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The Butterfly Cannot Call Itself A Bird..

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 Source: Damptey, Daniel Danquah

To all those who believe in the lies, distortions, intimidations and falsehood being fed them by the desperados in the National Democratic Congress to the effect that the deficiencies in the Ghanaian Political, Social and Economic systems would be addressed through insults and stigmatization of their political opponents in the New Patriotic Party should realise that they are doing a great deal of injustice to the country and themselves when they allow their sense of reasoning to be clouded by partisan and parochial considerations.

Please, tell me why some Ghanaians have made it their habit to be insulting and peddling false rumours against those who hold different opinions from them. Please tell me. Please, tell me why the NDC, from day one have been mailgning Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo. Please tell me. Where are the facts?. They allege that Nana Addo is addicted to drugs and some unintelligent Ghanaians have bought this allegations hook, line and sinker. Since when have it been an accepted norm to accept as true any allegation made against another without proof?

If the Running Mate to Atta Mills will be honest to himself and tell Ghanaians the truth, he should come out and clear the air on this. John Mahama himself admitted sometime ago when one journalist put this questiobn before him, he said the allegation of Nana Akufo Addo on drugs is not true and that it was in a bad taste. He was asked what would happen to Ghana's image if after all the allegations against Nana, he is eventually elected President of Ghana. He spoke his heart out and said Ghana's image would be dented. That was some three or so months before his selection as Mills' Running Mate.

MAAME DORKONOO, FRANCES ESSIAM AND FREMA BUSIA: Now you listen. These first two ladies were hard-core NDC activists before they crossed carpet to the ruling NPP. They had been used by the then powers that be to perpetrate nasty attrocities against their political opponents in the NPP. It happened that the Good Lord opened their eyes and like Paul of Tarsus, they saw the light. They are now telling us of some of the things they were made to do for the NDC. But the NDC says they have done something unpardonable.

Now, Frema Busia, daughter of one of the Founders of the Osono Fraternity comes up with some frivolous and unsubstantiated allegations against the Presidency and some top members of the Government. Now , the NDC jumps at them and concludes that Kufuor and top members of the Government are guilty and must be crucified. If they believe Frema's allegations, why won't they accept those of Frances Essiam and Maame Dorkonoo's? Some of Frema's allegations are so naive that only the unintelligent will believe them. She claims she refused the sexual advances of the ex-security capo, Francis Poku and that was the genesis of her problems. What did the ex-security capo see in her that would make him throw caution to the wind and attempt to have his way out with her sexually? And if indeed Francis Poku wanted a female partner to sleep with, should it be with an old granny like Frema Busia?. I am asking this question because if one wants to eat a toad, one must go in for the biggest. Knowing very well the position Francis Poku occupied in the country, I am not sure that he would be so reckless as to attempt what he is being accused of doing. Yet the NDC members believe her inconsistent allegations just as they did when Yaji Gazi also made her allegations against the President.

Why did it take her so long to come public with her allegations? Let her come out with copies of the petitions she claims she has taken to the Asantehene and other high profile personalities in the country in connection with the alleged sexual harrassment. She claimed her salary was stopped on the orders of the President. What was wrong with that? She was appointed by the President and if the latter in his own wisdom found her incompetent to perform her assigned task, nothing stops him from relieving her of her appointment.

DRIVER CHARKITEY AND FRANCIS OSSEI: Now, one taxi driver, Charkitey, had his vehicle involved in an accident with Rawling's convoy. Soldiers, under Rawlings personal supervision overturns the vehicle and sets it ablaze. The poor innocent driver is tortured and sent to the police cell. Three days later, Charkitey is pronounced dead in a police cell. Cause of death? Diarrheah. Some few years later, one drunk driver personally drove his vehicle into the vehicle the President was riding in. It was ordinary Passersby who breached protocol to assist the President get out of the overturned vehicle. The man, Francis Ossei is arrested and given every assistence during his trial, before he is pronounced guilty and sentenced.

There is also the issue of Issah Mobilla, the PNC capo who was arrested for electoral malpractice. He is taken to a military barracks where he is tortured to death. All hell is let loose and his death is put right at the doorsteps of Kufuor and his governemnt. The death of Issa Mobilla is pathetic and regrettable and must be condemened by all. Even though, two wrongs do not make a right, I strongly feel that Mills and Rawlings should be the last people to speak of injustice. They have been in charge of this country before. It is not easy to be at all places at the same time. There may be times that one wants to act, but one finds out that he/she is inhibited in one way or the other. If relevant facts are not available to prosecute offenders of a crime, one might end up on a red herring chase. There is even the possibility that soldiers who carried out such an attrocity might be NDC sympathisers.

