Mr William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo was called to the English Bar

I can confirm on authority that Middle Temple in the UK has confirmed to me in an e-mail that, Mr William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo was called to the English Bar on 22 July 1971. The pdf document on the January 1969 admissions and 1971 graduation from Middle Temple indicate that Mr William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is listed second under number thirteen (13) on page 34. I also received another pdf document certifying that the same Mr William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo was admitted and graduated at the Middle Temple. I have e-mailed the document to ModernGhana.com Editor to provide these document s as links for readers.

This was following my telephone request to them on March 21, 2013 which I was asked to put into writing by e-mail and did so that very day (as per my e-mail of April 21 below). Having not received any acknowledgement, I telephoned the following week and was told that my request had been referred to the appropriate officer for a response but he was on annual leave so I should expect a reply after Easter. I called again on Thursday April 4, 2013 and I was informed that the officer was involved in scholarship interviews that week and could not respond until after the interviews but would certainly receive a reply by the afternoon of the following Wednesday.

Having not heard from Middle Temple as promised, I decided to send a reminder on Wednesday April 10, 2013 (see my e-mail of April 10 below) and finally received a brief reply the next day (April 11, 2013). Since the officer who replied indicated only the Christian or first name and no title, I rang Middle Temple to verify the full name and title of the officer. I spoke to Mr Richard Chapman and explained the purpose of my call. He explained to me that Middle Temple have a tradition of not signing full names or sometimes sign with only the position. When I made him aware that I intended to make the information public, he asked me not to publish the name of the staff member since she is a junior member of staff who was asked to respond to my enquiry.

I requested and received by –email a copy of the note or letter given to Nana Akufo Addo by Middle Temple in 2007, which I forwarded to them yesterday and asked if they could confirm the authenticity of the note. In response to that request, I received a reply with a PDF attachment that confirms that Nana Addo was truly called to the English Bar (as per e-mail of today from the Head of Education Services)

Shortly, I received a second e-mail from Middle Temple regarding the document as follows:

Dear Mr Ata,

When a member of the Inn is Called to the Bar, the Inn issues a Call Certificate. The original Call Certificate would be signed both by Master Treasurer and by the Under Treasurer. Members of the Inn may request copies of their own Call Certificates at any time after the original Call. Such copies will be signed by the Under Treasurer only.

I can confirm that copies of Call Certificated would be in the style of document which you have sent us. I CANNOT comment on the authenticity or otherwise of this particular document.

I hope this is of assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Christa Richmond

Christa Richmond

Director of Education Services

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple

Treasury Office, Ashley Building, Middle Temple Lane, London, EC4Y 9BT

+44 (0)20 7427 4800

[email protected]

www.middletemple.org.uk

At the request of Middle Temple, I have deleted the name of the member replied to my original e-mail request but used only her initial. I have also deleted my e-mail address to avoid receiving any hate mail from supporters and opponents of Nana Akufo Addo.

Anyone who doubts me can contact Middle Temple in London on (+44) 020 7427 4800.

I will post a detailed analysis of this saga in the days ahead and ask why is this happening to Nana Akufo Addo or why are Ghanaians destroying themselves before the international community. Stay tuned or keep reading.

From: Christa Richmond

To: "'kofiata

Cc: Richard Chapman

Sent: Friday, April 12, 2013 5:25 PM

Subject: FW: Letter from Middle Temple to William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo

Dear Mr Ata,

Thank you for your email dated 11 April 2013 which has been passed on to me.

The students admitted to membership of the Middle Temple in January 1969 are contained in the Registers of Admission published by the Inn. These are available in the British Library Link.

For your convenience I have attached a scanned pdf of the entries for January 1969. From it you will also be able to see dates of Call to the Bar. Mr Akufo-Addo was admitted on 13 January 1969 and Called to the Bar on 22 July 1971.

I hope this is of assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Christa Richmond

Director of Education Services

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple

Treasury Office, Ashley Building, Middle Temple Lane, London, EC4Y 9BT

+44 (0)20 7427 4800

[email protected]

www.middletemple.org.uk

From: Kofi Ata

Sent: 11 April 2013 15:13

To: Richard Chapman

Subject: Fw: Letter from Middle Temple to William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo

Dear Richard Champman,

Thank you for agreeing to consider my request to review a letter that was given to WAD Akufo Addo in October 2007 regarding the loss of his law certificate.

