Back Off Nana

Posted: Daily Guide | Friday, 11 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Kobina Ivor Greenstreet, has asked the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to stop its hypocrisy; spare the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, their tantrums over his ‘all die be die’ comments; and concentrate on the affairs of state.

Mr. Greenstreet believed the NDC was making a case out of nothing because Nana Addo’s comments were in no way an inference to violence come 2012, stressing that what the ruling party was doing was just “an orchestration to make him appear unelectable”.

This, he said, was because the NPP presidential candidate’s comment was one directed at internal party members to prepare them for what he called ‘the metaphorical political battle’.

The CPP General Secretary was speaking on X.FM’s ‘Big Bite’ programme yesterday, touting Nana Addo as a man who hates violence and has been fighting for the rights of the individual, emphasizing that what the NDC was doing was their own way of denigrating their opponents.

Nana Addo had asked his party supporters at a forum in Koforidua on Tuesday to stand firm and not to allow themselves to be intimidated. He said they should get ready to meet the NDC boot-for-boot in the 2012 elections.

He was quoted to have said, "We need to be bold and courageous for 2012 because Ghanaians need us to come to power", stressing, “They (NDC) have intentions to intimidate us in 2012 because they believe that we are soft and cowards.

If that is the thinking, then we shall see. At least, during the Atiwa by-election, we showed a little of our colours there.”

He added, "You must understand that this party was formed by courageous people. Our leaders who formed this party that has now become the biggest political movement in Ghana were not cowards. So in 2012, we need to be courageous because all 'die be die'. All die be die," he said.

This is what has triggered leading members of the NDC including the party’s General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah to launch a series of blistering attacks on Nana Addo.

“Nana Addo’s personal political history should be able to tell Ghanaians that he does not believe in violence; he does not believe in subverting the rule of law and the constitutional provision which protects all Ghanaians.

Rather on the contrary, he has been an individual who over many years has fought for the right of Ghanaians, has fought for the opening up of the political space, for freedom of association and for freedom of speech”, noted the CPP General Secretary.

For this reason, Mr Greenstreet said, “I think that it was more of an internal matter that he was speaking to his own rank and file, trying to get them prepared and ready for the struggle ahead.”

Instead of punching holes and finding faults in Nana Addo’s comments, the CPP General Secretary asked the NDC to focus on delivering the so-called ‘Better Ghana Agenda’ they promised Ghanaians and stop building mountains out of molehills, saying, “It is clear that the incumbent NDC government has a definite strategy to try and create the impression that Nana Addo is some kind of cocaine smuggler, violent and some kind of ‘gidigidi’ human being; but I think what they need to concentrate on doing is to show Ghanaians what their strategies are and what they are working on and stop spending time trying to pick on every word Nana Addo has to say and paint it in a certain light to the public.”

NDC On Nana

At a press conference in Accra yesterday, General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah asked the NPP to take steps to remove Nana Addo as its presidential candidate since, in his opinion, the actions and words of the opposition leader were inimical to Ghana's democracy.

He took issue with Nana Addo’s comments, describing him as a war monger who must be sacked by the NPP.

This, according to him, was because “the violence that characterized the Atiwa by-election was part of an orchestrated and a well rehearsed grand design to plunge this nation into chaos during the 2012 elections”, emphasizing that “Nana Akufo-Addo has reconfirmed his credentials as a war monger who will stop at nothing in his bid to pursue his selfish political ambition of becoming President at all cost even if it means plunging this nation into civil and tribal war.”

The NDC called on the NPP presidential candidate to withdraw what they described as “these unfortunate statements and apologise unconditionally to all Ghanaians, particularly his own party for putting them into such an awkward and embarrassing situation by these utterances.”

NPP Hits Back

In a sharp and swift rebuttal to the NDC’s press conference, NPP General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie said Nana Akufo-Addo had nothing to apologise for.

He sent a clear message to the ruling party that the NPP would not allow the democratic will of the majority of Ghanaians to be abused by intimidation, violence or electoral fraud in 2012.

