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General News of Wednesday, 11 April 2012

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NDC unperturbed by Kofi Adams suit

....he is only exercising his democratic rights- Gen Mosquito

The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, John Asiedu Nketia says the party is unperturbed in the suit brought against it by ousted Deputy General Secretary, Kofi Adams.

Mr Kofi Adams, who is also spokesman for the party¹s founder, Ex-president Jerry John Rawlings has headed to court to contest his suspension from the party.

He was suspended over an alleged plot to run the party down ahead of the December elections in a leaked telephone conversation.

However, Johnson Asiedu Nketia says Mr Adams is exercising his democratic rights as a citizen of the country and that the party was only implementing the party rules.

³We are in a democratic system, everybody has the right to pursue a court case; beyond implementing the party rules, I don¹t think that anybody has a personal grudge with him so if he seeks to pursue his rights, he is free to do² he said in an interview with Xfm 95.1.

Asked whether or not the court case will affect the work of the investigation committee, Johnson Asiedu Nketia said that will be determined by the committee.

Meanwhile, the lawyer for Kofi Adams, Stanley Ahorlu has said the way and manner his client has been treated within the ruling party goes against natural justice.

Citing the story of Adam and Eve in the bible, lawyer Ahorlu said, ³when Adam allegedly disobeyed God, God did not simply just go ahead and punish him. He first called Adam three times and notified him of the charges he had preferred against him and gave Adam reasonable opportunities to defend himself and it was only thereafter did God pronounce punishments. God himself in all his wisdom and knowing power still had to give Adam notice as to what the charges were before he punished him. That is a perfect illustration of what natural justice is².

³And those concepts of natural justice are enshrined in the NDC constitution itself; so basically what my client has stood for is the illegality of the act of his suspension².

He insisted that the suspension of Mr Adams is punishment enough, stressing, ³you do not exact punishment without giving the person reasonable opportunity or clear charges to defend or contradict the charges; you do not do that².

Story by Abena Asiedua Tenkorang/ Xfm 95.1/ Accra/ Ghana