Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Saturday, August 27, 2016
The three National Democratic
Congress (NDC) activists who were jailed for contempt by the Supreme Court have
‘vowed’ not to do anything that would send them back to prison again.
The three convicts were freed
yesterday to a rousing welcome at a rally held at the premises of Radio Gold in Accra - where Montie FM is located - amidst chants of
‘Bie gya’ (open fire, more fire) by charged NDC sympathizers.
"Bie gya! More fire! Unstoppable! Unshakable! Unbreakable!”
the Master of the ceremony (MC) fired up the crowd, and they shouted same in
return.
The ex-convicts were released to their lawyers at the Akuse
Prison after a presidential remission.
They had been transferred from the Medium Security Prison at
Nsawam to Akuse when the order for their release was issued by President Mahama.
“We have learnt our lessons
and we would like to reiterate President Mahama’s call to our fellow media
practitioners and all who appear on our platforms to take a cue from what happened
to us and be circumspect in their utterances,” Salifu Maase aka Mugabe, who is
the host of ‘Pampaso,’ a political talk-show on Montie FM, said on behalf of his other convicted colleagues
yesterday.
President John Mahama set
tongues wagging on Monday when he ordered the release of Mugabe, Godwin
Ako-Gunn and Alistair Tairo Nelson about a month after the Supreme Court had jailed
them for four months each with an additional fine of GH¢10,000 or in default
serve another month in prison.
Communications Minister, Dr.
Edward Omane Boamah, had said in a statement that the president acted under
Article 72 of the Constitution on the advice of the Council of State - a
decision many have described as abuse of the president’s powers.
Appreciation
Mugabe, who was flanked by
Ako-Gunn and Alistair in NDC mufflers, expressed their appreciation to
President Mahama for releasing them, saying, “we want to express our appreciation
to President Mahama for graciously exercising his constitutional powers under
Article 72 of the Constitution in our favour in remitting the remainder of the
custodial sentence imposed on us recently.
“We would also like to thank the Council of
State profusely for its role in our release. Let’s restate our sincerest
apologies to Her Ladyship the Chief Justice, Justices of the Supreme Court and
the Bench in general for the unfortunate and regrettable conduct which was rightly
condemned by all Ghanaians,” Mugabe declared.
Difficult Times
“The past month has been a
difficult one for us and none of us will ever wish to find himself anywhere
near that situation again. Never again! Never again! and I say never again.
Never again…
“That being said, we have
learned our lesson and we’ll like to reiterate President Mahama’s call to our
fellow media practitioners and all who appear on our platforms to take a cue
from what happened to us and be circumspect in their utterances,” Maase
reiterated.
Mugabe On Air
It is unclear if the
management of Montie FM will allow
Mugabe back on air after it had been announced in the heat of the contempt
proceedings that the released convict had been suspended.
Mugabe had confirmed in his
affidavit in response to the contempt charges brought against him and the two
others by the Supreme Court in mid July that he had been suspended on July 4.
In the affidavit Mugabe said
“my appointment with the station was suspended on 4th July, 2016 until further
notice due to the matters giving rise to the application herein.”
Lawyer’s reaction
One of the lawyers of the
trio, George Loh, who is the NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for North Dayi, said,
“We’re happy to have our brothers back and the release does not mean we will
continue to tolerate the use of improper language on the station. Lessons have
been learnt.
“We don’t want to overly send
a signal that it is victory for the things that had happened. If it is victory
at all, then it is victory that they have gone through a democratic process to
get them pardoned.”
He also said the management
of the station was going to make sure that such ‘unguarded’ statements would
not be repeated on the network.
Signature Collection
After the three NDC activists
had been jailed, a group aligned to the ruling party - Research & Advocacy
Platform (RAP) - formed by Felix Kwakye Ofosu, a Deputy Minister of
Communications, initiated the collection of signatures with appointees of the
president lining up to append their signatures for the release of the convicts.
The group presented its
report to the presidency last week which was subsequently presented to the Cecilia
Johnson-chaired Council of State.
The three, who used the network to broadcast hate
speeches, reportedly endorsed a letter to President Mahama at the Flagstaff
House from their Nsawam Medium Security Prison, asking the president to free
them.
Executive petitions executive
Key
ministers that signed the petition included Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang
(Education), Nana Oye Lithur (Gender, Children and Social Protection),
Elizabeth Ofosu Agyare (Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts), Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
(deputy Education), Felix Kwakye Ofosu (deputy Communications), Benjamin Dagadu
(deputy Energy and Petroleum) and Benita
Okiti Dua (deputy minister of Fisheries).
The
appointees like Valerie Sawyerr,
former deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the President and others signed while
former Attorney General Betty Mould Iddrisu, now a Vice Chairperson of the NDC,
also gave her endorsement.
Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Minister
of Trade and Industry, Fifi Kwetey, Okudzeto Ablakwa and NDC top executives,
including their National Chairman Kofi Portuphy and General Secretary Johnson
Asiedu Nketiah, also visited the convicts at Nsawam.
Mugabe has always expressed
his readiness to go to jail in defence of President Mahama.
The Attorney-General had refused to press criminal charges
against the convicts for threatening to kill the judges.
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