General News of Wednesday, 20 November 2013

Source: Daily Heritage

Comparison of Vikileaks to Awuku’s tape dismissed

Executive Director of the Danquah Institute has argued the leaked tape, courtesy Victoria Hamah of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), is worth investigating because she suggested that some Supreme Court judges were compromised when a crucial judgment favoured the governing party.

The leaked tape which has led to the sacking of Victoria Hammah as Deputy Minister of Communications, has also informed the New Patriotic Party petitioning the Chief Justice Georgina Wood to probe Victoria Hamah's tape on which she was heard saying Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister, Nana Oye Lithur, may have influenced the decision of the Justices in the election petition hearing.

Mustapha Hamid of the pro-opposition think tank believes this is more serious than another leaked tape purported to be comments by an opposition NPP official that some judges were in his party's pocket; proven to be false because eventually the judges ruled against his party in the controversial election petition.

Executive Director of the Danquah Institute said in view of the failed prediction of Sammy Awuku, deputy director of communications of the NPP, there is no need to investigate him as demanded by some executives in the UK and Ireland branches of the NDC.

In politics of equalisation, the NDC executives are also insisting that the Chief Justice also turn attention to Awuku's purported utterances saying 8 out of 9 judges hearing an NPP-sponsored attempt to unseat President John Mahama through the courts were sympathetic to the party.

But the Executive Director of Danquah Institute has dismissed the NDC claim describing it as "a moot idea" and "null and void".

He said on Joy FM's Newsfile Saturday "let nobody place it [Vikileaks] at par with Sammy Awuku tape"

He said "if at the end of the verdict the judges ruled in favour of the NPP, then there is something we have to look into.".

But in view of their defeat in court, Vicky's revelations christened Vikileaks should engage the judiciary's attention if it is interested in improving its image as an independent arm of government, Mustapha added.

He pointed out that Vikileaks showed that even the sacked deputy minister was "not confident that the NDC won this petition genuinely."