By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Garden City, New York
June 11, 2015
E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net

Police investigations appear to be proceeding as steadily as most well-meaning Ghanaians sympathetic to the cause of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Mahama Adams family would have it. So far, the Accra magistrate's court handling the case involving the brutal acid-dousing assassination of the Upper-East's NPP Chairman has refused bail for the prime suspects in the case. They are Mr. Gregory Afoko, 50, the younger brother of Mr. Paul Afoko, national chairman of the NPP, and Mr. Musah Issah. A third suspect by the name of Mr.Asabke Alangdi is on the lam. According to some media reports, Mr. Alangdi and his wife vamoosed leaving behind the couple's little baby. The gender and age of the baby were not given, and it is also not clear who has taken custody of the baby.

The two prime suspects were due back in court on June 28. Earlier on, counsel for the second suspect, Mr. Musah Issah, had sought a bail bond for his client. The latter's counsel, Mr. Alfred Adjei-Mensah, had lamely argued that since his client had been charged with criminal abetment but not the commission, or perpetration, of the crime itself, the law permitted Mr. Issah to be granted bail pending full and formal judicial proceedings. As was to be expected, however, the prosecutor of the case, Superintendent of Police Francis Baah, successfully objected to it on grounds that granting such a bail privilege could significantly prejudice the work of police investigators. The patent implication here is that Mr. Issah could escape prosecution or interfere with witnesses to the case whose safety and integrity could also be severely compromised.

Mr. Gregory Afoko, who has been described as farmer, has also been predictably denied bail (See "Court Declines Bail for Afoko, Issah" Graphic.com.gh / Ghanaweb.com 6/11/15). We have also learned that fresh charges have been brought against the prime suspects. The additional charges were not very clear to yours truly as of this writing. What is clear to us presently,however, is the fact that Nana Akufo-Addo, the 2016 New Patriotic Party presidential candidate, finds himself between what might be aptly described as rock and steel. On the one hand, and rightfully so, the former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice is seeking the hunting down and vigorous prosecution of Mr.Mahama Adams' killers, while at the same time seeking to forge party cohesion with a unity of purpose. This, of course, will not be easy because two of the most prominent New Patriotic Party administrators are clearly either directly or indirectly linked to the circumstances leading to the death of Mr. Adams Mahama.

Nana Akufo-Addo, a front-line Ghanaian trial lawyer with legendary status, has exhorted police investigators not to kowtow to political pressure from any quarter. In an advanced democracy, such as those of Britain and the United States, this ought not be any great headache. Unfortunately, the political and cultural history of Ghana tells a different story altogether. If Nana Akufo-Addo and his associates are able to successfully negotiate this treacherous balance between justice and politics, it may well mark a healthy beginning for the robust development of Ghanaian democracy and society at large. Clearly, the New Patriotic Party cannot afford to lose Election 2016, if the party's leadership genuinely wants to witness a better Ghana than the thoroughgoing corrupt and flood-prone regime of the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress.

It obviously cannot be gainsaid that Nana Akufo-Addo is dead-on-target when the former Foreign Minister observes that the key players of the party cannot work harmoniously and effectively together, when "name-calling" and other forms of rancid verbal abuse continue to trump collegiality in the New Patriotic Party. But it is equally true that peace, harmony and progress cannot prevail in the party, unless the good image and integrity of all the key players of the NPP can be reckoned as being beyond reproach. And presently, this is where the leadership skills and acumen of Nana Akufo-Addo and his key associates may be seen to be direly needed.

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