Was Ato Forson Really Behind Cynthia Morrison Assassination Plot?

When the subject has to do with political killings, I never put it past or beyond the capabilities of the leaders of the country’s main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), for theirs is a bloody tradition of contract murders and wanton and summary assassinations, beginning with the Jerry John Rawlings-led mutineers of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), the Judicial Death Squad of the Rawlings-led junta of the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) and, presently, the Rawlings-founded and led faux-civilian establishment of the National Democratic Congress. In the latter instance, we have the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, Mr. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, indicted and standing trial for treasonous and seditious activities, including the globally scandalous kidnapping of the three young white Canadian women NGO volunteers in the Asante Regional Capital of Kumasi.

So, when Mr. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, the firebrand New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Assin-Central, in the Central Region, asserts that it was Mr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the former John “Akonfem-SADA” Dramani Mahama deputy ministerial appointee, who actually plotted and sponsored the horrific assassination attempt on the life of Ms. Cynthia M. Morrison, the Akufo-Addo-appointed Children, Gender and Social Protection Minister, we need to promptly sit up and pay heed and then demand immediate and thorough investigation of this patently and inescapably serious allegation. It is a serious allegation because the man making the same has a credible track record in this sphere of our national life and political culture (See “Ken Agyapong Names Ato Forson as Brain Behind Alleged Plot to Assassinate Gender Minister” Ghanaweb.com 10/27/20).

Well, according to the proprietor of NET-2 TV and the Oman Media Network, it was Mr. Ato Forson, who is also the National Democratic Congress’ Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam, also in the Central Region, who recruited and handed over the members of the goon squad scheduled to rubout Ms. Morrison to Mr. Paul Ofori-Amoah, the then Agona-West NDC Parliamentary Candidate in the runup to the 2020 General Election. Now, what is significant to note here is that, according to the accuser, that is, Mr. Agyapong, the apprehended prime suspects in the plot have all confessed to law-enforcement authorities that, indeed, it was the former Mahama-appointed Deputy Finance Minister who recruited these murderous mercenary thugs for Mr. Ofori-Amoah, who presently stands charged with the abetment of criminal activities. Mr. Agyapong is reportedly livid over the fact that the police are strangely keeping the alleged involvement of Mr. Ato Forson in the assassination attempt on the life of Ms. Morrison under wraps.

Now, what we all need to do is to promptly get to the heart and unalloyed truth of this matter or allegation. I have also read somewhere else about the vehement denial of his involvement in the Cynthia Mamle Morrison assassination plot. The possessive-pronoun “His,” of course, refers to Mr. Ato Forson. The latter has reportedly threatened to sue Mr. Agyapong for defamation. As of this writing, however, I have yet to learn the detailed response to this allegation from Mr. Ato Forson. Yes, there are a plethora of equally critical problems bedeviling our country, such as the increasing spate of the deadly bite of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and rank official corruption on both sides of our national political spectrum, especially the seemingly inordinate penchant for wealth acquisition at the expense of the very people that our taxpayer-salaried public officials who claim to be working on behalf of the collective wellbeing of the societally poor and destitute are scandalously and pathologically mired in. Nevertheless, we need to be equally studiously focused on ridding the otherwise salutary Ghanaian democratic political culture of the Mafia-type barbarism that seems to be overwhelming the security and stability of our beloved country.

We are, of course, equally obligated to leave a legacy of a meaningful and progressive political culture and morally upright behavior to our children and grandchildren. Then also, we need to leave our children and grandchildren a stable and a prosperous economy in which each and every citizen can become a significant shareholder and stakeholder as well.

*Visit my blog at: KwameOkoampaAhoofeJr

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., PhD

English Department, SUNY-Nassau

Garden City, New York

February 15, 2021

E-mail: [email protected]