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Opinions of Friday, 22 March 2013

Columnist: Saka, PaaNii

“Justice” Kpegah, NDC’s Prince of Darkness

A Pastor once remarked, “New Level, New Devils”. And he was right at the time. IT was borne out of personal experience and this pastor had realised that the higher he went in knowledge and power, the greater the challenges that came from the demons. He had to wonder why the spiritual battles were intensifying until he came to the conclusion “New Levels, New Devils”. He finally realised he’d reached new level, hence the enormous challenges.
The NDC is battling on every side to remain in power; power they themselves know they do not deserve. There is a lot of chatter on frequencies being used by the National Security apparatus.
It has become clear that the NDC didn’t know they will win power, and that was because there was intense dissent in the camp prior to Election 2012. The Ahwois had laid siege to the acting President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, asking for a prize possession. In return, they were going to support him wholeheartedly.
After all, The Late President John Fiifi Atta Mills had been their candidate. They brought him from being Commissioner of IRS to become Vice President to President Rawlings. Arkaah had messed up, they[Ahwois] needed a replacement and needed one quick. Their first port of call was to Papa Kwesi Nduom, who had would have made a very fine stand-in. They mistook his friendly relations with Totobi Kwakye to mean he may be affable and agree to their proposal. It was good and Nduom could have accepted. Except there was one problem; the man with whom he was to work. President Rawlings had made headlines for brutalizing his Vice President Kow Nkensen Arkaah. It was scandalous and also fearful, Nduom thought twice about it. After all, he[Nduom] was not desperate and would wait his time.
Having being turned down, they approached President Mills. He was a socialist, he had credentials and had been promoted to become the Commissioner as a result. He was going up. He listened to his friends and decided he would never pass up the chance to help his nation. As Commissioner of IRS, he was doing the same anyway and could do even more to help mother Ghana. He accepted and was outdoored as Vice President to President Rawlings. He was obviously sensible and kept his head down. He never got into any rows with his Master and got rewarded for it at the famous “Swedru Declaration”.
The Ahwois knew he was sick and could die, but it didn’t mean he was going to pop soon. They had several plans in place. Whether the President died as a result of his ailment or not is still a subject of debate. However, the Ahwois were caught off guard and had to gather quickly. But this time, they had no acceptable trump card.
Whatever they told the Acting President ( I will withhold details for now ) was not accepted. He was adamant he would not grant it. He became an enemy overnight. And then the plotting started. They [ Ahwois] made sure that the Acting President will not be confirmed. They knew all the electoral tricks, after all, that is how they won the 2008 elections.
But His Excellency JD Mahama was “smart”, well at least until the court determines otherwise. He quickly convened a meeting, gave Asiedu Nketiah the task of winning and that was it. The Ahwois were shocked the Acting President won the elections and wondered how he did it. Well, Until the Supreme Court case came along. They now know how and intend to spoil the party for His Excellency.
Like the devil who lost his prime place in heaven, the Ahwois are bent on destroying the sitting President. They have built a power base and will not allow that to be blown away overnight. They are working very hard and especially so as it is alleged that His Excellency President Mahama’s dear wife is the one making all government appointments. Even Asiedu Nketiah had to question the president on why he appointed – Kweku Bani - Chief of Staff and Raymond Atuguba as Executive Secretary. There have been questions over the others.
The President is now embattled and he is deploying all sorts of arsenals.
First, they kept telling the country and Ghanaians that they would be presenting 4800 witnesses. There was an uproar and then they decided to cut that number. They brought it down to 327. Somehow, they thought they could get away from it, but even a non-legal person would have known the outcome; failure. They knew it would fail and didn’t field their best lawyers. It was designed to slow down the process. Anything to slow it down is fine. They have already decided that they know they would have to go at some point but not before they at least make it into the 3rd year of the 2nd term. There is a lot of chatter. Gbevlo Lartey is one person whose career is on the line. He is currently sitting on thorns. But it may take a while.
Then the accident of Bawumia. Sir John has made what certain members of his own party think are outrageous comments. I haven’t seen his[Sir John’s] evidence but Sir John is right on the money. The NDC is behind it. It may not be the presidency, but “helpers” of the establishment. The evidence points more to the NDC than to the Presidency but it is His Excellency who would have benefitted if it had worked. It has the hand of “General” Asiedu Nketiah behind it. This is because, not only is Bawumia the 2nd respondent, which doesn’t bother them too much. Instead, he is the man who has painstakingly led the collation of evidence, with his thoroughness and mathematical brain. If he is out of the way, the evidence could take some time to make the necessary impact. The mischief by the NDC would be difficult to explain. That is indeed why they wanted him dead and not because he was the 2nd respondent.
That has failed and now Justice Kpegah rises to the occasion. Under different circumstances, one would have been tempted to declare him to be suffering from the early stages of dementia. But please don’t!
The Ex-Judge knows what he is doing. He’s been deployed to slow down the process. It has the purpose of taking Nana’s focus from the case. As brilliant a lawyer as Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo Addo, the man is keenly interested in the case and would leave nothing to chance. His legal brain is working around the clock and he is providing very intense leadership to the army of lawyers representing him. Nana knows what is involved, and no disrespect to lawyers but he is the “General” with both the brain and the might behind the team. If he can be distracted, mistakes could be made and the case, could crumble. Just maybe…
Kpegah has been gunning for a role in this government since its first term. Now is the time to show he can really be a member of the gang by “shedding blood”. To belong, he must “kill” a big prize. He can only do this by attacking the principal of the case, i.e. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo. Kpegah knows he will lose the case, but he would have proven to his paymasters that he can be as ruthless as they are, and that he should be admitted into the gang.
Like Machiavelli, he is the Prince of Darkness for the NDC and will be hailed as such by his paymasters.

PaaNii Saka
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