Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw
Owusu
Wednesday, March
30, 2016
The three South African ex-police officers who made
the headlines last week following their arrest by the Bureau of National
Investigations (BNI) were deported to their home country yesterday in a manner
that is seen as contemptuous of the court of law.
The three—Major Ahmed Shaik HAZIS (rtd), known as
Chris, aged 55 years, W. O. Denver
Dwayne NAIDU (rtd), aged 39 years, and Cpt Mlungiseleli JOKANI (rtd), aged 45 years—were still kept
by the BNI for more than one week after their arrest, in spite of a court order
to release them, before they were eventually bundled unto a South African
Airways flight SA 210 for Johannesburg at about 09:30 hours.
Mercenary Activities
Even though the
security agencies had purportedly leaked a report to pro-government media
houses indicating that they (ex-security capos) were in the country to engage
in mercenary activities, the same agencies ended up charging the foreigners
with conspiracy to commit crime, unlawful training and false declaration.
They were arrested for
training the security detail of the flagbearer and the vice presidential
candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Captain Edmund Koda (rtd), head of the security detail
of the NPP flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and Captain Kwesi Acquah
(rtd), the owner of El-Capitano Hotel at Agona Duakwa in the Central Region where
the three ex-police officers lodged, were also arrested and detained by the BNI
but were released on Monday.
Additionally, on the eve of Good Friday, operatives of
the BNI allegedly raided the offices of the Danquah Institute (DI), a
think-tank aligned to the NPP.
An online report claimed the security outfit had
denied being involved in the raid which also targeted the office of a deputy
director of communication of the NPP, Perry Kwabla Okudzeto, as well as the
residence of Capt Koda (rtd) at Weija, Accra.
STL & Election Results
Interior Minister Prosper D.K. Bani, in a statement following
the arrest, had said that one of the South Africans called Hazis had in his
possession “a comprehensive report on the operations of Superlock Technologies
Limited (STL) and an assessment of some key staff’s vulnerability for possible
compromise was retrieved from Hazis’ room.” He also added that “STL is the
company contracted by the Electoral Commission (EC) to transmit tallied
election results.”
Mr Bani had said further that “Hazis denied authoring
the document but indicated that it was given to him by Dani Isaaca, an Israeli
based in South Africa. Hazis claimed he had not read the document which had
been in his possession for about three (3) weeks. During interrogation it was
evident that he was conversant with the content of the document.”
Curiously, when this issue about election results
transmission emerged in the heat of the disputed 2012 presidential election,
both the EC and the NDC government denied categorically that it was STL that
did the transmission on behalf of the commission.
Atta Akyea Incensed
Atta Akyea, NPP MP for Abuakwa South, who was part of
the legal team that represented the South Africans in court, confirmed the news
about the deportation and said the government revoked their visas eventually.
He hit hard at the Ministry of the Interior for
ignoring the lawlessness of the BNI after it had detained the three South
African nationals, despite the fact that a court had granted them bail.
He described the statement from the minister that also
tried to run down Captain Koda as "very shameful" because it also failed
to touch on the action of the BNI. That he considered disrespectful to the
courts and again described the explanation for the continuous detention of the
three men as a “dubious and devious explanation.”
“If a man is on
bail, he can always report to the authority,” the incensed MP told Joy FM, adding, “If a man is on bail and
you arrest him, it amounts to lawlessness.”
According to
him, the government had demonstrated through the recent behaviour of its
officials that it was impossible to have “a clear understanding of the law with
the executive power.”
Stealing Manifesto
Ideas
One staunch NPP supporter cynically remarked to DAILY
GUIDE that the NDC government was behind the alleged BNI raid in order
to get manifesto tips from the opposition party since he claimed the ruling
party had a penchant for ‘stealing’ manifesto ideas from the opposition.
“Dou you remember how President Mahama and his team
shamelessly stole our free SHS idea after bastardising it?” he asked and added,
“Look at how they have taken our ‘transforming lives, transforming Ghana’
slogan we used in 2012 without shame. Even on this one, the NDC mocked us in
2012.
“They have hit the end of the road. They don’t have
ideas to run this country and so all they want to do is to intimidate the NPP
but we shall never be suppressed. We shall continue to let the public know that
the NPP can lead this country into prosperity. Everybody knows change is
coming.”
Immigration Statement
The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) later confirmed
the deportation of the South Africans in a statement and said they concealed
the purpose for which they entered Ghana to the authorities.
Signed by Felix Yaw Sarpong, Director of GIS, the
statement said the service found out that the three South Africans had admitted
at the BNI that “they were engaged by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to come to
the country and conduct training for fifteen (15) bodyguards from the party in
VIP security drills.”
Arrival Of The Three
“Hazis Shaik was first to arrive in Ghana. He came on
board a South African Airlines plane [Flt No. SA 52] at about 9:40 pm on
5/03/16 on a Republic of South Africa passport number M00052092. He indicated
on his disembarkation card that Movenpick Hotel, Accra, was his contact address
in Ghana,” the statement said.
“The two other individuals invited by McDan Shipping
Ltd arrived in Ghana around 10:15 pm on 14/03/16 on South African Airlines (Flt
No. SA 209) and were both travelling on Republic of South Africa passport
numbers M00096231 and A05213410 respectively. They both indicated on their
disembarkation cards that Alisa Hotel, Accra, was their contact address in
Ghana.”
According to the GIS, Hazis was identified by the
other two as their leader and had indicated in his statement that he was
engaged to provide VIP protection training to the security officers of the leader
of the opposition party in Ghana, the NPP, but the service said, “This
statement does not conform with the purpose of their invitation.”
The GIS said
it was established that it was McDan Shipping Ltd and the Danquah Institute
that had invited them but the invitees were not security companies, adding, “On
the face of the documentation examined, it was clear that the three individuals
were not sure of who actually invited them,” and “the NPP as a legal entity did
not invite the three South Africans to Ghana and there is no documentation to
contradict this fact.”
“It is the view
of the GIS that the training exercise conducted by the three at the El-Capitano
Hotel in the Central Region to a group that did not invite them is clearly a
confirmation of the attempt to conceal the motive for their visit and is
therefore a breach of Section 52(1) (e) and (i) of the Immigration Act 2000
(Act 573).”
“Their act is also a breach of the conditions
precedent for the issuance of visas as contained in the instructions on Form B
(Reg.3 (4) of the Immigration Regulation 2001 (LI 1691).”
Deportee Sister Mad
A sister of one of the
three South African ex-police officers who were detained in Ghana is insisting
that her brother, Major Ahmed Shaik Hazis (rtd), is not a criminal. In an
exclusive interview with Citi News,
Nimala Abboy said she was outraged about the treatment meted out to her brother
and his colleagues.
She said, “My brother has
his own security company and does security, VIP protection and bodyguarding and
that is what he does for a living.”
She added that her family
members were outraged by “the way they [his brother and the two others] were
treated and we didn’t understand the charges that were brought against them but
we just rejoiced that they are on their way home and we are just happy that
there was no real case against them.”
She was thankful to the
NPP “for standing by them and for the group of attorneys that represented them
(in court). We are very grateful and thankful for their support.”
No comments:
Post a Comment