Instead, he said, “Our flagbearer’s firm and uncompromising position on ensuring a clean contest in 2012 is based on the extra-electoral tactics employed by the NDC in Akwatia, Chereponi and Atiwa and the shocking inaction of the security personnel in the face of such blatant acts of intimidation, violence and electoral malpractices.”

In a statement, the NPP warned: “Let them not think that we would give them a free hand at repeating these unhealthy practices in 2012. NPP will be no rollover in 2012”, calling on its activists and supporters to stand firm and defend their democratic rights.

In that regard, the NPP has turned down the suggestion by the NDC for its presidential candidate to apologise for those comments since “the NPP is proud to be led by a man who would not stand by and allow Ghanaians to be cheated” and that “the NPP will continue to express, through both our words and deeds, that we are deeply committed to the democratic process.”

The NPP has consequently asked the ruling NDC to stop the diversionary tactics and focus on doing what is important, asking them to fix the economy and deliver on their promise of a ‘Better Ghana’ since “propaganda will not pay school fees; it will not reduce the cost of living or create jobs.”

The statement said: “It is not for the NDC to define to Ghanaians who Nana Akufo-Addo is. For over 35 years that Nana Akufo-Addo has been at the forefront of fighting the Ghanaian cause - for political freedom, human rights, democracy, opportunities and prosperity - Nana Akufo-Addo never once used any instrument of violence as his weapon.

“True to the character of the founders of our political tradition, Nana Akufo-Addo has used his courage, wisdom, words and legitimate persuasion to help bring about the kind of democratic environment that we are all enjoying today, which the NPP is committed to protecting and enhancing,” the statement said noting, “Nana Akufo-Addo's record speaks for itself.

“His contribution to both national and international peace and freedom can never be wished away by the programmed amplifiers of false propaganda. It is a hopeless endeavour destined to fail.”

The UK and Ireland branch of the NPP has also declared an unflinching support for Nana Addo’s comments.

A statement issued and signed by its Communications Officer, Nana Yaw Sarpong said Nana Akufo-Addo is also right to ask party members to remain steadfast, disciplined and focused, as well as prepare to sacrifice, and work hard for the party to come to power in 2012.

Nana Akufo-Addo’s comments raised serious concerns about the attitude and machinations of the National Democratic Congress and its leadership under President John Evans Atta Mills and the current attempts to undermine the peace and security of Ghana without honoring its numerous promises to the Ghanaian people, as well as the seeming lack of political will from civil society to address this menace, citing several instances in which members of the ruling party visited brutality on members of the NPP including those at the Kokomba market in Accra, Chereponi and Atiwa be-elections to back their claims.

Four people mainly NPP supporters were butchered by NDC goons with impunity in broad-day light in front of a Police Station at Agbogbloshie in 2009, a few weeks after NDC had assumed power, with no arrest made since then.

Pratt Taken To Cleaners

Posted: Daily Guide |Wednesday, 09 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings (FONKAR) have taken on the Managing Editor of The Insight newspaper Kwesi Pratt Jnr, over his comments about their icon.

Mr. Pratt had sworn to do whatever it takes to ensure that the former First Lady and President of the 31st December Women’s Movement (DWM) does not become the President of Ghana.

This was what provoked the group to cause its Communications Director, Dela Coffie to issue a strongly-worded statement in which they questioned the credibility of Mr. Pratt noting, “In his usual predilection of betraying the truth and denigrating pillars of society, this ingrate mounted a sermon of preaching vile doctrines which seem logical only in his head and said that he would do anything in his power to prevent Nana Konadu from becoming a President of Ghana.

“FONKAR takes offence to the ill-informed and ill-conceived commentary by this tainted politician who wants to come across as a journalist. Should Mr. Pratt’s populist brand of political rhetoric go unchallenged? We find Pratt’ belligerence and his utterances on the former first lady, to be very reckless and we are convinced that such unprovoked attacks on Nana Konadu could only be part of that grand scheme being orchestrated by the Mills’ administration to discredit the former first lady,” the statement noted.

They could not fathom why and how Mr. Pratt, whom they described as a ‘journalistic albino’ has suddenly become a member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to decide what is good for the party stressing, “the likes of Kwesi Pratt talk as if they own the country and without them everyone in the country doesn't matter. Who is Pratt to choose a President for the 24 million Ghanaians? Since when did he become the spokesperson of Ghanaians?”

