Afari Gyan Confirms Being Roommate of Akufo-Addo

By Margaret Jackson

June 5 2013

Anytime you see NPP supporters heaping insults on people, especially those who write or say things that they do not like, you’ve got to believe that whatever that is being said at the time has hit them very hard.

It is very true that your own true blood can do you in. We have so many examples. And it is equally true that someone that you are not related to can become your best pal.

Therefore, what score does Dr Afari Gyan have to settle with Nana Akufo-Addo that he would deny him the presidency if he indeed won it? Can you say that Dr Afari Gyan has harboured so much hatred for Nana Akufo-Addo over the years that he deliberately denied him the presidency if Akufo-Addo actually won it?

There have been instances of school roommates clashing over a number of issues which have led to cold shoulders when both parties have long completed their studies. But even in those instances when fate permits the paths of the feuding parties to cross down the lane, good memories are resurrected whilst the built-up tensions dissipates. We also have instances of that.

Do you think that it is not for any good reason that Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh, a known NPP apologist and General Manager in charge of Newspapers at the Graphic Communications Group Limited takes pride in reminding readers of his column that he is the former roommate of President John Mahama at the University of Ghana (UG), Legon?

When I wrote that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is the former roommate of Dr Afari Gyan at the UG and the two have known each other for so many decades, therefore, I do not think that if Akufo-Addo won the 2012 Presidential Election, Dr Afari Gyan will have no good reason to torpedo him by tilting the results in favour of President Mahama, heaps of insults were loaded on me by the NPP supporters.

But Dr Afari Gyan reluctantly confirmed in court on Wednesday June 5 that he and Nana Addo were roommates at the UG for three years. Dr Afari Gyan did not want to disclose anything about his long term relationship with Nana Akufo-Addo claiming the information was confidential, but Mr Tsatsu Tsikata who was cross-examining him told him that he has no choice but to tell the court what he knows about Akufo-Addo.

Initially, Dr Afari Gyan told the court that he knows the first petitioner as the presidential candidate of the NPP during the 2008 and 2012 elections. But the answer did not go down well for Mr Tsikata who forced Dr Afari Gyan to disclose more information about his relationship with Nana Akufo-Addo.

That was when he reluctantly told the court that he was his roommate at the Legon Hall of the UG and that Mr Tsikata was their junior. I am ready to eat my shoes if any NPP supporter can step out with credible evidence other than pink sheets to prove that Dr Afari Gyan schemed to steal the election verdict from his former roommate, Nana Akufo-Addo through hatred.

Who will not take pride of a former friend or roommate being the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces? Currently, in Ghana we have Mr Martin Yeboah, formerly of Kosmos Energy who happens to be the former roommate of Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta at the Amherst University at Amherst in Massachusetts, USA. Mr Yeboah takes so much pride in being the former roommate of such an august figure in Kenya today.

Therefore, why would Dr Afari Gyan who has many internationally recognized accolades to his credit for organizing successful elections in Ghana which dates back to 1996 do something uncanny to tarnish his image when he is due to retire from service this year? What does he stand to gain by denying Akufo-Addo the presidency if he indeed on it?

These are questions that should engage the minds of the NPP supporters as they join me in saying a word of prayer for Nana Akufo-Addo who I learnt is not in the best of health when he was flown out of the country on Tuesday June 4.

magjackson80@yahoo.com http://majjacks80.blogspot.com