Please see the link below from Ghanweb.com which is an article posted by one of the regular contributors.

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=270504

I do not support any political party in Ghana and therefore not pro or anti the ruling party (National Democratic Congress - NDC) or the main opposition party (National Patriotic Party - NPP). I consider myself as pro Ghana and what is right. I find the whole story a bit strange, to say the least and would assist to let Ghanaians know the truth.

My previous correspondence on this matter are below for your information.

I will appreciate your kind assistance and urgent action.

Mr kind regards.

Kofi Ata, Cambridge

From: Members

To: 'Kofi Ata'

Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2013 9:36 AM

Subject: RE: Mr William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo

Dear Mr Ata,

Thank you for your enquiry.

The Middle Temple does not have a member by the name of Nana Akufo Addo. We do have a member called William Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and I can confirm that he was called to the Bar by this Inn on 22 July 1971. I am unable to disclose any other information as we can only confirm information which is in the public domain.

Best wishes,

S

From: Kofi Ata

Sent: 10 April 2013 20:05

To: Members

Subject: Fw: Mr William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

Dear Sir/Madam,

Please find below my original e-mail request regarding the above subject matter which was sent to you on 21 March 2013 as advised after a telephone enquiry that day.

Despite two telephone follow up calls thereafter and assurance last week that it would be responded to by the afternoon of 10 April 2013, I have still not received acknowledgement of my request by return, though it was confirmed to me on phone that the e-mail request was received and had been referred to the appropriate officer for action.

The story has been raised by the Ghanaian media again and this time, a letter is alleged to have come from the Middle Temple to Mr William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo that he was called to the English Bar. Please find a link to a story to that effect which appeared today on Ghanaweb.com for your perusal.

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=270588

I will appreciate if you could kindly respond to my request and confirm if Mr William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo (DoB 29 March 1944. He is now known as Nana Akufo Addo.

Below is also a link to Mr William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo's 2012 presidential campaign website which states that, he was called to the English Bar (Middle Temple) in July 1971.

http://akufoaddo2012.com/subcat_select.php?catID=1&linkID=1&url=Nana%20Akufo-Addo

I hope you will kindly respond to my request as a matter of urgency to clear the air and also to avoid the name and reputation of your August body becoming part of this story in Ghana.

My kind regards

Yours faithfully,

Mr Kofi Ata, Cambridge.

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Kofi Ata

To: "[email protected]"

Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2013 4:10 PM

Subject: William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am British of Ghanaian origin living in Cambridge. I occasionally post articles on Ghanaian media websites, especially, Ghanweb.com. I am not a journalist and do not get paid for my articles but as a contribution to socio-economic and political development in my country of origin.

Just this week a strange story emerged in Ghana with regards to a very successful Barrister and politician, Mr William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, who is the leader of main opposition party in Ghana (National Patriotic Party) and the party's candidate in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. He is now known as Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, born on 29 March 1944.

According to media reports in Ghana, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court has sued Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo at the High Court in Accra for impersonation and for practising as a lawyer when he is not qualified. This is not only strange but also bizarre because Nana Akufo Addo (for short) is not only an accomplished Barrister but also served as Attorney General and Minister for Justice as well as Foreign Minister of Ghana.

According to Nana Akufo Addo's website and Wikipedia, he trained as a lawyer in England and was first called to the English Bar (Middle Temple) in July 1971. I am trying to establish the veracity of this information but unfortunately I could not find any membership information on your website that would confirm this. I made a telephone call to your office and I was advised to put my request by e-mail.

I will be most grateful if you could kindly assist me to confirm his training and being called to the English Bar as reported on the internet so that I will make it available to the Ghanaian public and kill the story. I suspect the suit may be politically motivated since the retired Supreme Court Justice is believed to be a strong supporter of the ruling party (National Democratic Congress) and Nana Akufo Addo is challenging the results of the December 2012 presidential election at the Supreme Court.

Below are some media links on reports on this matter.

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=268417

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=268411

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=268403

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=268285

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=268255

I will appreciate your kind response and assistance on this important matter.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Kofi Ata

Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK