Sunday,
April 14, 2013
Having gone thus far in unpacking
the implications of Justice Kpegah’s suit against Akufo-Addo, we are at the
point where we want to clarify issues to help those following us keenly understand
more clearly what is at stake.
Some have misconstrued issues and
thought that we were out to doom Akufo-Addo for whatever motives best known to
us. I disagree strongly and urge them to see what we do as a public education
effort. We are keenly pursuing this matter not because we are wicked,
mischievous, tribalistic, or plain insensitive to the feelings of Akufo-Addo.
Far from that.
For one thing, it must be stated
that Akufo-Addo is well-accomplished, having served in various capacities and
now fighting tooth-and-nail to be Ghana’s President. Thus, this suit provides
us the opportunity to do all we can to settle all doubts about his integrity.
And we will continue to do so till the dust settles for us all to know him as
he is and be comfortable knowing him. Probably, Kofi Coomson of the Ghanaian
Chronicle will revise his notes after all is done.
We are pursuing the matter in the
interest of public conscience and service to society and Akufo-Addo himself.
That is why we have been picking the issues apart from several perspectives and
discussing for all that they entail. We have also kept updating our findings
and their implications as such.
Our interest in this matter has
all along been motivated by two considerations:
- To
help find a closure to this spate of allegations against Akufo-Addo’s
professional stature by all manner of people. Indeed, these allegations detract
from his Akufo-Addo integrity, which is invariably reflected in his political
misfortunes. Thus, this instance provided by Justice Kpegah calls for a
thorough inquiry to end it all. All others having to do with streaks of
character (arrogance, drug abuse, etc.) or quirks of unfortunate
circumstance can be dealt with at other levels for what they are.
- To
provide official documentary evidence to plug the missing link in Akufo-Addo’s
timeline (especially between 1967 when he completed Legon with a 3rd
class in BSc. Econs and July 22, 1971, when he emerged as having been
called to the English Bar). We emphasize this part because one of the
major queries has been why Akufo-Addo hasn’t stated on his CV the names of
Oxford University and the law training institution that he graduated from
to be called to the English Bar.
With these two considerations
driving our inquiries, we have contacted several sources and gathered as much
as we could.
We want to place it on record
that our checks at various places confirmed the existence in official records
of the name “William Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.” From the Lancing College in
Sussex, UK, it was confirmed. So was it for the Honourable Society of the
Middle Temple too, as you can see from the excerpt below:
“WILLIAM ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO,
of Lancing College, and University of Ghana, and of P.O. Box 207, Accra, Ghana,
born on 29 March 1944, at Accra, Ghana, first son of Edward Akufo-Addo, of P.O.
Box 207, Accra, Ghana, Chief Justice of Ghana. Called 22 July 1971.”
So is it too with the NOTE signed
for him by E. Bart-Plange Brew (Acting Administrative Assistant of the General
Legal Council), dated Tuesday, October 16, 2007.
Certainly, the premise of Justice
Kpegah’s suit of impersonation against him is the name “William Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo NO. 1190 on the roll of lawyers in Ghana,” which Justice Kpegah
wanted Akufo-Addo to own up to. And he has done just that. What follows next
will be known when the case begins being heard.
The General Legal Council NOTE
has its own implications, especially because of the second paragraph in which
Bart-Plange said that he had been informed of the loss of Akufo-Addo’s qualifying
and enrolment certificates. The NOTE didn’t give any enrolment number but the
document that Myjoyonline published to show that a “W.A.D. akufo Addo NO. 1190”
was on the roll of lawyers, dated July 8, 1975.
So, if indeed Akufo-Addo had
already been enrolled on July 8, 1975 by the very General Legal Council, wouldn’t
there be any evidence of that enrolment in the General Legal Council’s records
for Bart-Plange to quote in the NOTE that he signed for Akufo-Addo on Tuesday,
October 16, 2007 (instead of compounding the credibility problem that he had
been informed of the loss of those certificates)?
Or, which other institution issued
the qualifying certificate but the General Legal Council itself? Or, who else
but the Judicial Secretary would have issued the enrolment certificate to Akufo-Addo
in 1975?
