Only Tarzan's Horse Has Bolted

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

Appearing in the maiden edition of his eponymous political commentary show on Ghana's Multi-TV, Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobbey was reported to have sneered that the Akufo-Addo Revolution was "tantamount to shutting the stable door after the prized horse had bolted" (See "NPP Is Shutting The Door After The Horse Has Bolted" JoyOnline.com / Ghanaweb.com 4/23/13).

The obvious implication here, of course, is that the petition is too little a move too late in the process or in the coming. I actually once thought that the burly political hack nicknamed "Tarzan" was far more intelligent than that. First of all, how were Messrs. Akufo-Addo, Bawumia and Obetsebi-Lamptey to stop a determined Messrs. Afari-Gyan and Mahama from rigging Election 2012 in favor of the latter?

The former, it is significant to note, was in charge of the entire electoral process and its conduct nationwide; on the other hand, being the presidential incumbent and chief-citizen-of-state, the latter was in full command and control of the hardware and/or material resources required for the successful execution of the entire electoral process. Now, faced with these collusive operatives, what other alternative did the three NPP petitioners have but to wait until Dr. Wereko-Brobbey's so-called prized horse had bolted and then take the most civilized course of action to reverse the damage?

Indeed, Tarzan rather laughably contradicts himself when the Kufuor-ousted CEO of the Volta River Authority (VRA) trots in the 1996 Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency's electoral slugfest between the NDC's Mrs. Rebecca Adotey and the NPP's Mr. Isaac Amoo. In the latter instance, the parliamentary seat was wrongfully awarded the former who went on to serve her constituents who, by the way, had not duly elected her, until a snail-paced judicial process determined that, indeed, Mr. Amoo had been right in calling for the reversal of Mrs. Adotey's fraudulent declaration as the winner of the 1996 Ayawaso West Wuogon parliamentary election.

Rather sadly, justice for Mr. Amoo came as too little and too late - for it came with just one week left before Ghana's second parliament of the Fourth Republic went into recessive dissolution. Now, what Dr. Wereko-Brobbey clearly and woefully fails to realize, either out of deliberate mischief or abject dislike and envy of the petitioners, is the fact that while it has relatively been slow-going, nevertheless, the NPP petition hearings have gathered enough momentum as to guarantee its ultimate determination well before the end of this year.

What this means is that in the highly likely event of Nana Akufo-Addo's being awarded the presidency on the strength of convincing forensic evidence presented to the Atuguba Court, the Fourth Republican presidential calendar may well have to be re-set to fairly compensate for time lost. If, and when, this happens, it would not be such a bad idea at all. We shall, of course, cross the proverbial bridge when and as we arrive on the banks of the Great River.

For now, though, it is equally significant to highlight the fact that Dr. Wereko-Brobbey clearly appears to be convinced beyond the proverbial shadow of a doubt that, indeed, the clear and decisive winner of the 2012 Presidential Election was none other than Ghana's former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. And it is for this reason why Dr. Wereko-Brobbey is jauntily able to readily cite the Amoo-Adotey Ayawaso West Wuogon legal slugfest as a classical case in point.

Where Tarzan errs, however, is to invoke the Kenyan example as one that is worthy of Ghana's emulation. It is not, at any rate, clear whether in highlighting the Kenyan example, Dr. Wereko-Brobbey is also calling for some sort of "experiential bitterness," such as Kenya's "Mini-Kigali" showdown.

I make the preceding surmise because Tarzan conveniently fails to point out that Ghana just finished conducting an extra-parliamentary Constitutional Review, the findings of which have yet to be fully studied and implemented. What nobody also seems to be interested in broaching, especially cross-over New Patriotic Party supporters of President Mahama like Messrs. Nyaho-Tamakloe, Pianim and Wereko-Brobbey (Did I leave any prominent Quislings out? My profuse apologies!), is the fact that in compelling Nana Akufo-Addo to take the high moral and legal road of Ghana's Supreme Court, Dr. Afari-Gyan and his powerful criminal accomplice, Mr. John "Skip-The-Biometric-Voting-Machine" Dramani Mahama had grossly miscalculated.

I have said this elsewhere and previously that whatever the outcome of the televised Akufo-Addo Revolution, the reputations of Messrs. Afari-Gyan and Mahama will no longer be associated with anything positive about Ghanaian democracy. Too bad, you might be tempted to say; but the fact of the matter is that this is the legacy-bed that they have created for Ghanaians, and they had better be made to be the first to lie on the same.

Perhaps, a really Good Samaritan ought to have reminded these two brothers-in-law that Nana Akufo-Addo was born in the very courtyard of Ghana's Supreme Court. And that was also where he cut his legal teeth, Kpegah and Co.'s campaign of personal destruction notwithstanding.

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*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Department of English
Nassau Community College of SUNY
Garden City, New York
May 18, 2013
E-mail: [email protected]
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