You are here: HomeOpinionsArticles2013 04 13Article 270870

Opinions of Saturday, 13 April 2013

Columnist: Appiah-Osei, Lawrence

Where is Nana Akufo-Addo?

With all these brouhaha that is going on regarding Nana Akufo-Addo’s practicing law certificate, I ask this question, where in the world is Nana Akufo-Addo? I am getting confused with all these lawyers who speak for Nana. I am very sure that they are not helping him at all and they know it. When it was disclosed by Nana Akufo-Addo himself (The Enquirer, April 9, 2013 on Ghanaweb) that his certificate was missing, one of his lawyers came out immediately to say, Nana’s certificate is not missing. The following day, Lawyer Frank Davies came out and asked what was wrong if Nana’s certificate is missing. He equated it to having a passport that is missing, and asked “does that mean you have not owned a passport before? Lawyer Davis, please when your passport is missing and you want to travel to America, go to the American Embassy and tell them you once owned a passport and so they should stamp your VISA in your palm, OK?. Seriously, does Lawyer Frank Davis genuinely know what is going on with this certificate thing? Does he really know what Justice Kpegah’s writ is all about?

When the issue of the certificate for His Excellency, The Vice President Amissah-Arthur came up, did the NPP folks not force him to leave his busy schedule and went to the University of Ghana for it? Why cannot they do the same thing to Nana Akufo-Addo? Do they want to give him the same special treatment that made him to become a lawyer under his father’s influence? Or is it the case of anything bad under the NPP is good, and anything good under the rest of the people is bad? Don’t Ghanaians deserve to know under what circumstance did Mr. E. Bart-Plange sign Nana Akufo-Addo’s letter? Look, when I first read that Nana was removed from Oxford University in London to University of Ghana, I began to realize that all was not well with this man. He couldn’t even finish Oxford with all the rich resources available to him.

When Ghana was in the period of Gas crisis under the late President John Atta-Mills, the President in his wisdom, sent his Ministers to give situational reports to the people. Nana Akufo-Addo at that time had the courage to ask this question, “Who is in charge?” I am also having the same courage today to ask Nana Akufo-Addo, who is in charge of his certificate issue? His lawyers who are giving situational reports are not helping him. Ghanaians do not need situational reports on this. What Ghanaians expect is that within the next few hours, Nana Akufo-Addo will also show his certificate to the media, just as His Excellency, The Vice President did. Unless Nana went to school under a tree and the tree has now fallen down.

Nana should come out of his hiding hole and speak to the issue. He should not think that this issue will, as usual, die a natural death. I want to remind Nana that this case is in court and the only and only way that this case would die a natural death is when he is found guilty of practicing law in Ghana for over thirty years without a certificate. It would be a case of “Kukrudu, Eshie rado, rado, rado.

Lawrence Appiah-Osei NDC USA Finance Secretary Appiah65@Hotmail.com