By Prof. Nana Essilfie-Conduah
In the politics of every nation, certain pleasant or bitter events which develop into controversies automatically transfer themselves into history for posterity for whichever evaluation. They do not go away, neither in memory, nor ad interim. But both have a weird character of coming back for one of the following: backlash – a sense of posthumous triumph literally; hound – expose credibility-gap; makes nuisance of the prior thought-action(s); and presses the urgency to false community-singing the “auld lang syne”.
I do not know which category my mono-discourse here today would decidedly belong just because it is a simmering story, though the silhouettes may inform inkling for tentative placement.
Background
For the record, back-grounding to understand, the narrative is this: three fellows from an Accra Radio FM Broadcaster called “Montie Radio” went sentenced to prison for life-threatening utterances against anonymous Judges.
They did wrong. Conduct in the aftermath seems horribly indicative that the full implications are yet to dawn on the country-media where: [a] not only the Editor was summoned to Court; and [b] if the text of the ruling had been read, understood and any cares about it. The Montie-mishap occurred during the run-up for “Ballot 2016”.
They were pardon-released advisedly later by the sitting President [NDC] and that caused a nation-wide furore – the Opposition [NPP] quite revolted on two grounds that the decision was electioneering and the Broadcast Station was pro-ruling NDC.
Back-up paratroopers
Throughout pre-voting, it had become clear that at the least the two giant political parties in the country have back-ups paratrooper youth organizations under varieties of names. These are rooted in history started in the creations of rival gendarmes, before and after independence leading to internecine centered in Ashanti between CPP and NLM.
Thus the modern day model for the victorious NPP went on revenge rampage. The law caught up with some known as the “Delta Force.” The State withdrew further proceedings in their trial. The abrogation was announced at resumed hearing at a Circuit Court in Kumasi.
They were eight who had reportedly disrupted proceedings to spring those 13 colleagues. Police prosecution informed the Court they had been ordered to discontinue, by the Attorney General’s for lack of evidence.
Undeniably, the order to close the dockets and shut down the trial took the country by surprise. It opened another round of expressions of outrage and approval, drawing the partisan divide sharply.
Central in the assumptions is comparison with the Presidential pardon for the “Montie” chaps. Therefore in the reactions to the curtailment of trial of the “Delta-8”, it was presumed and that gained populist status of political kind, raising suspicion that the AG’s decision had been pre-meditated, looking for the time or opportunity.
The Conspiracy theory
This runs with a conspiracy theory which contemplates to connect the conduct of Delta Force as an inspired strategy to cover up raw political hit back corresponding with earlier hints.
The same alleges was given an apparent further belief through a Government conjunctive statement which announced that the A-G’s Department was investigating how the matter was sent to trial without the fiat of that Office because of its national political profile.
Three interpretations, all valid except the quandary that flows and impedes definite choice for an answer. Clearly there is a purpose to it: to divert anger, legitimate in political propaganda to take off and turn pressure on a scapegoat or elsewhere. Both mean defusing. However, timing and substance-relevance ask questions that would not let the controversy die in the belly of an internal inquiry precisely because of that very national nature which the statement rests on to be trusted.
*Time: the trial had twice adjourned prior to the abrupt truncation.
*Content: It was known before the first remand.
*The time lapse between that and the last appearance was more than sufficient per even without modern technology in communication or travelling to and fro Kumasi –Accra to resolve this very small consultative-administrative hiccup.
Thus secondly, the injection of the government statement to explain the error and make the nolle prosequi ostensibly innocent to fizzle obviously, the controversy as unimportant, falls on its face. That leaves the third which is that there is no compelling the A-G’s Department to make findings public, whenever the investigation may end. Therefore the practicality of the purpose for government to back off the rumpus it stirred in the presence of the opposition for time to drag-drown the furore. I should add that is plausible with high confidence since this is a country where especially political eruptions supersede themselves with remarkable rapidity. The frequency fades memory and interests virtually instantly. Longevity has never been of any essence.
Politically, it is fine for the parties; but the country has consistently struck itself with paralysis looking away from the two most dangerous damages for a body politic as a nation. They are: short memory and self-destruct failure to follow up, through to conclusion. For its sensitive character, chance is it tinkers with security and creaks stability in unseen ways.
Change in policies
The litter of every four-years changed policies,[domestic and foreign], abandonment [hold ups at best] of development and stop-go economics along with borrow-borrow plus cultural adulteration are true but unpleasant picturesque for all the noisy “fontomfroms” as beacon or tor in continental democracy.
