Akufo Ado has enraged me to the point that if we were to meet up on a narrow bridge where there are no witnesses one of us would have to swim and, ‘trost me’, as Joshua Clottey said repeatedly at his post-Zab Judah fight interview, it wont be me. Even if he walked home on the water like Jesus did in Matthew 14:22, I would say Akufo Ado walked on water because he cannot swim.
To go to the point, as I was working on a sequel to my article ‘Quite Frankly, Akufo Ado Is Unfit To Be President - (Ghanaweb 2008-06-26)’, my arms got fatigued from the repetitive ‘cluck, cluck, cluck’ because I can only type with my index fingers while relentlessly looking for the desired keys. I therefore broke the monotony by reading my emails, and to my surprise, there was one from Akufo Ado asking me for a donation of 15, 25, or 50 American dollars to his presidential campaign. ‘Trost me’, if I could afford a new one, I would have hurled my computer with all its umbilical cords through the widow out of extreme rage. What nonsense it this? Akufo Ado wants to be president but does not want to answer any questions about himself and his work as a minister, and as if that is not dissing (American street term for disrespect) enough to Ghanaians, he is now asking for money from the same people that he dissed to run his campaign. This is utterly nonsense! Even if he sends a sel f-addr essed stamped envelope I will not give him washed out monopoly money.
Since his presidential bid the Arful Dodger, as brother Henry Acquah fittingly calls Akufo Ado, has only answered one question/concern about him by his own mouth, probably because it was a moot question and, even then, his answer had sexual overtones that make it unacceptable from a person of presidential ambition speaking in public. When Akufo Ado was asked to quit the NPP leadership contest because all the other candidates were much younger than him, he publicly said something to the effect that it is a woman who can attest to the strength of a man so ‘to find out how strong I am, ask the women’. One would have expected him to frame the same response in a more presidential manner like ‘I will only withdraw if my wife tells me that I am too old’. Prior to this impious statement, he had publicly said that he would beat Attah Mills so badly that Attah would not be able to sleep with his wife when he gets home. In another country that I know, the women of WAJU (The Women and Ju venile Unit) would be asking for his withdrawal from the race just because of these undignified public utterances, but Ghanaians as we are, some of us are oblivious to all Akufo Addo’s pitiable presidential qualities.
When Attah Mills of the NDC was being questioned about his health, one of his confidants tried to intervene but Egya Attah protested to his aide and explained that he was in good health. Whether that is true or not, he cleared the air about rumours regarding his health and if it turns out later to be untrue he will be known as a liar. When Nduom of the CPP faced questions about his academic degrees his wife promptly explained the where, when, and how and also said that the whole family was at the graduation ceremony and the company that Nduom worked for paid a professional person to take pictures as a gift to him. Akufo Addo, on the other hand, cannot explain simple lapses in his resume and how he became a lawyer in his own words. Instead, he unleashes three lawyers to attack Konadu in an attempt it frighten the public from asking further questions. When he was publicly accused of being a drug abuser, Akufo Addo would rather lose votes than defend himself. Can you imagine how Obama ’s life would be if he avoids a nagging gossip about him?
Many questions directed at Akufo have gone unanswered because the big ‘muff muff’ politician has an artful way of dodging questions. He does a ‘well dodge’ till the question fades away and when he resurfaces he acts as if the question wasn’t asked at all. Fellow Ghanaians, before reading the litany of questions below that Akufo Addo has been evading, please bear in mind that there are still serious issues about his character and his abysmal performance as a Attorney General and Minister of Foreign Affairs that will be pointed out in later articles. For now, just brood over these drug-related issues (courtesy of Henry Acquah) and determine for yourselves if a former minister and now a presidential candidate who dodges these questions can be entrusted to lead Ghana –
1. Why did Akufo Addo, as Attorney General, oversee the de-confiscation of frozen assets of Raymond Amankwah, a world reputed cocaine baron? Did the fact that Raymond Amankwah is a relative of Akufo Addo in anyway influence that decision? Was Raymond Amankwah until his recent arrest in Brazil, not associated with Akufo Addo's campaign?
2. Was Akufo Addo not the Attorney General in the year 2001, when the state prosecution of Frank Benneh on five counts of dealing in narcotics was suddenly discontinued?
3. Why did Akufo Addo so mysteriously stop a case that NDC's Deputy Attorney General Martin Amidu was prosecuting relentlessly until NPP took over the reins of office? Does Akufo Addo know that the discontinuation of that famous case was another strong signal of his lack of political commitment to fight the drug menace?
4. What about the NPP Dzorwulu branch executives who were busted with narcotics at Kotoka Airport in February 2002? Is it not under Akufo Addo’s tenure as AG, that all three NPP drug queens just vanished into thin air and their dockets disappeared?
5. Was Akufo Addo not pushing hard for a Bill (described by Ghanaians as Amoateng Bill) to be passed to essentially allow Ghanaian drug offenders languishing in jails around the world to be sent back to Ghana to complete their sentences? If Akufo Addo cares so much about Ghanaians abroad, what can he say about his woeful failure to show a similar compassion to the over 40 Ghanaians who were brutally butchered to death in Gambia under his tenure as Foreign Minister?
6. Is Akufo Addo surprised that given the catalogue of serious actions and inactions on his part, Ghanaians think that he is not qualified to lead Ghana in waging a serious crusade against the drug canker and the spiraling crime in the country? Isn’t it shocking that a man who prides himself as a great storyteller suddenly becomes mute anytime the above questions are asked?
Oblivious to Akufo Ado’s pathetic presidential qualities is his blind supporter Okoampa who suggested to Mr. Henry Acquah to go to a legitimately constituted court of law and duke it out with Akufo Addo or shut up. Perhaps Okoampa needs to be told that there is no law that will force Akufo Addo to answer these questions, explain his moral fiber and his accomplishment(s) as a minister. As a better alternative, Okoampa can take Kofi Wayo, Konadu Rawlings and Asiedu Nketia to court for defaming Akufo Addo’s character. If a presidential candidate is too proud and unwilling to openly dialogue with voters, there is a simple way to deal with him – VOTE AGAINST HIM!
‘Trost me’, we will all look stupid if, may God forbid, Akufo Addo should win ton December 7 – he disrespects voters by ignoring their questions/concerns, he was a minister for 7 years but cannot say a word about it in his campaigns, he has supported many extravagant government spendings that he is not talking about today, all he talks about are promises that everybody (including him) knows cannot be met, and most annoying is that he thinks we the voters are too stupid to see what is going on. Think twice and vote once, Ghanaians, because anyway you look at him, Akufo Ado cannot be trusted. He talks about the future of Ghana but just a few months ago, after Kufour who signed ROPAL had acknowledged that it is not feasible during the 2008 elections Akufo Addo was still asking for millions of dollars to implement it. When the Electoral Commissioner disagreed, Akufo Addo did not start a voter registration overseas to prepare for the 2012 or later ROPAL elections because all that he car ed about was the money that would have gone to him as the minister of Foreign Affairs. Is this a person you can trust to lead Ghana? Where is the transparency he keeps promising if he will only answer questions that he can interject sexual implications into. Even as a candidate begging for your money and votes, he refuses to answer very simple questions so who do you think he will be accountable to when he becomes president?
I may be wrong, but I doubt it, ‘trost me’.
