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Has Akufo-Addo boxed
himself into a tight corner?
By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Folks, when a politician cannot stand firm to speak and act
expeditiously and reflect natural intelligence and political
acumen, he may end up pandering to whims and caprices with
negative boomerang effects. In our Ghanaian situation, our
politicians have been established as whimsical to all
intents and purposes, saying and doing things as if all they
can do to survive is to play to the gallery. They clutch
straw and end up drowning!!
A case in point is what the NPP's Akufo-Addo has led himself
into regarding the decision by the Ghanaian government to
host in Ghana for two years the ex-detainees of GITMO. When
news about this deal broke out, those of us who disagreed
with the government took it on and condemned it for
pandering to the United States' will to put Ghana where it
shouldn't be as far as international terrorism is concerned.
We didn't hide anything in our disavowal.
I was among the first group of people commenting on the deal
to blast the Mahama-led administration for pushing Ghana
into such a deal without prior consultation with the
Ghanaian stakeholders (Parliament, the Judiciary,
identifiable political and civil society, etc.). I wondered
why the government would act unilaterally and questioned the
rationale behind the deal, especially in terms of any
benefits to Ghana for hosting these Yemeni undesirables. I
haven't yet been persuaded by arguments from government
circles to change my stance. Many others have also aired
their dissension.
However, the NPP's Akufo-Addo (clearly the flagbearer of the
political cabal that sees itself as a shadow government and
Akufo-Addo as a shadow president) didn't say anything on the
deal. Those close to him did so, joining the line of the
opponents to condemn the government. A group calling itself
the "Great Democrats" had urged him to speak out. The NPP
made it clear that he won't comment on the issue, which
rather ended up setting the stage for him to box himself
into a tight corner with a series of mis-steps.
Mis-step number one immediately cropped up. Right in the
same breath, Akufo-Addo contradicted the NPP's stance when
he caused an official statement to be issued to state his
opposition to the deal. He charged at the government for
bowing to pressure from the US and asked that the Yemeni
undesirables should be returned. Clearly, that was his mis-step
number two. Of course, the US spokespeople had already made
it clear that according to the terms of the deal with Ghana,
the ex-GITMO detainees couldn't be returned to the US. So,
why would Akufo-Addo not know that fact to avoid that mis-step?
Akufo-Addo's mis-step number three didn't take long to
emerge. Speaking at Wa, he accused President Mahama of
violating the Anti-Terrorism Act (Act 762) and reinforced
his lambasting of President Mahama as incompetent. He
specifically quoted section 35 of the Act to accuse
President Mahama of failing in leadership.
Lawyers, social commentators, and the government have
reacted to his accusation that by making Ghana agree to host
the Yemeni undesirables, President Mahama, indeed, breached
the Anti-Terrorism Act. We take these comments one after the
other for a brief analysis.
The government has debunked Akufo-Addo's claim, taunting him
of not interpreting the Anti-Terrorism Act properly. If he
did so, he won't fail to see things more clearly.
Others have said that the Act says nothing about the
President but the Director of Immigration Service and the
Minister of the Interior. So, why rope in President Mahama
to sustain the NPP's politics of calumny? In effect, then,
Akufo-Addo goofed by giving President Mahama a bad name in
the desperate attempt to have him hanged.
No matter how the issues are analyzed, it is clear that
public concern about the government's deal with the US is
real and high; it will definitely influence Ghanaian
politics for a long time. Whatever happens hereafter, the
government should be prepared for the repercussions.
What is, however, bothering some people closely monitoring
developments is the misleading impressions that the NPP and
its Akufo-Addo have created. First, saying that Akufo-Addo
won't react to the deal only for him to do so and to be put
on the spot as shooting his mouth without properly
interpreting issues within the context of the Anti-Terrorism
Act.
One question that surrounds everything is: If Akufo-Addo
wins Election 2016 (May God forbid!!), what will he do about
the two Yemeni undesirables? They have two years to live in
Ghana. Will he return them to the US or Yemen, or where
else? Until then, anything coming from him and the NPP will
raise eyebrows for the wrong reason. What will they do
differently?
Before anybody comes out here to accuse me of being an
Akufo-Addo hater using this GITMO thing to intensify my
"hate propaganda", let me say that Akufo-Addo would have had
a better traction had he respected his own word not to
comment on the matter (even though it's clear that he's been
using his spokesmen to do so indirectly, which is itself
questionable). But once he broke his own self-imposed
injunction to open his mouth, he leaves us with no other
option to take him on. He hasn't proved to be principled in
this sense.
And once he turned everything on President Mahama, hiding
behind the Anti-Terrorism Act, he creates room for him to be
questioned as to whether he has really read and understood
that Act properly. The lawyer that he claims to be, one
expects more from him than he has done so far to be deflated
by the government.
Saying that he won't talk about the issue only to turn round
to talk about it and to misrepresent it and cast doubts on
his own integrity is a serious indictment on him. Mine is to
interrogate issues. I still am against the government's deal
with the US. I came out boldly to say so on Day One and have
maintained my stance all this while. No libilibi-labalaba!!
I shall return…
• E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
• Join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor
to continue the conversation
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