Reference is made to the above subject which for all intents and purposes must not pass without comment. It is interesting to note that at this stage of our political development, we now have a group of faceless people who go by the name, new CPP! I wonder where the so-called members of the new CPP had been all these while when the old CPP seem to be collapsing and their members flirting with the sworn enemies of the CPP. I also wonder where these members of the new CPP had been when the NPP had been boycotting parliament when the NDC were in power.
Indeed, these group of people are calling on the NDC to stop interfering in the judicial process? Where were they when the President loaded the Supreme Court only to have a decision overturned? Where were they when the Chief Justice claimed some of the judges have their rulings written for them! What an irony of life!
The new CPP claims that the type of prosecution being witnessed is not a selective prosecution, I would like to draw their attention to few issues here. JH Mensah is on record to have said that by the time they would finish prosecuting NDC members, the party would have collapsed. Alhaji Bamba was embroiled in visa scandal but was left to roam the streets of Ghana. Osafo Maafo led us to a series of loans that never materialised but he is free to be campaigning for the presidential slot. Wireko Brobbey led the VRA through a series of scams and scandals but he is now suing the VRA! What a fiction!
The new CPP wondered how many minister/MPs the (P)NDC have been brought to court and claims that the sentencing of a few of them cannot be considered as selective prosecution. That is incongruous to normal thinking and serious argument. While I do not hold them up for their views, I wish to tell them that the precedence being set up would be followed to the latter not by threats but by the very token to which it was administered. Having given the above small list of NPP guys involved in corruption, one wonders how many have been prosecuted? They also wonder if stealing a car and the car is in a garage lessens (not LESSON) the crime, not only does this analogy not hold water or is not in similar class as issues confronting Abodakpi but it is a myopic analysis of an event. Remember, Abodakpi has been convicted for loss of money to the state, now answer me, if the money is in the frozen accounts, is it the transfer of the money that is a loss to the state or the inability of the state to take the money from the frozen accounts that constitutes the loss?
Continually displaying their lack of knowledge of basic tenets of justice, they also question what the idea of mitigation is. According to Legal Appeal UK, factors for the Judge to consider when assign sentence include among other things, intention and state of mind of offender, consequences of the crime, mitigation, previous "good character" and legal precedents. (reference: www.legalappeal.co.uk ) Mitigation circumstances are used in law courts all over the world and they serve the purpose of lessening the term of a sentence. Akua Dansua said the judge acted as if he had preconceived mind in passing a sentence, how could a judge who was reading a judgement pronounce National Democratic Congress as National Defence Council? Tell me, where did the learned judge hear the National Defence Council from, was it during the trial as you made us to believe or during the reading of your piece that he realised the NDC was National Defence Council? This is exactly what Hon Akua Dansua was referring to.
This group talks about 20 years of accountability,probity etc etc. I belong to the NDC but never belonged to the PNDC even though you could argue that the latter metamorphosed into the former but the two are different entities. But lest you forget, it was this same PNDC that brought the likes of them from Nigeria when they were being pursued, it was the PNDC that lifted Ghana from the shackles of queuing for bread and even the Daily Graphic, it was the same government that enabled Ghana to enjoy sustained stability that most of our neighbours never enjoyed, for this alone, I ask the members of the new CPP to be grateful. Fortunately, this group have a lot to talk about because it is the NDC that sells, the NDC is rubbish at public relations, I must admit, for which they allow the likes of this group to design their publicity for them but that will not last.
Finally, this group of people are promising Ghanaians a new Ghana! This idea is laughable by the fact that they describe themselves as people who will save mother Ghana! They may have grabbed a few headlines by attacking the NDC but the idea that by attacking the NDC and its functionaries one gains a lot of popularity is one of the many quaint myths that surround party politics in Ghana, the NDC is not in power, so fighting NDC would not help you into power! The new CPP appears to have been like a small boy who appears after a football match with his jersey clean and boasting of having the skills to match anybody in the game. Yes, I suppose in theory, they have the chance to save mother and get rid of the whole dreary bunch of looters but if they can’t even get rid of NPP what do you reckon their chances are? Finally, my advice to the new CPP is that they put their house in order for the battles ahead of them would not be fought by the new and old CPP.
