Rejoinder to Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah's Article on Cote D'Ivoire

*RE: MILLS IS RIGHT ON COTE D’IVOIRE *

The attention of the Office of Nana Akufo-Addo has been drawn to a publication in the Daily Graphic of 27th January, 2011 by Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, which purports to be an analysis of the current Ivorian crisis. After reading the article, it becomes clear that the use of the word ‘analysis’ is a misnomer. It is in fact a piece of pure propaganda. Its purpose is obvious. To establish that on the Ivorian crisis, President Mills is a peace maker, whilst Nana Akufo-Addo, the NPP presidential candidate, is a war monger.

Ordinarily, crude propaganda should not be dignified with a response, but it is now obvious that it forms part of the general NDC strategy of wholesale misinformation and deliberate deception on the issues of the day. Hence this rejoinder for the record.

After much flip-flopping on the crisis, including his declaration of the “dzi wo fie asem” foreign policy, President Mills recently told the diplomatic corps that he is, after all, in support of the ECOWAS position on the recent presidential election in Cote D’Ivoire. The ECOWAS position is in two parts. The first is the endorsement of Alassane Ouattara’s victory in the election. The second is the demand that Laurent Gbagbo hand over power peacefully to his victorious opponent, who was elected by a clear majority of the Ivorian people. Failure on his part to do so would leave ECOWAS with no option than to pursue all avenues, including the use of legitimate force, to ensure compliance. Not only does the President support the position of ECOWAS, he, actually, in Ghana’s name, signed the communiqués of 7th and 28th December where the ECOWAS position, including the use of legitimate force, was spelt out.

Nana Akufo-Addo, NPP presidential candidate, has in his two public utterances indicated consistently his whole-hearted support of the ECOWAS position. He has further called on the President to ensure that Ghana behaves, just as she has always done, as a good citizen of the ECOWAS Community by not doing anything to undermine ECOWAS’ common position. In the circumstances, the question is this: how does President Mills’ support of the ECOWAS’ position make him a peacemaker, but Nana Akufo-Addo’s similar support make him a warmonger? The answer lies in the warped logic of the NDC propaganda machine. Office of

No amount of blatant distortions can change the hard fact- “the Akufo-Addo led NPP’s” position on Cote d’Ivoire is a responsible one. It is the position of virtually the entire International community. Indeed, rarely has there been such global consensus on a matter of international concern- the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU), the European Union (EU) and the UN Security Council are all speaking with one voice. Laurent Gbagbo lost the election and he should yield peacefully the presidency of Cote d’Ivoire to the winner of the 28th presidential election, Allasane Ouattara.

Indeed, this is the crucial issue in the Ivorian drama. As the outgoing President of the ECOWAS Commission, Victor Gbeho, one-time diplomatic advisor to President Mills, put it in one of his comments on the Ivorian crisis: “the situation represents a bad scenario: a leader loses an election, then calls on the military to support him...” (AU SITUATION ROOM, Daily News Highlights, December 12, 2010). This is the heart of the matter. The implications of the Gbagbo defiance are extremely dangerous and unhealthy for the growth of democracy on the African continent. It is that spectre that should be the focus of public discussion, not artificial, diversionary issues about troop commitments. No requisition has been made for any troop commitment. If the international community’s stance on the issue remains robust, as it is now, we may never get there. That has to be the wish of all responsible people.

The attempt to portray Nana Akufo-Addo as a warmonger will simply not wash. It is a deliberate, crude caricature that flies in the face of the facts. Nana Akufo-Addo, as Foreign Minister under President Kufuor, was one of the key figures brokering peace in Cote d’Ivoire after the 2002 attempted coup. The Accra III Peace Talks in particular in 2004, where Nana Akufo-Addo was prominent, saw the first gathering of the leading Ivorian actors- Laurent Gbagbo, Henri Konan Bedie and Alassane Ouattara- in one place, here in Accra, to plot the way forward. Many of the subsequent steps that were taken towards the resolution of the Ivorian crisis, including the holding of internationally sanctioned elections, were initiated at the Accra III Peace Talks. It would truly be strange that a man, who devoted so much of his time and energy helping broker peace and reconciliation in Cote d’Ivoire, should turn around to become a so-called warmonger over Cote d’Ivoire. The allegation is untrue. It is baseless. Nana Akufo-Addo was prominent during his tenure as Foreign Minister in attempts to broker peace in Serra Leone, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea Bissau. If there is a Ghanaian public figure who has developed a deserved reputation in the West Africa region as a peacemaker, Nana Akufo-Addo is one such figure.

The effort to reduce the Ghanaian discussion on the Ivorian crisis to a mere case of support for either of the Ivorian leaders- i.e Mills/NDC for Gbagbo, Akufo-Addo/NPP for Ouattara- is very unhelpful. It is a complete red herring. President Kufuor and Foreign Minister Akufo-Addo did not Office of hesitate to work for peace and the consolidation of Laurent Gbagbo’s hold on power after the attempted coup because, in the words of President Kufuor on 21st September 2002, i.e. two days after the attempted coup of 19th September, Laurent Gbagbo represented the “legitimate government” of Cote d’Ivoire, having won the controversial election of 2000. He went on to say that his government would do whatever it could to support that legitimate government. It is the same sense of principle that drives NPP policy in the latest crisis. The peace, unity and democracy of Cote d’Ivoire and the peace and stability of the West African region of ECOWAS are the guiding considerations for NPP, not the partisan support of a given leader, no matter how friendly. That is what is called statesmanship, not crude propagandist posturing.

This Office is aware that attacks on Nana Akufo-Addo are the best way of attracting the attention of President Mills for those who are seeking to maintain their relevance in NDC affairs and those who are seeking preferment and jobs in the Mills government. We can only wish Dr. Spio-Garbrah the best of luck in his enterprise.

Signed

Mustapha Hamid

Spokesperson