I am not suggesting that the death of Issa Mobilla is a non issue. No, far from that. We deeply regret it. But let not Mills, Rawlings, Asiedu Nketia, Ama Benyiwa Doe, Kobby Acheampong, Fiifi Akoko Kwetey, John Mahama, Koku Anyidoho, Haruna Iddrissu, Inusa Fuseini, Alban Bagbin and others shout themselves into the higher heavens by talking of injustice when the family of poor innocent Charkitey is yet to get justice for their beloved.

AMA BENYIWA DOE AND THE KILLING OF AN INNOCENT MAN AT MENDSKROM: Anyway, has the family of the poor innocent man who was killed at Mendskrom through the reckless driving of Ama Benyiwa Doe got justice.? Did she not use her position and influence to twist the arms of the law enforcement agencies to treat her with kid gloves when the incident occured? Was she arrested when the incident occurred? How much was paid to the family of the bereaved? So you see that those whose palm kernels are cracked by some benevolent spirits ought to be careful when they are dealing with others who are less fortunate than themselves.

KOFI WAYO AND HIS FRIVOLOUS ALLEGATIONS: Is Kofi Wayo relevant in Ghanaian politics today? Definitely, no! It would be recalled that when the Wayo man first arrived in the country, he made it loud and clear then that Candidate Kufuor was the beautiful bride to be wooed and that Rawlings, whom he referred to as the devil had to be chained at all cost. Which nasty words did he not use to describe Rawlings and the NDC? And so, if today, like the dog that he is, he has gone back to eat his own vomit, shall we not thank God for relieving us of such extra baggage? I bet, we should. Do we have to bother about allegations coming from the mouth of this gun troter across the globe? No, he can go and spew forth allegations after allegations, but we in the Nnipa Pa Party shall remain unperturbed. We shall remain focus. We shall be marching forward all the time in our determination to attaining the commanding heights of our aeconomy. After all we were witnesses to the allegation he Kofi Way made levelled against a top guru of his party to the effect that the man had stolen his dollars. He reported the case to the police but nothing came out of it. Could such a discredible person be regarded as a witness of truth? This is the reason why we in NPP shall move on, for we see a tiny light guiding us through a sea of turbulent dark waters. The thin voice is saying, "Courage, Nana, Do Not Stumble. Though Thy Path Be As Dark As Night. There's A Star To Guide You. Trust in God And Do The Right".

NDC's ATTEMPT AT CRIMINALIZING THE NPP: The NDC has make it a habit of criminalizing the New Patriotic Party anytime one or two misguided party men/women got themselves enmeshed in one criminal activity or the other. Amoateng, an NPP MP was arrested in the United States for trafficking in cocaine and presto,all NPP members were said to be involved in the cocaine business. But it will interest you to know that earlier on, the son of the then Spaeker of Parliament, Justice D.F.Annan was arrested at Heathrow Airport for possessing cocaine. He was tried, convicted and jailed in England for drug related offence. But we in the NPP have not labelled the NDC as a narcotic party.Kwabena Agyepong hit the nail on the head when he told us that Jack Begbley, who was one of the feared body guards of Rawlings engaged in armed robbery when he stole some Gold Bars then being conveyed to the Harbour. He was Rawlings bodyguard and the natural conclusion was that he was taking them to the Rawlingses but we did not link him to the Rawlingses.

Now, the NDC had claimed that the voters Register in some constituencies in Ashanti Region were bloated. The party accused the Electoral Commission and the New Patriotic Party of being the perpertrators of this act. But since we have a God who never fails his people, it happened that one big fish from the NDC in one of the constituencies being complained of was caught in a double registration exercise. This big fish was aspiring to become a member of the Law making body in the country on the ticket of the NDC. You see how nature works? If Gold rusts, what then will iron be? The butterfly cannot become a bird. Lai lai!

The party wants to act like the staranger who cries more than the chief mourner. As if that was not enough, their aspiring MP for Tema East Constituency, Robert Kempes Ofosuware was arrested on charges relating to the use of a fake cheque to transfer $147,034.09 into his account. We should not overlook the fact that as soon as Amoateng was arrested, the NDC and the media sympathetic to their course pronounced him guilty. That was even before his first appearance. But here we are with such a big fish allegedly attempting to swindle an institution of such huge ammount walking the streets of Ghana a free person. The fact that his alleged accomplice in crime has absconded gives us a clue that Kempes Ofosuhene might be guilty as charged. But we in the New Patriotic Party are not insinuating anything like that. We leave everything at the discretion of the courts. They have been calling the NPP names at any least opprtunity, but with such strong and heavy evidence even against their candidate we have not labelled the NDC a fraudulent party.

