OHENENANA CAUTIONS AKUFO-ADDO

Greetings Mr President,

This open letter is necessitated by issues of urgent national importance not unconnected with attempts by your person, your government, and your party to impeach (remove) the Electoral Commission boss.

Before i touch on the substantive issues, let me quote one of Locke’s arguments. The connection he establishes between the purpose of which men set up a state and the conditions under which they are justified to overthrowing what they have set up. And I quote “There are strong reasons for collectively agreeing to obey a central authority. But those reasons are not so strong as to make revolution unthinkable. If the state ceases to protect the life , liberty, and property of individuals; if it exceeds its mandate so far as to tyrannize the very men who created it; if , in short, this instrument of other men’s will become their enemy rather than defender, then it is time for men to rise up and take the power of the state back into their own hands.” Mr President, one is reminded of Thomas Jefferson’s remarkable statement that society would profit from a revolution every twenty years. This was the position your firmly articulated in opposition when you openly warned the incumbent that if the state cannot protect your people, then the militants on your side would be forced to act.

Mr President, basically, we know that during investigation, the accused is allowed to see his or charges and documentary evidence he accusers have against him. Lawyers of the accused use the documentary evidence to defend their client and to establish whether, for instance, the accusers have produced bogus or offensive evidence and to guide them in preparing their rebuttals. The accused’s right to fair trial must always be guaranteed and protected by the state. All legal systems provide, at least on paper, guarantees that insure certain basic rights of the accused. These include the right present witnesses, and the right to know what he or she has been accused of and the right to present his evidence to prove his or her innocence. The most important of all has been the right to be represented by counsel. You failed to furnish Madam Charlotte Osei with details or copy of the allegations levelled against her. How do you expect her lawyers to gather potent responses to the allegations.

Mr President, the desperation so far exhibited by your person and your government in manipulating sensitive agencies of state like the judiciary and now the electoral commission to further your bid to win the 2020 election is totally against the spirit of democracy and peace bestowed by the NDC in conceding defeat at the Presidential election. Your actions and clandestine dealings are an affront to the people and recipe for crisis in the polity. It seems in your dictatorial inclinations, you are much more interested in playing crude and selfish and sectional politics and trying to use manipulation of judicial processes to forcefully remove the current EC boss and replace her with your preferred choice. The fear is that, your opponents will use all means within its limit provided by laws of the land and natural laws provided us by God to fiercely resist your evil plans to decimate the NDC.

Mr President, John Locke also said and I quote “Whenever the legislators endeavour to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience”. Remove the legislators and fix your executive position there. You must be cautious of tendencies that provide avenue for the destruction of our democracy, which you are a huge beneficiary of. Your attempt to handcuff the judiciary and the electoral commission is a subtle to foist full blown dictatorship on Ghanaians.

Mr President, you are aware that this democracy cost us a lot in blood and sweat. The labour and sacrifice of the heroes and heroines of our democracy must not be allowed to go in vain. You were part of the struggle and was the major reason why some Ghanaians gave you the chance to lead this great nation. It is an open secret today that many of judges and heads of our state institutions are being blackmailed to do the bidding of your government and the Npp. You and your party are relentlessly and without remorse tearing the fabric that binds this country together. The fear is the possible insurrections and disturbances your actions are likely to inflict on us.

Mr President, the infractions are becoming too often, too many, and achingly intolerable. We run a constitutional government and not a dictatorship. It is shame that you and your party are all behaving as if Ghana is a banana republic.

Mr President, the perception out there is that you’ve appointed your cousins to head the Attorney General and the Chief Justice positions to manipulate the judiciary. The name Akuffo is what is pushing this a