AKUFO-ADDO USING OPUNI’S POLITICAL PERSECUTION TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM THE MASSIVE CORRUPTION IN HIS GOVERNMENT

The Akufo-Addo-led administration and its media cabal have adopted a method that clearly bears out the axiom of giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it, the administration in connivance with some state agencies and its media cabal have maliciously linked Dr Opuni to all kinds of fake allegations. The most astonishing of all is that the President who is an astute lawyer, is sponsoring some journalists to trial Dr Opuni in the media before proceedings start at the court.

It is not rocket science for any discerning mind to assume it is a targeted approach. The President and his paid agents are violating Dr Opuni’s right in the name of fighting corruption. It is unfortunate that anyone who holds contrary position to that of the ruling Npp is subjected to unnecessary intimidation and harassment with the use of coercive apparatus of power. The President should retrace his steps in the interest of democratic rule. The nation under the current administration is gradually drifting towards dictatorship and anarchy. Comments by communicators of government and the ruling party and trials going on in the media about allegations levelled against Dr Opuni, have apparently shown that the administration of Mr Akufo-Addo and his Party are on vendetta mission of witch hunt molestation, blackmail and persecution of the opposition or dissenting voices. The spate of unwarranted witch hunt, bully and harassment of political opponents under the guise of the fight against corruption by the Akufo-Addo administration, using state investigative agencies is dangerous to our democracy. Intimidation and harassment of Dr Opuni began immediately after the inauguration of the current administration. Government spokespersons, Npp spokespersons and the President himself made certain reckless statements which showed clearly that the Akufo-Addo administration was going to embark on massive witch hunt, harassment, intimidation of activists of the NDC. The growing level of impunity; abuse of rule of law and gross violation of human right under Nana Akufo-Addo is becoming very alarming. The scary truth is that Akufo Addo who is the proponent of the current fake anti-graft fight is also corrupt and his administration is built on corruption. Corruption is a religion that is practiced in the Akufo-Addo government. Why are people like Alfred Obeng, Hawa Koomson, Ken Ofori-Atta, the two deputy chiefs of staff, the Vice President not being investigated. Akufo-Addo and his henchmen since January 2017, have subjected activists of the NDC to abuses ranging from severe beatings, mental torture, seizure of properties, fake media accusations.

President Akufo-Addo plans to cover-up rottenness of his government using such primitives steps and has planned to release more of such bogus stories. Within the last three month, Nigerians have been confronted with messy revelations that gave credence to Transparency International’s 2017 corruption report.

As part of the administration’s “Persecute Opuni agenda”, government and party communicators have started posting Dr Opuni’s mother’s tomb on their Facebook wall to incite the public against the former cocobod C.E.O. Communicators of government are treating the issue as if the former cocobod boss was “a nobody” before taking the cocobod boss appointment. He was appointed Chief Executive of Ghana Cocobod in 2013 and before his appointment, he was the C.E.O of Ghana Food and Drugs Authority. He studied medicine in the Vitebsk State Medical Institute in the former USSR and graduated as Doctor of Medicine in June 1991. He worked at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and later joined the Department of Trauma and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Ulm Medical Faculty in Germany in June 1999 where he specialised as a Trauma and Reconstructive Surgeon and a fellow of the Ghana College of Surgeons. Dr Opuni served on the council of Convention of the United States Pharmacopeia from 2012 to the end of 2013. Dr Opuni initiated several interventions aimed at enhancing sustainable cocoa production during his tenure as C.E.O of Cocobod. Some of the interventions include the aggressive cocoa rehabilitation programme and the youth in cocoa programme which motivated over 50,000 young men and women into cocoa farming. His cocoa roads projects led to the construction of our major cocoa roads which have abandoned for decades. Under his watch, over 60 millions hybrid cocoa seedlings were distributed to cocoa farmers. The free fertilizer distribution to our cocoa farmers was his initiative.

Ghana under Akufo-Addo is rated among the most corrupt nations in the world according to latest report released by Transparency International. Investors have lost confidence in the administration leading to a sharp drop in investment in Ghana which was also confirmed by a recent world bank report and later corroborated by South Africa Barclay Bank latest report on investment in Africa. The Akufo Addo government is just trying to divert the attention of Ghanaians and international organisations as the have always done since it took over.