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Opinions of Monday, 27 June 2011

Columnist: Quaye, Stephen A.

Mr. President:” Is That Clear?”

IS THAT CLEAR

Mr. President:” Is That Clear?”

From: Stephen A.Quaye, Toronto-Canada.

In the early nineties at Nungua Secondary School, [NUNSEC], there was a master called Mr. Mike Obu, who taught agricultural science. This master’s name was changed to “is that clear” because he always ensure that you understands whatever he teaches you before he leaves the class room for the day.
Mr. Mike Obu will never close his agric test book and leave the class if someone raises his hand and says that he did not understand a point he taught earlier on. He will take his time and re explain everything to him making sure that he understood it before he ends the lessons for the day.
Sometimes when other students who have understood the point whiles a colleague did not, they will cut in and ask their classmate, “is that clear?” just to find out whether he or she has now understood the point.
The president professor John Evans Atta Mills have been visiting the northern region where he constantly promises the people that he will make sure that the Yaa Naa killers are arrested and jailed.
Before the 2000 general elections, he together with former president Jerry John Rawlings capitalized on this gruesome murder of the overlord of Dagbon that the NPP was not ready to serve justice on the alleged murderers but when voted into power will make sure they are thrown into jail.
The electorate up north believed in this statement made by the then candidate Mills and voted massively for him to come to power and arrest the murderers and put them in jail only to see him struggling with the law.
Former president John Agyekum Kufuor, whose term of office the incident occurred set up a committee of eminent chiefs to work to ensure that peace returns to the place as well as unite the people.
What happened? When president Mills took over power, he did not see the importance of the committee and went in to declare search and jail for the alleged murderers who were no where to be found.
It was so funny how the president after the acquittal and discharge of the alleged murderers who were arrested at dawn swoop and brought to Accra to face prosecution were set free, quickly turns round and charged the Asantehene to restart the peace process all over again.
Then again the president went up north on one of his official tour of the region which was described by opponents in Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings camp as campaign tour where he reassured them of even contracting the Scotland Yard police to assist Ghana police to locate and arrest the alleged murderers in Ghana.
Not the president alone has been making political capital out of this but also the former president Jerry John Rawlings has also been making huge political capital out of this where he has swore over fire that he will not rest until justice is served on those perpetrators.
As if the government is not doing anything about it, he together with his campaign managers of his wife Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings were making the people to believe that the tape of evidence showing the people who killed the chief was given to the government therefore it has to seek for the perpetrators and throw them to jail.
Then at a point where everybody believed him and his spokesman Kofi Adams, the attorney general came out making it clear that the tape they were claiming of could not be tendered in court as evidence explaining everything.
It is worrying to note that all these while the president was being made to believe that there was a tape on the Yaa Naa case but he did not ask for the tape itself to watch and inform him about what it carries before going round to also say that the government will arrest all the perpetrators of the alleged crime?
I do not think he bothered to watch the tape but believed his campaign managers as well as the Rawlingses who pushed him to believe that there was an evidence tape to be tendered in court as evidence.
Now the attorney general has come out to clearly say that tape could not be tendered in court as a form of evidence to assist the police to arrest and prosecute the alleged murderers.
So Mr. President, is that clear that there is no evidence yet to be put before the law court to aid the police to arrest the alleged murderers you are assuring the people that you will seek the assistance of the Scotland yard police to help Ghana police to arrest?
May be you have realized this that is why you have dropped that issue as your campaign message these days. Every Ghanaian who believes in administration of justice will support you to serve justice on whoever commits crime such as one on the Yaa Naa but not on innocent persons but true perpetrators of crime so please get clear on that.
END.