When An Ex President Stoops So Low And Takes Up Appointment As A Spokesperson For ‘Thieves’ & Unconstitutionalities
The Mamprusis have a saying that: “If one puts himself up for sale with a price tag of one cedi, the person will be bought at one pesewa”. In short, if a person does not respect himself, then such a person should expect nothing, other than disgrace in the extreme to be visited upon them by others.
Therefore, since former President Rawlings has skulked past the dignity and honour of the Office of President, and taken up appointment as the ‘spokesperson’ for the outgoing Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu, and failed Board Chairman of the Ghana Water Co. Ltd (GWCL) Afenyo-Markin, and some other dismissed officers of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Rawlings deserves being administered with the Afenyo-Markin dose.
I will not waste time to respond to the former President’s disgraceful Press Release of 17th January, 2020, paragraph by paragraph.
It is apparent that, former President Rawlings’ inability to effectively grasp the UEW issues, maybe attributable to his inferior education.
If anyone at all is peddling lies about the UEW issues, then it is former President Rawlings, and NO one else!
To start with, Prof. Avoke, was appointed by an illegitimate Governing Council, therefore, he had no constitutional basis whatsoever to be at the helm of affairs of UEW as Vice-Chancellor (VC).
Section 14 (1) of the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012 (Act 845) provides that: “On the assumption of office of the person elected as President, a person holding any of the offices specified in the schedule shall cease to hold that office ….”
Subsection 6 of the Schedule provides that: “Persons appointed by the President or a Minister of State as Members of Statutory Boards or Corporations”.
The UEW Governing Council, is a Statutory Board, therefore, following the election of John Mahama as President of the Republic of Ghana in the 2012 Presidential election, and his subsequent assumption of office, the UEW Governing Council constituted by the Atta Mills administration, became defunct.
This defunct Council then went ahead to later appoint Prof. Avoke and Theophilus Ackorlie, as VC and Finance Officer respectively.
As a result of the above unconstitutionality, it doesn’t matter whether Prof. Avoke has been exonerated by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), or the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) or whatever investigative body; the undisputed fact is that, Prof. Avoke’s appointment was unconstitutional, and therefore, null and void! Simple!!
One would have expected Prof. Avoke, to thread carefully after having ascended to the high office of VC of UEW, unconstitutionally. However, this wasn’t the case.
Prof. Avoke, then proceeded to circumvent the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as amended, in a manner, unprecedented in the history of UEW!
For example, in 2016, a Tender Evaluation Committee recommended re-tender of some proposed contracts, due to the failure of the tenderers to meet set requirements in the Tender Documents. However, these particular contracts, were NEVER re-tendered, and were awarded by Prof. Avoke to his friends and cronies in clear violation of Act 663 (one of the reasons for which Prof. Avoke and the others were dismissed by the UEW Governing Council).
Attached is documentary proof of one of such contracts awarded by Prof. Avoke and his accomplices to Sparkx (SM) Ghana Ltd., despite the Tender Evaluation Committee’s recommendation that the said contract be re-tendered, since in the Committee’s view: “… none of bidders has been determined as qualified and capable of performing the Contract”.
The above are two (2) illegalities that cannot be cured by lies. Did EOCO investigate this particular contract mentioned above? How can any credible investigation into alleged procurement violations by Prof. Avoke, purport to clear him with the above incontrovertible evidence of brazen and blatant violation of Act 663?
Anyway, Prof. Avoke, can only be exonerated by an investigative body that has no shred of expertise in Act 663. No wonder a High Court has described a Report by an outmoded investigative body, disgracefully exonerating Prof. Avoke, as being doubtful, and incapable of passing a judicial test.
The radio lawyer, thus Afenyo-Markin, shamefully filed this bogus EOCO Report at the Cape Coast High Court 2, in his typical stupid approach to the law, in pursuit of his systematic failed bid to have Prof. Avoke and others, reinstated.
Prior to filing this doubtful EOCO Report at the High Court, Afenyo-Markin had segued the media industry with this meaningless EOCO Report under his stinking to high heaven armpit, making his usual deceptive noise.
