By William
Yaw Owusu
Wednesday
January 10, 2018
Former President John Dramani Mahama yesterday
failed to turn up at an Accra High Court to show solidarity with the
immediate-past board members of the National Communication Authority (NCA), who
are standing trial for allegedly causing financial loss to the state.
The former president, in recent times, has been
using several platforms to call for support for his appointees who might be
dragged to court for their alleged involvement in corruption under his
four-year tenure.
Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, former NCA Board Chairman;
William Mathew Tetteh Tevie, former Director General of the NCA; Alhaji Salifu
Mimina Osman, a former deputy National Security Coordinator and another board
member, as well as a private businessman called George Derek Oppong - Director
of Infraloks Development Limited - have been accused of conspiring to and
causing financial loss to the state to the tune of some $4 million.
Mr. Baffoe-Bonnie, Alhaji Osman and Mr Oppong have
already appeared before the court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour,
for their alleged involvement in a deal and have been granted bail in the sum
of $1 million each with three sureties.
Yesterday Mr. Tevie and the other member also made
an appearance before the high court and were given the same bail terms and
conditions.
They are standing trial because the Attorney
General’s Department - led in evidence by the Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo -
is saying that the accused persons created, looted and shared $4 million among
themselves under the guise of procuring a Cyber Surveillance System which they
claimed was to be used for counter-terrorism activities in the country.
There were a lot of people at the court complex, but
it was unclear if some of them were there to lend their support to the accused
persons, following the clarion call by former President Mahama.
He was not in court to concretize his call on NDC
foot soldiers to stand by ex-officials suspected of corruption.
Speaking at the 36th anniversary celebration of the
31st December, 1981 ‘revolution’ in Ho, the Volta Region, Mr. Mahama said,
“Recently, President Akufo-Addo was threatening members of our administration
with prosecution when he visited the Eastern Region; and I said yes, we are
prepared to accept the probity of our tenure in office.
“Having been the disciples of probity and
accountability, we must not run away from probity and accountability; we must
be prepared to face any prosecution that this government throws to us, but we
must do this with commitment and solidarity.”
Mr. Mahama remarked, “They will have their day in
court and until they have that day in court, it is our duty to solidarize with
them to make sure they have the best legal representation to be able to put
their case in order; and it is my wish that things will turn out well for
them.”
Anyidoho’s
Defiance
However, Deputy General Secretary of the opposition
party, Koku Anyidoho, in reaction to Mr. Mahama’s call for solidarity, warned
the supporters of the party not to storm the courtrooms to support any
officials of the Mahama administration who might be facing prosecution for
alleged corruption.
According to him, the relatives and friends of those
officials could do that but not the entire party and its supporters.
According to him, such persons have families,
friends and loved ones who are free to follow them to court, but the entire
party executives should not be expected to do so.
In what appears to be a sharp u-turn, Mr Anyidoho
has stated that the party is ready to solidarize with its members, if the NPP
government starts witch-hunting them.
No comments:
Post a Comment