WHO WAS WHO IN THE IEA DEBATE? Thank God the debate exposed the NDC members as the greatest liars that ever walked upon the surface of this narrow world of ours. The party initially claimed Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo did not excell. But when the chicken came home to roost, it dawned on them to review their sense of judgement. The numerous accounts from impartial observers indicated that they were indeed mistaken. Diamond will always shine wherever it is placed and so it is with Nana. They then changed the tune of thier music to say that Nana had been given the "apo" before the event. This is reminiscent of the 2000 Presidential elections when General Erskine got virtually zero in his ward which was an indication that he did not even vote for himself. When he complained, he was given a paltry 10 to take care of his troubles. And so it was with Nana. Then came the mother of all lies and falsehood. Kobby Acheampong alleges, or shall I say claims that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is undisciplined because he was belled out sixteen good times. "Se wotan Okwaduo a yi no mmireka." If you hate the duiker, you must aprreciate its speed. On Paa Kwesi Nduom, Kobby claims about four or five times. But when it came to his own Presidential candidate, Kobby Acheampong said it was only during the summing up state that Atta Mills was belled out.

Kobby Acheampong, to me, is worst than Ananias in the Bible. He counted sixteen good times that Nana was belled out, but his own party man and candidate was belled out only once. Ans that makes Mills honourable just as Anthony describes Brutus and the conspirators. If he could count sixteen times why was he not specific about Nduom's own? Why did he say about four or five times? Of the two, sixteen and four or five times, which is cumbersome to keep track of? Was Mills belled out more than once or once as alleged by his fanatic who sees nothing wrong with Mills?

By the way, is it not true that of all the Presidential candidates at the debate, Mills was the only one who ran out of "apo" or "ammunition" and that was why he ended all his submissions long before the time alloted to each question was up? We"ve all been students before and we know that in an examination a person whose "apo" comes usually finds the time alloted to the question not sufficient enough to answer them. We all know Mills has carved a niche for himself in the academia, but in this case, I make bold to tell my learned Professor that his submissions and delivery were not cogent to merit a pass mark

I also wish to advise NDC members, particularly Kobby Acheampong to always tell the story the way it is but not to twist it to suit their own arrogant ego. Sometime ago, Kobby made some very damming allegations about some fittings in the President's personal house. To set the record straight, President Kufuor threw open his residence to media men from different shades and opinion. The allegation was found to be untrue. But even with such glaring evidence, Kobby Acheampong refused to retract and apologise to the President, insisting that his allegationswas true. With such a background knowledge of Kobby Acheampong, I will not be bothered a bit if he makes thousand and one allegations the NPP and its members.

Unfortunately, there are numerous Ghanaians both at home and abroad who for one reason or the other have refused to seive the grain from the chaff and swallow hook, line and sinker the garbage that is spewed from the mouth of such desparadoes who want to heat up the body polity of the country with their falsehood. I entreat such people especially those outside their country to retrace their steps and join others of likeminds in their efforts to move the nation forward.

NDC COMPLICITY IN THE DRUG BUSINESS: The NDC has been accusing the Kufuor Administration of not doing much to nip the illegal business in the mud. This is not true. The number of arrests that have been made since NPP came to power is enough to debunk such an allegation. During the time NDC was in power, one Benneh, a top official of the Ghana Embassy in Switzerland was busted for drugs. Ghana had then signed a pact with the Swiss Government to allow the home country try any citizen caught in the country of residence on such matters. Thus, Benneh ought to have been tried by the Swiss Authorities. But fearing what he might say which might implicate the NDC administration, the Ghana Government wrote to the Swiss authorities that it wanted to try the case in Ghana to which the former acceeded. Benneh was repartiated to Ghana, tried and sentenced. The Government secretly asked Benneh to appeal which he did and was granted bail. That was the end of the case.

The NDC Government destroyed every iota of evidence against the accused on the eve of their departure and expected Nana Addo as Attorney General and Minister of Justice to carry on with the case. But where was the evidence to be used to prosecute? And as a norm, no Attorney General would like to take on a case which he knows has no merit. The case was a bad one. The National Democratic Congress ensured that the case would never see the light of the day. It was a booby trap sep up by the outgoing NDC Administration and we are glad Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo never swallowed the bait.

CONCLUSION: Infact, the NDC people don't seem to understand Nana, for he is as slippery as a fish. He has an antidote to all their plans, tricks and threachery. He is always a step ahead of them and when he takes one step backward, it is always to move two steps forward. And that is why there is so much venom in the plans of their so-called founder against him. The Nana simply is an enigma. And as it was in the beginning, so will it be in the end. The NDC from the beginning came up with policies which were not people friendly. They cannot now claim they are birds. They will forever remain butterflies no matter what they do Nana cannot be caged. The New Patriotic Party, with Nana in the lead is moving the country forward. Whether you like it or not, we are forging ahead to the Promised Land. Let no one stand aside. Let no one look back else, the one becomes like what happened to the wife of Lot.

"Nana woye bue! Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, woye kikim". Nana plus Bawumiah equals Ghana's success story.

Daniel Danquah Damptey

[email protected] 0243715297.

Columnist: Damptey, Daniel Danquah