WHY USIS BOSS WAS RECALLED.......ACTING FOREIGN MINISTER EXPLAINS

Government sources confirmed in Accra yesterday that the director of the United States Information Service, Mr. Nicholas Robertson had been withdrawn at the request of Ghana for 'activities unacceptable from a diplomat.' Mr. Robertson is to leave Ghana by the end of this month.

Reacting to a story in an Accra weekly, the minister responsible for foreign Affairs, Mr. Kwamena Ahwoi, confirmed to the Graphic in an exclusive interview that his ministry had requested the American Ambassador Mr. Edward Brynn to have their Information head recalled.

The story quoted a press attach of the USIS, Mr. Bruce Lohof as saying that Ambassador had conveyed the quit order to Mr. Robertson at the request of the ministry.

Mr. Ahwoi described the source of the story as unfortunate . He said Ambassador Brynn had been invited by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs , Mr. Victor Gbeho, to discuss what the government considered the unacceptable activities of Mr. Robertson and the government's request that he be recalled .

He said it was agreed however that having regard to the excellent relations between Ghana and the United States, the matter should be handled with diplomatic decorum.

'It is unfortunate an official should have gone public with it and put us in a position of having to explain why it had to be done.' The Foreign Minister said Ghana valued her relations with the United States most seriously and had worked hard to iron out any obstacles in their way. 'We therefore have to take seriously any activities that have the potential to put those relations under the strain,' he said .

Mr. Ahwoi said the government had reason to believe that Mr. Robertson had a personal agenda unrelated to his mandate as director of USIS and was engaged in what he called highly provocative actions which could embarrass both Ghana as his host, and the United States. Asked for the basis for this belief Mr. Ahwoi said the evidence had been presented by his deputy, Mr. Gbeho to Ambassador Brynn and although he would not go into details, the minister was certain that the ambassador had indicated that the activities complained of were not authorised.

Other well-informed sources later cited what amounted to an attempt by Mr. Robertson to blackmail the former Minister of Information, Mr. Totobi Quakyi and other unnamed state official before the last general elections.

According to our source, Mr. Robertson asked to see Mr. Totobi Quakyi at the ministry in April 1996. At the meeting, Mr. Robertson told the minister that he was unhappy about the criminal libel law under which Kofi Coomson, Editor-in-chief of The Chronicle and the Editor of Free Press had been charged , adding that he was against Section 185 of the Criminal Code which he said was against the letter and spirit of the constitution.

Mr. Robertson according to our source, said it would be in the interest of the government of Ghana to drop charges against journalists concerned in exchange for an apology.

The USIS Director is reported to have told the minister that the story culled by the papers from African Observer was 'a silly story' which the government could ignore and that such a story did not warrant the kind of action prescribed by the criminal code under which the journalists had been charged .

Our source recalled that Mr. Robertson had gone further to tell Mr. Totobi Quakyi that if the trial went ahead, the United States Administration would react and in the event of their being convicted , the case would be subjected to a review in a US court of law with dire consequences for the government.

He threatened that the US would consider imposing diplomatic sanctions against Ghana and this would have international repercussions for the country.

Mr. Robertson is reported to have added that he was speaking in a semi-official capacity and had not informed Washington of his decision to discuss the matter but would brief them later.

According to our source, Mr. Totobi Quakyi reacted by reminding Mr. Robertson of the US Government's commitment to the global eradication of drug- trafficking.

He reminded him that US government invaded Panama to arrest the country's President Noriega and to have him transported to and tried and convicted in the United States because of his alleged involvement in an international narcotics syndicate.

He was asked how anyone representing the US could, against that background, trivialise a story that seeks to implicate the President and members of government of another country in drugs as just a silly story unworthy of attention.

Mr. Robertson was asked if he appreciated the international repercussions of such 'silly stories' on the country and its people.

Mr. Totobi Quakyi asked Mr. Robertson if he had been approached by the journalists concerned to negotiate with him on their behalf for the cases to be dropped in exchange for an apology.

He is reported to have replied in the negative at which point the minister told him that he was aware of his close contact with them.

He asked him why he had not advised the journalists concerned, since he was satisfied that the story was a silly one, to retract them and apologise voluntarily before coming forward to speak on their behalf.

The minister further reminded him of the commitment of the US to the rule of law and the due process. He asked him to understand that as in the United States, the Supreme Court of Ghana and not him, Mr. Robertson had sole jurisdiction for interpreting the constitution and our laws and drew his attention to the fact that the Supreme Court had ruled that there was no conflict between the constitution and the section of the criminal code he was complaining about.

He asked whether Mr. Robertson expected the government to set aside the ruling of the Supreme Court in preference to his interpretation of our constitution.

Mr. Totobi Quakyi is reported to have made it clear to Mr. Robertson that he considered his intervention as an attempt to blackmail the government and the judiciary.

Apart from the meeting with the minister, Mr. Robertson is also reported to have attempted to blackmail another state official on behalf of Mrs. Hawa Yakubu Ogede, former MP, in the run-up to the last general elections.

According to our sources, when Mr. Robertson realised Hawa Yakubu's campaign was not going well, he approached a state official that the US was prepared to put all its resources behind her to ensure her victory if some alleged obstacles in her way were not removed.