By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Friday, Sept. 30, 2016

Folks, I have read the editorial comment published yesterday by the pro-Akufo-Addo New Statesman newspaper and laughed it off as a clear confirmation of my poor opinions about the struggles of such a dead political horse. (See http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Is-it-okay-to-peddle-damaging-untruths-about-opposition-leader-473533).

That editorial picked on the arrest of the Lebanese Fadi Daboussi by the BNI to create the misplaced impression that the BNI (or national security, generally) was dealing with him that way because he is against President Mahama. The lesson? If critics of President Mahama can be arrested and treated as such, why aren't those of Akufo-Addo being given the same deal?

My immediate reaction? Absolute trash! Something to put more vim into our condemnation of Akufo-Addo as Ghana's main headache. A damn unfulfilled spoilt brat turning into a dilapidated political nuisance at this time in our country's history. Who will go about arresting anybody to suit his political interests but those who are doomed as he is? At 72 years and still not finding his locus in Ghana? Horrible!! And after practising law in Ghana for 40 years without any law qualifying certificate to support his dealings? I weep for Ghana!

Let me now set the warped minds of the NPP people at ease. The BNI is not and will never be at the beck and call of any politician, especially a jaded one like Akufo-Addo. It will, however, deal with Akufo-Addo if he has a brush with the law, if he brings himself to the point as to threaten national security and has questions to answer.

Now, let's turn to the real substance that has motivated my reaction to the editorial put out there by this pro-Akufo-Addo mouthpiece. It is not as if I care much about the impact on the electorate. It is nothing but a lazy piece of journalism that will further go to harm the interests of this shrimp leading the NPP to another disaster at the polls. However much I may want to engage that editorial to punch holes in it, I will not want to waste time on all that it contains. I just want to address two aspects, which I consider as the nub.

To begin with, the editorial seeks to create the impression that Akufo-Addo is equal to the President of Ghana and that once the BNI can react to anything considered as inimical to the interests of the President, it should do so to Akufo-Addo too. What arrant nonsense?

I won't belabour this absurdity anymore because the APC's Hassan Ayariga has made it clear already that Akufo-Addo is nobody. And nobody he remains. Who the heck is he to be accorded any respect as far as public service and standing are concerned? Because he is the leader of a failed opposition in Ghana? He deserves the scorn heaped on him because of his own miscalculations!!

The second point, which really annoys me, is the impression created by the editorial that Akufo-Addo has been maligned and that the BNI should have acted as such to bring the perpetrators to book. Here, the issues raised make me want to puke. I will quote directly from the editorial for that matter:

"We also ask, how can anybody think it is okay to say Nana Akufo-Addo murdered his wife? How can anybody say falsely claiming that Nana Akufo-Addo is a drug addict is okay? Yet, all these, and many other, wicked lies have been peddled about the leading opposition leader, with the BNI not taking any action."

Arrant stupidity, I am really angry now at these cowards, liars, thieves, and murderers. Why are they running away from the real issue that has dented Akufo-Addo's image? Whether he murdered his first wife or not is between him and his God. It wasn't his political opponents who raised that issue but the relatives of that unfortunate woman. What has he done to reconcile with them on the basis of truth?
Beyond that domestic havoc is another allegation that he had driven his father's car in those days when he thought he was on top of the world to kill a poor pedestrian but got away with the consequences because of his privileged position. That was in the early 1970's. What has Akufo-Addo said to clear the air?

Many more horrendous happenings feature daily on Akufo-Addo's personal radar screen that he cannot come to terms with. Has he been able to clear the air on his wee-smoking habit? What has he said about the Wikileaks cables? Those doing the ineffectual damage control for him only end up deepening his woes.

Now comes the real matter that the editorial avoided. True, Akufo-Addo has been in the spotlight for many obnoxious reasons, the most astounding of which is his professional status as a lawyer. Starting in 1977 when a bold Ghanaian questioned that status which would lead to the scathing allegation by Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings that he wasn't a qualified lawyer (even if the late President Atta Mills saved him), the matter assumed intriguing dimensions when Justice Kpegah sought to pull the plug.

Saved by the mafia in the judiciary working to his advantage, he survived and can still throw his weight about. One can tell from his mien whenever issues regarding his professional legal qualification crop up in public utterance that he does more of the "Kwaku Ananse" tricks than what he is using the weaknesses of our political dispensation to chase.
Let me land. I have read the entire editorial of his mouthpiece and found nothing regarding his being maligned on the basis of his law qualifying certificate. That is a major escapist approach. We have maligned him and even challenged him to take us to court on that score. So, if his own newspaper is questioning issues of the sort featuring in its editorial as calculated attempts to damage his political quests, why did it leave out the aspect regarding this part on his controversial law qualifying certification?
Folks, do you see how these people do their dirty politics? I still stand firm to say that Akufo-Addo is a mere citizen and cannot be of interest to the BNI unless he turns himself into a national security risk to be dealt with. The BNI will not do anything to protect his personal image. It will, however, do so for the President of Ghana because he is the fount of authority and honour—the FACE of Ghana! Any attack on him (be it verbal, personal, or physical) is an attack on the country to be dealt with.
I thought a newspaper extolling Akufo-Addo's virtues and seeking ways and means to whitewash and uplift him will be bold to touch on the most challenging of the allegations (law qualifying certification). Why didn't the New Statesman newspaper go that way?

I am done on that aspect for now. The truth, though, is that they are going for soft targets. Why should the BNI bother itself over Akufo-Addo unless he comes across as a national security threat? Here, let me tell all that Akufo-Addo has avoided being arrested and put to the tests that successful politicians have gone through because he uses other people to serve his purposes.

If you doubt it, go and talk to Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe and all others that he manipulated in the days of the so-called "Alliance for Change" demonstrations. What did Akufo-Addo do (even as a Minister of Justice and Attorney-General under Kufuor) to seek compensation or justice for the victims of the "Kume Preko" nonsense and all the cause(s) that he formulated and led? Or many others who were misled to support his cause only to end up dead or damaged? Nothing!!

On an extended plane, though, anything that seeks to place the President of the country in a security-conscious situation has to be tackled, which was exactly what the BNI did in the case of Fadi Daboussi. The conclusion?

I shall return...
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