Another botched operation against the legal wizard

TWO plain-clothed men believed to be cops connected to the Deputy Attorney- General, yesterday launched an unsuccessful attempt to seize the former Chief Executive of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) on his way to church in Accra.

The attempt failed after members of the church including a pastor intervened to stave off the arrest of the man now widely confirmed as a legal wizard - not a financial wizard - Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata.

The point was made to the arresting officers that it would be most embarrassing to conduct such an operation on such hallowed grounds when Tsikata's residence was already well known and he had always availed himself to the security services whenever he had been invited.

The initial suspicion was that the men were from the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), but by 1500 hours yesterday, the Director firmly rebuffed that in a telephone interview with The Chronicle hours away from Accra.

"They are not from our unit", he said when reached for his reaction in a rather accusatory tone by this reporter:

"I have never given any such instructions".

"Can I quote you by name and office Sir?"

"Yes!", he said with some heat, clearly flustered by the suspicion that his men have often been linked to operations like these.

Chronicle learnt from eyewitnesses at the church that Tsikata was late for church yesterday at the Ashbury Donewell Chapel of the Methodist Church,which is next door to the national headquarters of the church.

Service normally commences at 10.00 am and is usually over in a little over an hour.

The preliminary service, which is the Praise and Worship segment, was already in full swing when the congregants were disturbed by the sound of rustling feet and arguments after the men tried to physically restrain Tsatsu from entering the chapel.

It is not the first time that agents of the security services have attempted to arrest a former Government official in Church The first one was the former Auditor General Mr. O.T. Prempeh.

Chronicle learnt that some leaders of the Churhc and other worshippers left the room to go and find out about what was going on.

A significant number of worshippers at that particular small branch of the Church are expatriates.

When the news leaked, most people thought the men who refused to identify themselves my name and office were connected to the BNI.

Even worshippers that this reporter spoke to were firm in their belief that they were from BNI and the action was roundly condemned all the same.

But Mr. Tsikata was quoted to have said that the men were policemen who usually follow the Deputy Attorney General to court.

After the abortive attempt, the men left and the worship continued.

Tsikata was with one of his three (his and hers) children at the time of the incident.

His wife Esther, former Public Affairs Manager of GNPC where Tsikata was boss for over a decade, was absent from Church yesterday though she was present the previous week.

He looked completely unflappable after the incident and continued with his worship.

Mr. Tsikata had completely outfoxed the Attorney General's office in two major legal combats with a run of victories.

It is believed that Mr. Tsikata may be arrested today, but the negative public relations fallout may be interpreted as a desperate attempt to nail the man who blew the nation's assets in a cloud of smoke.

The Government may end up looking bad as the prosecution have been sensationally sloppy