ATTAFUAH RETURNS TO NIA

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday, January 30, 2017

Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, a popular criminologist and human rights lawyer, has been appointed acting Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA).

A statement signed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo before emplaning for the Africa Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last Friday, tasked the learned man to take charge until an exhaustive consultation had been done with the appropriate bodies.

"I hereby appoint you to act as Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority, pending receipt of the constitutionality required advice of the governing council of the authority in consultation with the Public Services Commission,” the president stated, adding, “May I take this opportunity to congratulate you formally on your appointment."

The statement, which was copied to Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Chief of Staff, the Secretary to the President and Chief Director of the Office of the President, underscored, “Kindly indicate your acceptance or otherwise of this appointment.”

Prof Attafuah appears to be excited with the position as he was part of the stakeholders who attended the recent meeting chaired by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia over the national identification project.

Until recently, Prof. Attafuah was the Dean of Faculty of Law at the Central University. He was formerly the Executive Secretary of the NIA under the erstwhile Kufuor’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.

He was subsequently sacked by then President John Evans Atta Mills, who said openly that Prof Attafuah did not share the ideals of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

He was the Executive Secretary of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) set up by the Kufuor government to ‘heal’ wounds caused by previous governments, particularly Jerry John Rawlings’ military junta – the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).

He was also Head of the Investigation Department at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

Prof Attafuah, a mediator, management consultant with an impeccable human rights advocacy record, is the Managing Solicitor of Ken Attafuah Law Place based in Accra.

In March 2014, he broke his silence when he said the excuse used by the NDC government to relieve him of his duties as the Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority  was unjustifiable.

Answering questions at the 5th Re Akoto Memorial lectures organized by the students of Ghana School of Law to mark its 51st Law Week celebrations under the theme “Upholding fundamental human rights: Role of the law student,” Prof Attafuah said, “The cycle of reprisal and political vendetta must not be allowed to continue. It has stalled the development of this country and we do not seem to end the stalemate.”

Asked to react to the tag of incompetence used by the late President Mills against him, the eloquent legal gem posited, “I cannot be described as somebody who is incompetent. I remember Valery Sawyer calling to express her gratitude to me for the good work I did at the NIA and that I was one of the hardworking individuals she had ever seen. This clearly cannot be said to be incompetence.”