Kufuor toyed with my life – Ex-First Lady
Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings says she is contemplating a lawsuit against former President J.A. Kufuor to reclaim losses she may have suffered from her trial in the 'Caridem Affair'.
Konadu says her prosecution by the erstwhile Kufuor administration amounted to political persecution, convinced that there was nothing untoward in the purchase of the Nsawam Cannery by Caridem, a company owned by the former First Lady and her associates and for which they were taken to court.
The Kufuor-led government initiated court proceedings in 2005 against Nana Konadu and Messrs Emmanuel Agbodo, Thomas Benson Owusu, Kwame Peprah and Madam Sherry Aryitey, over the sale and purchase of the former state cannery, alleging the transaction had led to the loss of several millions of cedis to the state, as a result of under-valuation and cheap sale of the state property. They were accused of theft, fraud and conspiracy to defraud the state.
But after three years of back-and-forth courtroom rumbling, Ex-President Kufuor on the eve of exiting office as President of the Republic of Ghana, caused the discontinuation of the case. No reasons were given.
The Fast Track High Court Thursday morning officially dropped corruption charges against her and four others, for want of prosecution.
In a statement issued shortly before midday, Nana Konadu said “The purchase of Nsawam Cannery by Caridem, which was the transaction in question, was executed without any element of criminality and my colleagues and I always wondered how the state expected to prove its case against us.”
“A proper bidding process was put in place for the sale and Caridem won through due process because we were the highest bidder. The World Bank supervised the entire bidding process, so it was a huge shock to us when the NPP government decided to prosecute and persecute us over a process that was already ten years old.”
Nana Konadu said her image and that of the co-accused has been battered beyond recognition, her reputation amongst her peers sullied and her family abused both locally and internationally because many were convinced she was 'a criminal'.
“I wonder on what basis John Kufuor decided to discontinue the case on his last day in office. This same man was the initiator of court proceedings against us but on his departure from office he chose to score cheap and shameless political points with my fundamental human rights as if he owned my life.
“At some point during the process we were resigned to our fate knowing that the powers that be had no plans of capitulating. Having excelled in ensuring that all cases against members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) led to imprisonment we were like lambs being led to the slaughter.”
According to the former First Lady, under the Kufuor-led government, she and her co-accused did not expect a fair trial, but haven failed to perpetuate the New Patriotic Party's stay in government, Kufuor Nicodemusly struck out the case for fear of being exposed if the trial was to go on.
“If Kufuor thought there was any criminality in the purchase of the Nsawam Cannery, what moral basis does he have to withdraw the charges?” Nana Konadu demanded.