve his country and country people well. Like the “Doyen of Gold Coast politics”, J.B Danquah, and others before him, Nana Addo used his law practice to champion the cause of human rights, rule of law, justice, freedom and democracy. He fought for the rights and liberties of the Ghanaian people. He is acknowledged as one of the leaders of the pro-democracy movement in Ghana, through whose efforts Ghana has come to embrace democracy in a manner which has made her a beacon of democratic governance in Africa. Some Ghanaian lawyers who passed through his law firm are among the most outstanding lawyers at the Ghanaian Bar today. They include* *Sophia Akuffo, Justice of the Supreme Court, Joyce Darko, Daniel Afari Yeboah, Joe Ghartey, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Frank Davies, Atta Akyea, Nana’s successor as MP for Abuakwa South Constituency, Akoto Ampaw, Yoni Kulendi, Kwame Akuffo and Godfrey Dame.

Many of Nana Addo’s leading constitutional cases are documented in the Law reports of Ghana and have helped over the years in shaping the constitutional jurisprudence of our country. A landmark case, Tufuor vrs Attoney General, helped to establish the doctrine of separation of powers in Ghana. NPP vrs GBC helped broaden the frontiers of free speech in Ghana and granted all persons equal access to the state owned media. NPP vrs IGP, guaranteed the people’s fundamental human right to demonstrate without police permit. J. H Mensah vrs Attorney General ensured that a minister moving from one ministry to the other will not have to go back to parliament to be vetted. These are just a few of his cases. Ghana’s democracy has come a long way and Nana Addo has contributed immensely to that feat, in his nearly 30 years of practice.

The NDC promised the people of Dagbon that they will find the killers of the Ya Na. It is good news. They have tried once, but the High court thinks otherwise. It is my hope, just as it should be of all other well meaning Ghanaian people, that the killers of the Ya Na are found or at least revealed, just in case they also died in the war. Until then, the NDC should leave Nana Addo’s name out. They should focus their energies and attention on the things that will bring them closer to achieving their manifesto promise.

Taking Nana Addo on without provocation and sitting on radio to accuse him falsely will not help find the killer(s) of the king, and one would think that the NDC has also been around long enough to know this.

hkrapa@gmail.com