Prof. Asare harms Akufo-Addo all the more (Part II)

By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor

Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016

And no one in the Akufo-Addo camp is talking about what he was at the Lancing College? I have the evidence and will produce it when challenged.

Beyond that level is the fact that prominent Ghanaian lawyers trained by the Middle Temple are listed openly at the institution’s Web site (for example, Justices Edward Akufo-Addo, Peter Ala Adjetey, and Francis Akpaloo). There were others too trained in the 1970’s by this institution who have been practising their trade without being subjected to the kind of scrutiny that Akufo-Addo has faced. Why so? Don’t tell me that those scrutinizing him are hate-filled or that they are being paid by Akufo-Addo’s political opponents to ditch him.

Interestingly, no one has so far come forth from any part of the world to say that he was Akufo-Addo’s classmate at the Middle Temple. We already know how he alone was enrolled into the Ghana Bar by the General Legal Council on a Saturday at a ceremony that reinforces suspicions of underhand happenings. In that regard, we have the document, allegedly signed by the then Chief Justice Azu Crabbe (Attached here), which says a lot to thicken doubts about Akufo-Addo’s legal certification. I wish when push comes to shove, a signature expert would be recruited to examine this document to help us know the authenticity or otherwise of the signature appearing as that of the late Justice Crabbe.

In addition, we have the document prepared and endorsed by Akufo-Addo’s own team of counsel (led by Lawyer Dame) that stated explicitly that Akufo-Addo had told the Acting Executive Secretary of the General Legal Council (Bart Plange-Brew) that he had lost his law qualifying certificate. That was before he was enrolled into the Ghana Bar. This information is available in this affidavit filed by Lawyer Dame (See it attached here). Interestingly, when the negative implications of that admission sank, Lawyer Dame quickly revised that affidavit and deleted that vital information (See the revised affidavit, attached here).

One quick question raised by this claim: When did Akufo-Addo realize that he had lost his law qualifying certificate? What did he do to get it replaced or to have documentary evidence of his law qualifying certification)? Which institution had given him that certificate, though?

The last question is particularly mind-boggling because evidence reveals that after being at the Middle Temple for some time, Akufo-Addo left Britain to work as an administrator (or something of that sort with no relevance to his so-called legal background) with Coudert and Freres in Paris, France, from where he emplaned to Ghana and got enrolled into the Ghana Bar. There is no evidence that he did the mandatory pupillage required by the Middle Temple or that he returned to the Middle Temple with any documentary evidence of his apprenticeship to qualify for certification and be sent out as a duly qualified product of the institution. So, what is what now?

Where does Prof. Asare’s take on apprenticeship as the main training mechanism for lawyers in those days apply to Akufo-Addo in this case?

This question is relevant because of Prof. Asare’s bold claims on “apprenticeship” as the core of legal training in those days. Where did Akufo-Addo do his apprenticeship? At the Inns of Court in the Middle Temple? Not so because the institution didn’t do things that way. A candidate was to do course work therein and then proceed to do apprenticeship/internship outside the confines of the Middle Temple with seasoned practising lawyers. So, what happened in the case of Akufo-Addo? Can he tell us where he did his apprenticeship/pupillage?

Folks, I am confident that I have sufficiently reacted/responded to prof. Asare’s opinion piece as fart as the arguments are concerned. I appreciate his audacity at this point and urge him to come out with more viewpoints to help us explore and examine the mystery surrounding Akufo-Addo’s status. Regardless of what he has done in the past 40 years, there is an underlying controversy behind it all that must be dealt with.

As concerned citizens, we have been doing our best, tearing him apart and challenging him to join us set the records straight. He has run away from the bait, even if he sends others to bite it on his behalf. That’s not the mark of a conscientious character parading the political landscape and mobilizing forces to confront the status quo. If he has nothing to hide, let him join us unravel the truth about him, especially what has made him, what he is and from which he has profited all these years.

I don’t question what he has done at the courts in cases handled by him all these years. His submissions are available for scrutiny to prove his worth; but I am concerned that he is carrying a baggage that must be dropped off at a point, especially considering where he is now in our country’s political dispensation.

The implications of his labelling President Mahama as “incompetent”, “corrupt”, and “the greatest threat to Ghana’s future”, among others, are deep. They are politically charged and serve the purposes that he is leading the NPP to achieve at Election 2016. They easily come across as the motivation that his followers need to do whatever he has put in place to make him Ghana’s President “at all costs” (with a hindsight awareness from what happened after he lost Elections 2008 and 2012).

He has already projected himself as neither corrupt nor corruptible, creating the negative impression about President Mahama that his followers have latched on to in their campaign of calumny and confrontation. Happenings of serious security implications have come to notice (the formation of such unorthodox security groups as the “Invincible Forces” or the “Bolga Bull Dogs” and the importation of characters from Serbia and South Africa to provide training in security or mayhem) have already put him in a bad light. The impression is that he is bent on becoming Ghana’s president “at all costs”, even at age 72 when he should have been more focused on living his life in its twilight.

If he insists on having his way against all odds, he will only be making himself the bull’s eye. Mired in all kinds of controversies about his personality integrity and professional status, how does he hope to live beyond age 72? That’s a major question for him to ponder. Ghana belongs to us all but as mortal human beings, we will leave it behind!! No need to turn oneself into a super human being when the ground we are standing on is nothing but a quicksand!! Those who have ears should hear; and those with eyes should see. What haven’t Ghanaians seen before?

I shall return…

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