Dr. Kwabena Adjei, Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has finally been dragged to the Nima Police Station by the leadership of the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) over his infamous outburst against the judiciary.
The grouping, which is seeking the arrest of the NDC National Chairman, took a step further towards that end when its leadership went to the Nima Police Station to lodge a formal complaint yesterday afternoon.
DAILY GUIDE learnt that upon lodging the complaint, the Ghana Police Service has invited Dr. Kwabena Adjei to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters for questioning.
Confirming Dr. Adjei's invitation to Citi FM, the Director of Public Affairs at the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent Kwesi Ofori said the most senior official of the CID, in the person of the Director-General, was tasked to invite the NDC chairman for questioning.
Superintendent Ofori said Dr. Adjei, when reached on his phone, pledged to honor the invitation when he returned from his hometown in the Volta Region.
The democracy advocacy grouping is seeking a police investigation into the outburst because, according to the Director of Operations of the AFAG, Samuel Awuku, “we find the outburst subversive and we are seeking a full investigation into it.”
The outburst, AFAG maintained, contributed to Justice Anthony Opong’s recuse from the Ya Na murder trial and a general instilling of fear and panic among members of the bench.
The mission to the Nima Police Station, according to AFAG, was not without drama as the procedure was unusual.
Reporting first to the counter Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) to lodge the complaint, the officer who described the complaint as political said he could not handle it, whereupon according to Samuel Awuku, they were referred to the District Commander, DSP Aduhene Banieh. “Upon listening to us, the officer said the Divisional Commander would want to meet us and therefore referred us to the Superior Officer,” he said.
ACP Timothy Yoosa Bonga, the Divisional Commander, according to Mr. Awuku, upon listening to them gave the okay for them to file their complaint to open the door for formal investigations into the case to commence.
“As I speak to you, a formal complaint has been lodged which is being handled by the Nima Divisional Crime Officer, DSP Amos Yelsong,” he said.
AFAG was among many groups and individuals who expressed disgust at the outburst of Dr. Kwabena Adjei, NDC National Chairman when he took on the judiciary with his infamous “many ways of killing a cat”.
He was provoked by the acquittal and discharge of Tarzan and Kwadwo Mpiani in the Ghana@50 celebration trial and other cases involving former government officials during the tenure of President John Agyekum Kufuor.
Dr. Adjei, whose political antecedents are rooted in the revolutionary PNDC junta, threatened the judiciary with a purge if members of this arm of government did not embark upon such a purging programme themselves.
His reference to the many options available for killing the cat, when asked how he was going to purge the judiciary, was what earned him public opprobrium.
Those who condemned him did so on the basis that the outburst emanating especially from a man who was associated with the junta under whose tenure three high court judges were abducted and murdered under mysterious circumstances, sent chilling reminders to Ghanaians with a sense of that piece of history.
He refused to apologise, defending himself however that he was misquoted even as the leader of the party, President Mills, pledged his support for the independence of the judiciary, a pledge which cynics accepted with a pinch of salt.
Ripples from that infamous outburst, which attracted a reaction from the usually recluse association of judges and magistrates, continue to feature in local politics.
Meanwhile, the Council of Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches of Ghana has described the comments of Kwabena Adjei as an affront to the tenets of the 1992 constitution that undermines the basic principles of democracy.
The council has therefore called on Government not to pursue what, in their view, may appear like an agenda to jail politicians of the opposite divide at all cost.
The President of the Council, Apostle J.A. Adotey told Citi News the council was only seeking to advise all parties concerned to be mindful and circumspect in their utterances, especially after President Mills had re-assured the nation that he had no intentions to interfere in the judiciary.
The council’s decision to issue the statement arose at a meeting held on 30th August, 2010.
“After his Excellency the President had spoken, we expected the matter to die out because people needed to respect the President’s position.
“But after his statement, there were several other comments including the one made by the Group of NDC Regional Chairmen which we felt were most unfortunate. In the first place, I wasn’t expecting the NDC Chairman to speak for the executive arm of government. He can do that for the party but not the government, and we think that those actions threaten the tenets of the constitution.
“If you have issues against the judiciary, there is a process you use in trying to correct those problems other than coming to the press to petition any particular Judge or the Chief Justice,” Rev. Adotey said.
Members of the Council of Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches of Ghana are the Apostolic Church of Ghana, Word Miracle Church, Christ Apostolic Church and the Church of Pentecost.
Others are Jesus Generation Sanctuary, Assemblies of God, Royal House Chapel, the Global Evangelical Church, Calvary Crusaders, Victory Bible Church and the Christian Action Faith Ministries.
By A.R. Gomda
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