Therefore, I will continue to link Afenyo-Markin to this bogus EOCO Report. If anyone has a problem with this linkage, they should head straight to Court, for only a Court of competent jurisdiction can stop me, and NOT useless Press Statements from an irrelevant former President’s office!
Rawlings and Afenyo-Markin are reminded that, it is not the responsibility of UEW to publish discredited EOCO Reports. Whoever procured this senseless EOCO Report and proceeded to file it in Court, is at liberty to publish it in his rented media. Who in this country doesn’t know that Afenyo-Markin is a ‘specialist’ in broadcasting falsehood?
A person who despicably overthrew a democratically elected President, is calling for non-existent social justice for some persons who went through the due process and were subsequently dismissed. What social justice did Rawlings extend to the late President Limann?
Why didn’t Rawlings reinstate former President Limann, after investigations had cleared Limann of any wrongdoing during his twenty-seven (27) months in office as President of this country? If this doe not amount to injustice at its zenith, then what else?
If Limann was called Avoke or Ackorlie, I bet he would have been accorded some kind of ‘social justice’ by Rawlings, no matter how corrupt he would have been.
Until Limann passed away peacefully on 23rd January, 1998, did he ever issue a single press statement regarding all the abuses that took place under Rawlings’ watch from 31st December, 1981 to 23rd January, 1998, including the murder of the three (3) High Court Judges and the retired Army Major? This was a former President who respected and conducted himself well. May the soul of Limann rest in perfect peace!
In addition to the above injustice meted out to former President Limann by Rawlings, Col. Kofi Abaka Jackson, one of the finest Officers of the Ghana Armed Forces, was beaten and tried by Rawlings’ kangaroo courts in 1979, for borrowing a military forklift to help lift a private car engine at home, and sentenced to sixty (60) years imprisonment. Yes, 60 years imprisonment just for borrowing a military forklift! And this same Rawlings has the effrontery to call for ‘social justice’ for some people whose appointment was illegal in the first instance, and who then went on to circumvent Act 663 for private gain! What kind of inconsistency is this?
It is most likely that, Rawlings don’t really understand the true meaning of ‘social justice’, because considering the injustices Rawlings dished out to some persons in the past, he should have been the last person on earth to call for ‘social justice’ for people who have been served proper and true justice in courts of competent jurisdiction, unlike what Rawlings’ kangaroo courts doled out to Col. Abaka Jackson and others.
If Rawlings is a man, let him dare embark on anything similar to the May 15 1979, June 4 1979, and December 31 1981 uprisings. I can assure Rawlings that, he would be among the casualties, Insha Allah!!
It is submitted that, no amount of futile Press Releases from unconstitutional offices, attempting to legitimize the illegitimate, would reinstate Prof. Avoke as VC of UEW!
A Court of competent jurisdiction has made a pronouncement on this matter, and a former President’s word, is NOT above any Court in this country!
The defective appointment of Prof. Avoke (appointed by a defunct Governing Council), is incurable!
This is so because, the decision of the Supreme Court in respect of section 14 of Act 845 in June, 2019, has no effect whatsoever on Prof. Avoke’s illegal appointment as VC of UEW!
The illegality surrounding Prof. Avoke’s appointment, was first raised by Afenyo-Markin on the floor of Parliament in 2016, where he subsequently filed an urgent question in the House in reference to it.
The then Minister of Education, Prof. Jane Naana Agyemang, appeared in Parliament on 23rd June, 2016, to respond to the urgent question and admitted that the tenure of the UEW Governing Council had long ended and said steps were being taken to reconstitute it.
The question is, why has little Afenyo-Markin suddenly moved away from the issue of the illegal appointment of Prof. Avoke, to claims of a bogus EOCO Report exonerating him?
Some people are easily swayed by money. What a disgrace!!
It is apparent that, these two amigos (Rawlings and Afenyo-Markin) are spewing out their canon of emotions, and NOT legal arguments.
Alhassan Salifu Bawah
(son of an upright peasant farmer)