Reference is made to the above subject which for all intents and purposes must not pass without comment. It is interesting to note that at this stage of our political development, we now have a group of faceless people who go by the name, new CPP! I wonder where the so-called members of the new CPP had been all these while when the old CPP seem to be collapsing and their members flirting with the sworn enemies of the CPP. I also wonder where these members of the new CPP had been when the NPP had been boycotting parliament when the NDC were in power.
Indeed, these group of people are calling on the NDC to stop interfering in the judicial process? Where were they when the President loaded the Supreme Court only to have a decision overturned? Where were they when the Chief Justice claimed some of the judges have their rulings written for them! What an irony of life!
The new CPP claims that the type of prosecution being witnessed is not a selective prosecution, I would like to draw their attention to few issues here. JH Mensah is on record to have said that by the time they would finish prosecuting NDC members, the party would have collapsed. Alhaji Bamba was embroiled in visa scandal but was left to roam the streets of Ghana. Osafo Maafo led us to a series of loans that never materialised but he is free to be campaigning for the presidential slot. Wireko Brobbey led the VRA through a series of scams and scandals but he is now suing the VRA! What a fiction!
The new CPP wondered how many minister/MPs the (P)NDC have been brought to court and claims that the sentencing of a few of them cannot be considered as selective prosecution. That is incongruous to normal thinking and serious argument. While I do not hold them up for their views, I wish to tell them that the precedence being set up would be followed to the latter not by threats but by the very token to which it was administered. Having given the above small list of NPP guys involved in corruption, one wonders how many have been prosecuted? They also wonder if stealing a car and the car is in a garage lessens (not LESSON) the crime, not only does this analogy not hold water or is not in similar class as issues confronting Abodakpi but it is a myopic analysis of an event. Remember, Abodakpi has been convicted for loss of money to the state, now answer me, if the money is in the frozen accounts, is it the transfer of the money that is a loss to the state or the inability of the state to take the money from the frozen accounts that constitutes the loss?
Continually displaying their lack of knowledge of basic tenets of justice, they also question what the idea of mitigation is. According to Legal Appeal UK, factors for the Judge to consider when assign sentence include among other things, intention and state of mind of offender, consequences of the crime, mitigation, previous "good character" and legal precedents. (reference: www.legalappeal.co.uk ) Mitigation circumstances are used in law courts all over the world and they serve the purpose of lessening the term of a sentence. Akua Dansua said the judge acted as if he had preconceived mind in passing a sentence, how could a judge who was reading a judgement pronounce National Democratic Congress as National Defence Council? Tell me, where did the learned judge hear the National Defence Council from, was it during the trial as you made us to believe or during the reading of your piece that he realised the NDC was National Defence Council? This is exactly what Hon Akua Dansua was referring to.
This group talks about 20 years of accountability,probity etc etc. I belong to the NDC but never belonged to the PNDC even though you could argue that the latter metamorphosed into the former but the two are different entities. But lest you forget, it was this same PNDC that brought the likes of them from Nigeria when they were being pursued, it was the PNDC that lifted Ghana from the shackles of queuing for bread and even the Daily Graphic, it was the same government that enabled Ghana to enjoy sustained stability that most of our neighbours never enjoyed, for this alone, I ask the members of the new CPP to be grateful. Fortunately, this group have a lot to talk about because it is the NDC that sells, the NDC is rubbish at public relations, I must admit, for which they allow the likes of this group to design their publicity for them but that will not last.
Finally, this group of people are promising Ghanaians a new Ghana! This idea is laughable by the fact that they describe themselves as people who will save mother Ghana! They may have grabbed a few headlines by attacking the NDC but the idea that by attacking the NDC and its functionaries one gains a lot of popularity is one of the many quaint myths that surround party politics in Ghana, the NDC is not in power, so fighting NDC would not help you into power! The new CPP appears to have been like a small boy who appears after a football match with his jersey clean and boasting of having the skills to match anybody in the game. Yes, I suppose in theory, they have the chance to save mother and get rid of the whole dreary bunch of looters but if they can’t even get rid of NPP what do you reckon their chances are? Finally, my advice to the new CPP is that they put their house in order for the battles ahead of them would not be fought by the new and old CPP.
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