Friday,
April 19, 2013
Akufo-Addo’s
filing of a supplementary affidavit at the High Court concerning the law suit brought
against him by retired Supreme Court judge, Justice F. Y. Kpegah challenging his
qualification as a lawyer is no laughing matter as we have insisted all along.
Contrary
to what his followers insulting us may believe, the suit has substance and will
definitely add to the woes nagging Akufo-Addo, sending him into a tail-spin and
an excursion into the religious realm. We have been informed of his encounter
with about 300 graduates of Junior High Schools at an all-night prayer session.
What for?
The
problems facing him are not meant for God to solve. They are mundane issues to
be solved with good arguments, concrete evidence, and self-confidence, not a
flight into sentimentalism and the transcendental. Heaven helps those who help
themselves.
What
Akufo-Addo can do to redeem himself is in his own hands, not God’s. After all,
after declaring that the “Battle is of the Lord’s” before Election 2012, and
after God had already fought that battle to draw the line between him and the
one installed in office on January 7, 2013 as Ghana’s President, what is there
again for God to do for him but to sustain his life till the day God calls him
unto himself to account for his stewardship on earth?
I
have said it several times and will continue to do so that only an Akufo-Addo
can redeem an Akufo-Addo. Now, in the context of Justice Kpegah’s suit, only a
WILLIAM ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADD can redeem this NANA ADDO DANKWA/DANQUAH
AKUFO-ADDO.
That
is why the suit that Justice Kpegah has hung around his neck cannot just be
treated with contempt and disdain as his followers have been doing all along,
extending their misplaced anger to those of us commenting on issues.
By
hiding behind the smokescreen that his followers have mounted for him and
remaining silent, he isn’t helping his own cause.
The
documents that he filed as affidavits in support of his motion for the case to be
dismissed were clearly questionable—as we have already pointed out. Probably,
some flicker of hindsight must have re-awakened him to reality.
How
can such an accomplished lawyer not know how to cut his steps only to fall into
this kind of trap?
Again, even though
he is allowed to amend his motion or file new ones and adduce whatever supporting
affidavits he deems useful, we wonder about a few nagging aspects of what he
has just done.
What did he have up
his sleeves to instill so much confidence in him when he filed his motion with
supporting affidavits for the case to be dismissed? Or, are the new affidavits
better materials than the NOTES that he had been issued by E. Bart-Plange Brew (Acting Administrative Secretary
in 2007) and the Under Treasurer of the Honourable Society of the Middle
Temple?
And
he has replaced his lawyer, Frank Davies (Chairman of the Greater-Accra
Regional branch of the Ghana Bar Association) with Godfred Yeboah Odame because
of a conflict of interest. But did he not know the designation of Davies before
making him his lawyer, in the first place?
This
shift has rather raised the speculation that because Frank Davies is a member
of the General Legal Council, he needn’t be his lawyer anymore—in case he needs
to call him as a witness to corroborate his claims that he was indeed genuinely
enrolled by the General Legal Council and had lost his qualifying and
enrollment certificates.
Certainly,
the document that he has had from the General Legal Council, signed by Bernard
Bentil (Administrative Secretary of the General Legal Council) is dated April
12, 2013. It was in response to the letter (numbered AAPC/GYD/MO/2013/0351, and
dated April 11, 2013), requesting a certified copy of extract from the General
Legal Council’s roll book.
It
is an extract from the Roll of Lawyers (dated July 8, 1975), purportedly signed
by Samuel Azu Crabbe (former Chief Justice, according to Akufo-Addo’s
supplementary affidavit) and Chairman of the General Legal Council. It also
shows a signature for WAD Akufo-Addo with the certification: “Received my
Certificate of Call and Qualifying Certificate this (something written here
looks like “8” but is closer to an oval shape than “8”) day of July, 1975” and ‘LEGAL
PRACTITIONER’ written underneath.
The
second note is also said to be an extract of records from the Honourable
Society of the Middle Temple (signed by one J.B. Morrison, Under Treasurer).
Interestingly,
the certified true copy of the extract from the roll book and the one from the
Honourable Society of the Middle Temple are on the same page!!
One
would expect that what was issued by the Middle Temple would be a separate
document and the one by the General Legal Council too a unique one. But both
are conjoined, signed by different people, and with similarities in handwriting
all over the page, raising red flags because they are where they don’t belong!!
As
we revealed, which the XYZ News reiterated today, he had already responded to Justice
Kpegah’s suit, providing supporting affidavits and creating the impression
(through his lawyer, Frank Davies) that all was well with him. He even
went to the extent of asking the court to “punish” Justice Kpegah, which we
ridiculed.
Having
observed proceedings at the Supreme Court hearing the NPP’s petition to know
how technicalities are influencing the over-ruling of objections by the judges,
I am convinced that the only reason for which the Fast Track Court will dismiss
the case will be based on nothing but technicalities.
That
is why Akufo-Addo has been adroit enough to state in his motion calling for the
dismissal of the case that Justice Kpegah had brought the matter to the wrong
forum (the High Court) instead of the General Legal Council. His reason was
that the matter involved the “status of a lawyer.”
Do
you see, friends, how Akufo-Addo is pushing the button? He has trust in the
General Legal Council to redeem him. But we have qualms too.
The
very General Legal Council whose own credibility is on the line because of the
manner in which it has sought to cover Akufo-Addo up?
First,
through the NOTE signed by Bart-Plange Brew which created doubts about
Akufo-Addo in paragraph 2, where the NOTE says that the signatory had been
informed about the loss of Akufo-Addo’s qualifying and enrollment certificates
(when all that Bart-Plange should have done was to refer to the records of the
General Legal Council to confirm whether Akufo-Addo had been issued a
qualifying certificate dated July 8, 1975 so as to replace his “lost”
certificates instead of that NOTE)?
Second,
through the inconclusive meeting that the Council members held immediately
Justice Kpegah filed the suit to determine the matter in favour of Akufo-Addo
but for the stiff opposition from some of the members?
The
General Legal Council isn’t any more credible in this matter, which is why the
court has to sit on the case for us all to know what Justice Kpegah has to
reveal and what Akufo-Addo has to counteract it.
We
will be given the chance to monitor proceedings and know once-and-for-all what
we have to know about Akufo-Addo’s professional stature as would be revealed
through evidence.
Then,
we can determine for ourselves whose part of the story to believe. Nothing
short of this approach will solve the problem.
Meantime,
we are scrutinizing new pieces of information in our custody and will come out
soon with our findings. Public interest in the case is still high and we will
be doing a world of disservice to the public if we don’t continue to release
what we gather about the case concerning Akufo-Addo. Those who can’t take it anymore
should leave it.
I shall return…
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