Some lawyers (Ace Ankomah, for
example), have been quick to say that the fact that one cannot produce one’s
qualifying and enrolment certificates doesn’t mean one is not a lawyer. Fair
enough. But in Akufo-Addo’s case when those two documents are substantial because
of the discrepancy in his NAMES, won’t these official documents be the best
answer to all the nagging questions being raised?
We quote from paragraph 15 of Akufo-Addo’s
motion to reflect the concerns raised by those challenging him to prove that he
duly complied with the regulations to be enrolled as such:
“That on returning to Ghana, I
undertook the post-call law programme required of lawyers to the Ghana Bar on 8th
July, 1975 as William Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo…” and he referred to the NOTE
signed by Bart-Plange as evidence of his certification (when that NOTE itself
says that Akufo-Addo claimed to have lost his qualifying and enrolment
certificates)!
The high public interest in the
matter has generated some additional interpretations, which is why we are still
analyzing the goings-on. A certificate from the General Legal Council dated
July 8, 1975 would have authenticated Akufo-Addo’s claim that on returning to
Ghana, he undertook the post-call law programme required of lawyers to the
Ghana Bar. Many eyebrows are still raised on this aspect.
But above all, it must be stated
aboveboard here that Justice Kpegah has not sued Akufo-Addo because he is
convinced that AKUFO-Addo is not a lawyer. Unfortunately, that’s the position
some people have taken, which Akufo-Addo himself stated in his response to the
suit. In fact, he elaborately ridiculed Justice Kpegah on this score in
paragraph 17 of his motion for the case to be struck out.
We haven’t done anything beyond
raising nagging questions to help plug what we saw as a missing link in
Akufo-Addo’s timeline. Those questions definitely rankled with his followers;
but we have remained undaunted in our search for whatever will help us find a
closure to the allegations.
That is why we are now saying
that the information from the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple doesn’t
leave us in any doubt that a William Akufo-Addo is on the official list. They say the name they have on record is William Addo
Dankwa Akufo-Addo, not Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
But that doesn’t neutralize the
substance of Justice Kpegah’s suit. If anything at all, it brings into a
clearer focus the nitty-gritty of his suit.
You see, my
friends, the matter goes far beyond what those using insults instead of their
heads to respond to our persistent probing into the matter may think or know it
to be. Many people can confirm knowing Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as William
Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, but if he lacks official documentation on the name
change, he will be in a fix, even though he claims he cannot be accused of impersonating
himself, using Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo instead of what is in official
records.
What is not
known is whether in replacing the “William” with “Nana” he went through the
laid-down official process. Otherwise, merely claiming to be comfortable with
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and not what he is known officially in all those
documents will be problematic for him. That is where Justice Kpegah is pushing
him, even though his additional claim of someone going by the name W.A.D./W.E.D.
Akufo-Addo being murdered and buried in inexplicable circumstances for which he
threatened to cause the coroner to exhume that body could be adding a different
complexion to the matter.
If we go by the
official name for Akufo-Addo, then, questions will arise on whether the one
practising law in Ghana all these years going by the name Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo (not only nominally but officially in written form too) isn’t
impersonating (as Justice Kpegah has alleged in his suit).
That is why
Justice Kpegah has forced him to admit that he is William Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo (his first declaration) and not Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Indeed,
Akufo-Addo has admitted that fact that he is William Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Does he have any proof of change of name, including his birth certificate and
all other official documents to support his admission of facts concerning that
name?
The legal barb
to hook Akufo-Addo stems from this issue. If, indeed, he has no official
document to confirm the change of name, no matter what he says, it won't save
him. The legal conundrum must be known to Akufo-Addo himself.
If you want me
to tell you why Justice Kpegah has chosen this line of action, I will simply guess
that he is aiming at proving that Akufo-Addo hasn't complied with the norms for
practising law in Ghana, which impersonation entails in this sense.
Therefore, we
consider it a bounden public duty to continue looking into this suit because we want the truth to be
out so Akufo-Addo can free himself from all the persistent allegations of
impropriety cropping up every now and then to keep him in the public sphere for
the wrong cause. The discussion continues.
I shall return…
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