Nana Akufo-Addo Is A Nuisance To The NPP - Part 2

Recently, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji

Mohammad Mumuni, told Parliament that the Gambian government had paid a

compensation of $500,000 to the families of the victims of the killings of

40, or so, Ghanaians and other nationals in July 2000 in the Gambia. Mr.

Martin Kyere, the lone escapee from the massacre, who broke the news to the

Ghanaian authorities leading to investigations, was also compensated. All

and sundry agree that the compensation is just a symbolic token and not a

replacement for the lost lives, but, to me, it also brings closure to the

case and proves beyond all reservations that Nana Akuffo-Ado, who held

Mumuni’s position in the previous government that was in office when the

killings occurred, is a do-nothing man who is not worthy of even his own

vote in any election.

When Mr. Kyere gave his eyewitness narration of the butchery, Nana DoNothing

Akuffo-Ado, the then minister of Foreign Affairs, did not want to involve

himself in the case until the Coordinator of the Commonwealth Human Rights

Initiative (CHRI) in Africa, Oye Lithur, pressurized him into action by

persistently publicizing the case. Ms. Lithur forced Nana to 'end his

silence on this serious issue and make his ministry's standpoint known to

the public’. When Mr. DoNothing halfheartedly got involved, he made four

trips to the Gambia to 'investigate' the case but to no gain. At times, on

his return, he did not even report his findings. All he cared about was the

government voucher for him and his personally selected freeloaders for the

trip. In all, he could not even get the Gambian government accept that the

massacre happened. Not until a new government was voted into power, Mr.

DoNothing Akuffo-Ado had ended the case as if the victims' lives were of no

value.

In March 2002, a chieftaincy scuffle resulted in the beheading of the

Yaa-Na, Yakubu Andani, and the killing of many of his followers in daylight.

At that time, Nana DoNothing Akuffo-Ado was the Minister of Justice. He

treated the case so lackadaisically that some openly expressed the belief

that the government was covering up for the sponsors of the manslaughters.

Despite a peaceful protest in Tamale by the Andani family and sympathizers

on the anniversary of the UN Freedom Day as a way of obligating the

government to find the killers, Nana did not act. With a new government in

power, arrests and prosecutions of suspects are ongoing, but to Mr.

DoNothing, the case had long ended as if the victims' lives did not matter.

Wait, there is more indication that Nana has no regard for his fellow

Ghanaians and that the $30,000 gold medal that he accepted from Kuffour for

being a human rights advocate is unmerited. In the run-up to the 2000

elections the Northern Regional Chairman of the CPP Alhaji Issah Mobillah

campaigned energetically for the ruling NDC but once the NPP won, he

surrendered to the police in Tamale because he was being sought ‘for

questioning’. He was detained in an army guardroom at Kamina Barracks only

to be found dead in the morning with broken bones and bruises indicating

that he had been tortured to death. The same man in question, Nana DoNothing

Akuffo-Ado, was the Attorney General whose office held the docket on the

case but true to his character, Nana did nothing. This is yet another case

that Nana put to bed as if the victim's life was inconsequential but the new

government is now actively pursuing the perpetrators.

With all these cases in mind, can you tell why Kuffour nominated Mills from

the opposition NDC for an award and only rewarded Nana after much

disapproval from the NPP hierarchy? Isn’t Nana a coldhearted man who would

walk over dead bodies to the presidency? It’s a shame that the best person

that the NPP can find to lead them is this do-nothing man. Nana will remain

a nuisance to the party for year to come.

By VoiceOfReason