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
