*By Akadu Ntiriwa Mensema, PhD
WILLIAM ATUGUBA: Counsel, what is your name
TSATSU TSIKATA: My Lord, I am Tsatsu Tsikata
ATUGUBA: Sustained, and what are you
TSATSU: Ex-convict before the court, my Lord
ATUGUBA: Sustained, why are you an ex-convict
TSATSU: My lord, I stole and misapplied state money
ATUGUBA: Sustained, and how long were you in prison
TSATSU: My Lord, I can’t recall that
ATUGUBA: Sustained, were you freed
TSATSU: Yes, at two levels
ATUGUBA: Sustained, what two levels
TSATSU: My Lord, I faked illness and lived at Korle Bu
ATUGUBA: Sustained, what is the other level
TSATSU: My Lord, Kufour gave me amnesty
ATUGUBA: Sustained, did you accept it
TSASTSU: My Lord I did not
ATUGUBA: Sustained, so why did you reject it
TSATSU: My Lord, I wanted to use the courts to free myself
ATUGUBA: Sustained, so did you use the courts
TSASTSU: My Lord, I have done so yet
ATUGUBA: Sustained, so you are still an ex-convict
TSATSU: My Lord, that is what everyone thinks
ATUGUBA: Sustained I think so too
TSASTSU: I think so too, My Lord
ATUGUBA: What is your line of interrogation
TSATSU: My Lord, the sheets
ATUGUBA: You mean the NPP’s evidence
TSATSU: Yes, my Lord
ATUGUBA: What is the color of the sheets
TSATSU: Blue, my Lord
ATUGUBA: Sustained, I think it is pink in color
TSIKATA: My Lord, it is blue in color
ATUGUBA: Sustained, yes it is pink, blue, etc.
TSIKATA: Pink, my Lord
ATUGUBA: Sustained, whether blue or pink
TSIKATA: Yes, my Lord we can even say it has no color
ATUGUBA: Sustained, how many have you examined
TSIKATA: My Lord none, in fact, none
ATUGUBA: Sustained, how do you plan to interrogate Dr. Bamuwia
TSIKATA: My Lord, just ask and repeat one question
ATUGUBA: Sustained, and what is the question
TSIKATA: What are the pink sheets, my Lord
ATUGUBA: Sustained, but you said the pink sheets are blue
TSIKATA: Yes, they are pink, blue, red and all, my Lord
ATUGUBA: Sustained, you are our NDC’s luminary lawyer
TSIKATA: My Lord, I have done many things for Ghana as a lawyer
ATUGUBA: Sustained, what else have you done
TSIKATA: My Lord, the bogus trial & killing of Acheampong & co
ATUGUBA: Sustained, what else
TSIKATA: The AFRC/PNDC kangaroo courts, my Lord
ATUGUBA: Sustained, what else
TSIKATA: My lord, the AFRC/PNDC seizure of Akans’ businesses
ATUGUBA: Sustained, and what else
TSIKATA: Indemnity clause in the Constitution, my Lord
ATUGUBA: Sustained, have you won any court case
TSIKATA: No, my Lord
ATUGUBA: Sustained, have you published any scholarly essay on law
TSIKATA: No, my Lord, you will help me to write on this one
ATUGUBA: Sustained, you are the great NDC legal luminary
TSIKATA: Yes, my Lord
ATUGUBA: Sustained
*Akadu Ntiriwa Mensema, Ph. D., is a nationalist Denkyira beauty. She is a trained oral historian cum sociologist and Professor in the USA. She lives in Pennsylvania with her great mentor and teaches Africa-area studies at a college in Maryland. In her pastime, she writes what critics have called “populist hyperbolic, satirical” poetry. She can be reached at akadumensema@yahoo.com. My poems and essays on Ghanaweb and elsewhere must not be reproduced in full or in part for any academic or scholarly work without my written permission.