But Mr. Pratt ridiculed FONKAR’s statement when DAILY GUIDE contacted him yesterday, saying, “If this is the level of their campaign message then they are not going anywhere.”

FONKAR said it was aware of the fact that Mr. Pratt and another loud-mouth journalist as well as a self-styled pollster met a senior security operative of the NDC not too long ago and were given the contract to churn out polls that will indicate that a Nana Konadu presidential ambition will be a disaster for the NDC in 2012 indicating that, “every discerning Ghanaian knows that Mr. Pratt is a compromised journalist and what he churns out most of the time emanates from his stomach rather than his head.

“Despite his claims that he is an independent editor, we are yet to see this scandalous editor take on moral issues that speak to the growing misery of the nation’s majority who can barely pull themselves by the straps. The likes of Pratt and their style of journalism is an apology to media practice in this country.”

This, FONKAR said, was evident in the fact that “they have rejected the core principles that govern objective news coverage and have metastasized into a corporate body that is more interested in marketing the political ideals of paymasters while it downplays the cruel experiences of resource-deprived Ghanaians. Because of gluttony, and avarice, Pratt is trying very hard to run down the image of a woman who has shown tremendous consistency as a strong advocate of the ordinary people.”

For this and other reasons, the group said Mr. Pratt does not exhibit political and linguistic correctness in his constant critique of Nana Konadu, wondering whether if it is just mercenary journalism, media irresponsibility or corporate greed.

In this light, the angry NDC youth described Mr. Pratt as “nothing but a paid agitator, a mercenary journalist and a poster boy,” daring him “to come out and tell the whole world how he acquired a state-of-the-art printing press six months into the Atta Mills administration.

“Whose interest is he serving besides his own in his campaign of reckless vilification against Mrs. Rawlings? Haven’t Pratt and his collaborators waged their fruitless war of attrition against the former first lady long enough to realize that they are fighting a losing battle?”, they asked rhetorically, noting with emphasis: “Pratt must also be reminded that the former first lady was never made by the media, and cannot be unmade by the media.

“It is only Ghanaians who can decide whether Nana Konadu can become a President or not, it is not opportunists and crooks who parade as so-called senior journalists and political animals.”

FONKAR, which has declared a continuous and unflinching support for the former First Lady, noted, “The fallacy that Nana Konadu cannot win an election in this country is just another communist inferior tactic”, adding, “We are certain Mr. Pratt would be consumed by his mission of destroying Nana Konadu sooner rather than later.”

They therefore warned that “those who are bent on destroying Mrs. Rawlings and her family from within or outside of the NDC must desist from it or be well prepared for the fight of their lives.

“If President Mills’ men, in their wisdom, believe that they can hire Pratt to discredit Nana Konadu to suit their cause, then they must be living in a banana republic,” the statement said, noting with emphasis, “The President must be careful about his friends in the media because sooner rather than later they would help him sing his own dirges.”

Responding, Mr. Pratt wondered why the group would take him on for expressing his personal opinion since according to him, “I am a citizen of Ghana, and I say I don’t like Konadu as my President. Every citizen is entitled to do that.

“My main reason is that…if you are not with them, they will come at you, they will tell lies about you. They will bully you and so on, I cannot accept somebody like that as my President”, Pratt told DAILY GUIDE.

Fight Over Anas

Posted:Daily Guide |Tuesday, 08 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration seems to have lost confidence in the entire security apparatus of the state as it relies on private investigators to unearth corruption.

This has manifested in the contracting of investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his private investigative firm, ‘Tiger Eye’ to uncover the rot at the Tema Harbour.

Yesterday, there was utter confusion in government and the ruling party over which state institution funded Anas’s investigative piece, which has exposed massive corruption at the port.

While the Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, released a statement that the state funded it, Deputy Finance Minister, Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey denied the claim.

“The Finance Ministry did not pay a dime, not one penny, not one pesewa,” Fiifi told Accra-based Citi FM.

