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19.08.2009 Feature Article

Gory stains on the BNI!

Gory stains on the BNI!
19.08.2009 LISTEN

“He who seeks equity, must come with clean hands” goes the maxim, but as it is the case in Ghana within the last eight (8) months, functionaries of the New Patriotic Party who are under investigations for various crimes committed against the Republic of Ghana, are bent on destroying the sanctity of the Bureau of National Investigations with numerous law suits as a clever means of stalking the probe into cases of malfeasance, fraud, forgery and “cause of financial loss” to Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana.

Mention should be made of the guerilla tactics employed by this same Bureau, throughout the eight (8) year tenure of Ex- President Kufuor, in effecting arbitrary arrests, seizure of passports and unannounced ransacks of the chambers and family homes of known NDC former Ministers that served under Ex President Jerry Rawlings.

First, passports belonging to Nana Ato Dadzie, Nana Ohene Kenah and Mr. Ato Ahwoi (all public officials in the erstwhile Jerry Rawlings led NDC administration) were seized in broad day light upon specific policy directives from the government while of our Oxford-trained lawyer Ex president, John Kufuor looked on and beamed with smiles in the belief that these covert activities gave meaning to his administrations “rule of law” and “Zero Tolerance for Corruption” mantra. The Ghana bar Association, the academia, the Christian Council, civil society organizations and our traditional rulers failed to raise their voices against this new-found illegality, ruthlessness and grave indiscretions unleashed on opponents to the NPP government by the BNI under the NPP led administration. In the days, invitations to be interrogated by the BNI were restricted to phone calls and text messages.

Second, Kufuor's government policy directives made the Bureau so dreadful that one dared ignoring such invitations especially if you find yourself on their opposing side. Again in the days, Nana Akufo-Addo who was Attorney General found nothing unconstitutional with the illegalities perpetuated by the BNI that set the dangerous precedence for successive governments to pursue albeit the human right challenges that were rife in this system. Nana Akufo-Addo even went a step further to legitimize the abuses meted out to citizens by the investigative bodies by commissioning the then “kangaroo” Fast Track Court only to be “bloodied” in court by Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata in that famous suit and subsequent ruling in Tsatsu's favour. It took the machinations of the Oxford-trained Ex President John Kufuor to appoint Justices to the Supreme Court just for the purpose of reviewing the ruling in a so-called judicial review unprecedented in the annals of our history.

One is tempted by these events to conjecture strongly that either it was a case of sheer ignorance on the part of the Ex-President, Mr J.A Kufuor and the Ex-Attorney General, Nana Akufo-Addo, at the time to engage the services of the BNI and the CID to abuse the fundamental human rights of some selected citizens belonging to the umbrella fraternity, to seize passports belonging to members of the opposition in pursuit of their definition of the fight against corruption or it was a clear case of political witch-hunt coupled with an intrinsic hatred for the NDC, that saw the political authority throw the laws of Ghana to the wind and chased the former NDC functionaries with gratuitous vengeance.

Granted that the BNI is prevented from “further restricting” and holding on to passports and other travel documents belonging to any citizen under investigation only for the citizen to abscond upon a tip-off, knowing too well that the sword of Damocles might soon fall heavily upon him or her, whose responsibility will it be to produce the persons in Court to face trial upon the issuance of an arrest warrant? What might happen from today is that the BNI could be raging in going to court to adduce any kind of evidence (tenable or not) by ex-parte motions as thrum cards to make arrests of suspects in the cases they probe before the suspects leave the jurisdiction.

This paradigm shift (by this court ruling) will open a new chapter for the BNI to make frequent and arbitrary arrests anytime a suspect is needed just to corroborate a story by a “yes” or “No” response! When that time comes some day, we will be here to listen to the tunes of the human right activists, lawyers and party sycophants adduce all kinds of negative connotations to the new modus operandi of the BNI.

Again this ruling will also encourage public officials to corrupt themselves while in office only to wait impatiently for clear signs that their party is on the losing path on the eve to a run-off election and jump on the next available flight to another country to which they will hold secret citizenship in order to outwit prosecution. It is only when that day comes that we will be awakened but rather too late that this court ruling is reviewable or not.

Following from these possible future occurrences if this ruling is allowed to sustain, we would be creating a rather dangerous socio-political environment that breeds corruption, and fertilizes the grounds for economic and social chaos.

I sympathize with the defense lawyers of the public officials on trail. The Faibilies, Kulendis and the Odames. These are professionals who need to earn their pay albeit their biased political conviction and traditions. They had been quiet in the “Mafioso” reign of their property-owing clients under the able leadership of John Kufuor when the same BNI was ruthlessly used to arrest, humiliate, abuse and in many cases haunt citizens suspected to have committed an offence or the other. Some NDC functionaries were haunted by the security agencies until they sought asylum in foreign lands, some were publicly ridiculed while others lost their investments all in the name of fighting corruption. I will not regret to say that some of these so-called Human Right Lawyers (trained to protect the rights of the common man irrespective of their political biases) decided to be more ferocious in outrunning each other for these “juicy” clients in recent days because it is more economical to do so under the Mills-led NDC Administration.

The NPP does not have the moral standing to question the tactics of the BNI and the CID when worse forms of detentions and arrests were used under their administration for nothing has really changed except the colours of government. The infringement on the human rights of Mr. Hodare Okine is still fresh on our minds. The arrest of Miss Dzidzor Tay by the BNI in relation to a comment she made on air, the search of Mr. E.T Mensah's residence and his subsequent detention and stripping in the premises of the BNI without access to a lawyer are very fresh on our minds. If indeed what is good for the goose could be equally good for the gander, then I opine that the Courts should consider the spirit of the law establishing the BNI carefully not just the letter of the law and give this country better standards for our institution in order to strengthen them.

It is indeed very early for the BNI to give up on pursing the cases on their records; and again it is too early for the corrupt officials under the NPP to go rejoicing over a so-called “victory for democracy”.

The BNI has been a very strong and formidable module of the National Security apparatus and the pursuit of all kinds of legal calisthenics against the BNI should not daunt their steadfastness to weed Ghana of corruption in anyway.

We will keep watch and add our voice to this debate to condemn the condemnable and defend the defensible without fear or favour.

God Bless our Homeland Ghana!
Credit: Felix Mawulolo Amegashie
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