I guess a bit of humour will take out the harshness of that verity indictment: my friend who came back from Nigeria, one of them who abandoned ship kind of when they perceived life had become unbearable here told me this: a compatriot was always serenading his Nigeriann girl friend “I love you” more than many times. One evening the girl railed against him: “Omo Ghana, ibi love I dey chop?”
Then recently I received on my “Whats Up” headed “WARNING.”: “Any Ghanaian caught trying to commit suicide must be rescued and arrested. We’re all in this economic crisis together. Nobody is going anywhere.”
It is tons gainsaid without meaning to hype but excess pride that we are either the best or among the first humans with super-abundant sense of human even in the midst of serious difficulties or indeed political mud-slinging. It is great; but utterly disappointing when our leaderships make themselves fugitive offenders to score political points caring very least about both current and futuristic repercussions.
This is how I see the “Delta-Force-8” story. But beyond an opinion there is some for history which stores lots packaging the continuum of apparent civil war in constant state of political mess before and since independence. It is as if all the efforts are toward scaring next generations to marvel at how the country survived the chaos.
It will be difficult to craft that ‘how’ because a first draft is unavailable; and will not be, since the beginning is the same – ”you do me, I do you country”. One may go for the Methodist Hymn “Tell me the old old story”—”tell me the story simply as to a little child…”; and that would be for a giggle or holy refuge. However, the groping about that hypocrisy does not stymie writing a stereotype conclusion to what never gets fully discoursed as our national style. To date, the principal authority the AG [Gloria Akuffo] has not spoken or made any remarks. A second person [police Prosecutor] and Information Minister [Mustapha Hamid] have announced the cessation of the trial and signed government statement respectively. I have commented on both as independently due.
The balance in morals and the law [audi alterem partem] would be unfairly left in limbo – a failure in communication for part and a denial of fact for the narrative on the other part.
I shall stick therefore to the major pillars in the reasoning by the Opposition in quotes from its House Leader Haruna Iddrisu: “We are of the view that the Government is pandering to partisan pressures to the detriment of justice and upholding the independence of the Judiciary…
The actions of the Attorney General
We refer to the action of the A-G as bizarre because this is a government that claims to be an adherent to the rule law. “ That makes good the need for the quid pro quo without having to call in Euclid’s “QED” – implicitly redundant. I wish all narrations came as easily as straightforward as that for Historians.
But there is [and this dismisses any one person’s reading] an error in triple-fold: nolle prosequi does not altogether mean a case is stone-dead because it can be resurrected. That tallies with the Ghana Bar Association’s preference for a fresh look.
Secondly and concomitant to the first the Court processes have a finessed means to exhaust “justice seen to be done beyond all reasonable doubt” via a number of routes – withdrawal and stand down and recall and indeed re-opened for afresh trial; which leads to the third: communication, at which both the A-G and her Department have apparently left themselves open for criticism to claw in political swipes. The reason is either way, [NDC or NPP] “Montie-Pardon” and “Delta-Force-Trial-Stop” are not the same.
It is from that difference that the thinking projects: notwithstanding that there is a likelihood of overlooking distinctions between prosecutorial and submission [Police and Counsel] on one level and at another the advisory and supervisorial responsibilities, seem to push questioning how credible is the “lack of evidence”. It runs like the Asantehene asking where all the responsible Institutions had been and done “all this while” about illicit mining – galamsey. Here relative, it would be the Judge, Court Clerks, duty Security and Eye-Witnesses and the News Reporters and Cameramen.
Plainly, the A-G’s could have made a better or indeed more subtle statement than that in terms of the profile of the case. Perhaps with benefit of hindsight a neater hedged-done response to explain would neither be a “DON’T” nor belated.
It serves to relieve the national tension which this has also added to the troubles just about six months and may be glued on. A ‘true’ or ‘false’ premium on it in the politics of retaliation here are inferior to the greater picture of being insensitive to our national safety, caring momentarily what Prime Minister Prof. Kofi Busia once said defending the need for a standing army:”you never know your predator”. The world around us is volatile and the immediate neighborhood vulnerable.
However useful, if at all, the long-term prognosis suggests that what these political troopers have done and would do, could become ultimately and innocently conducive invitation in the context to ponder – not just today but always. Gladly the political parties and country admit that these are worrisome for now. What next?