But another statement issued and signed by National Propaganda Secretary of the NDC said “The NDC also commends the Minister of Finance, Dr. Kwabena Duffour and his Ministry for collaborating with Mr. Anas, enabling him to investigate and analyze the situation at the GPHA from 2005.”

But Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr, Editor-In-Chief of the ‘New Crusading Guide’ newspaper where Anas plies his profession has denied the claims by government and the National Propaganda Secretary of the ruling NDC, Richard Quashigah, that government sponsored the investigations.

Mr. Quashigah also alleged that former Chief of Staff under the erstwhile Kufuor administration, Kwadwo Mpiani, failed to fund a similar investigation.

Mr. Baako said Anas never solicited funds from Mr Mpiani. “Anas has been doing investigative work since 1999 and has not been funded by any state institution or government agency.

However, his work has had support from within and without all networks whereby both public and private agencies are activated depending on the nature of investigations.”

For instance, he said “Anas was arrested by the police during the Elubo investigation and together with Halifax Ansah-Addo was nabbed over the Kwame Nkrumah Circle investigations as were the two female staffers at the Tema Harbour and these agencies were activated to assist their release.”

President Atta Mills who rushed to Tema Port upon the release of the damming video indicting CEPS officials said he had wished the expose was done by state agencies.

A statement issued by government yesterday under the hand of Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, a Deputy Minister of Information, stated that the two recent investigative works by Anas, “the cocoa smuggling report and the latest on happenings at the Tema Port were funded by a state institution.”

He indicated that the principle behind the state funding the two projects was to “employ counter-check measures in order to assess whether or not existing systems put in place were yielding the required results.”

Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa hinted of several other strategies that had been deployed at the instance of President John Atta Mills in the fight against corruption and stressed that "the president is determined to win this fight at all cost."

However, he said the funding was not given to him as an investigative journalist with New Crusading Guide but as a private investigator with ‘Tiger Eye’.

“At no time did we use the New Crusading Guide,” Okudzeto told Citi FM last night.

Though details of the said state institution which commissioned the investigative piece are being kept under wraps considering the conflicting accounts of denials and admissions by some government officials and the ruling party, speculation is rife that the Ministry of Finance may have collaborated with Anas and his team.

This, according to sources, was in view of the fact that there was an existing turf-war between two government ministries over the activities and operations of Destination Inspection Companies (DICs) at the Tema Port.

The Finance Ministry is said to be having issues with the operations of the DICs since they were believed to be under- invoicing and thereby not raising the needed revenue for the state and pushing for them to be replaced while the Minister of Trade, Hannah Tetteh, who has oversight responsibility over the DICs was not doing enough to expose them.

Eventually, the investigations ended up exposing the corrupt officials of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) who were supposed to be making revenue for the state.

But Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa told DAILY GUIDE “we want to do a full disclosure at a later time. Now our focus is on the arrest and finalizing dockets and looking at possible prosecution.”

Asked whether this does not defeat the essence and relevance of state institutions like the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), CID and National Security operatives mandated by law to investigate some of these unhealthy practices that lead to the loss of massive revenue to the state, the Deputy Information Minister said “it will keep them on their toes.

You know that the main reason why we created Customs was to check against people importing things and then the state losing money, but some officials there have become compromised.”

“Sometimes we send a security task force and sometimes some of them become compromised so the President is saying ‘look, enough is enough’ we want to make sure that we use every available means.”

In spite of that, Mr. Ablakwa said “we will continue to strengthen our institutions, sack those who have been compromised, punish them, bring in new hands but our institutions are best served when they know that there are counter measures to access the systems that are in place.”

He saw nothing wrong with the government or any state institution contracting a private investigator or an investigative firm to undertake undercover investigations for them even when there are state-funded institutions mandated to carry out such duties since according to him, “this is used all over in the world where people want to cross-check systems to ascertain the reliability of officials

“We just wanted to put this out so that we will just focus on the work Anas has done and the fight against corruption…You see state institutions alone cannot fight, we can collaborate with reputable and distinguished citizens and private investigators like Anas, we will do that so, that at least there is a watchman watching the watchmen,” he said.