One of the conveners of the now-popular youth movement called Fix The Country will today, file a petition with the Ghanaian Parliament, the Attorney General and the Police CID to investigate and criminally prosecute the President, his Vice, the Chief Justice and other government officials who blatantly breached the legislated COVID-19 restrictions at Sir John’s funeral.
In what he described as “Executive Covid-19 lawbreakers”, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, one of the Fix The Country spokespersons wrote to express the “consternation, disgust and legitimate concern” by millions of Ghanaians over the recent reckless breach of restrictions on mass gathering when the President and his entourage converged with about 1000 mourners and party loyalists to mark the funeral rites of Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, alias “Sir John”, the former General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“The crime, which was broadcasted with impunity by the perpetrators of the crime, was organized and attended by several thousand people, many of whom are well-known public figures, and others have been captured by several hours of footage in the public domain. Several of these people appeared at the venue of the funeral, wearing funeral attire, suggesting that they were privy to the fact that the crime was afoot; agreed to participate in the commission of the crime; and did, in fact, participate in it, despite and in contravention of the restrictive measures adopted under the Imposition of Restrictions Act,” wrote Barker-Vormawor in the petition.
“Some of the notable persons who reportedly conspired to and acted in concert to commit the crime were: Mr. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (The President of Ghana) and his entourage; all of whom the President is capable of identifying when interrogated.”
According to the petitioner, these prominent people were invited to a “criminal gathering” and they accepted the invitation in the knowledge of the criminal nature of the gathering.
Some notable names captured in the criminal gathering include Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice President of Ghana; Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, the Chief Justice; Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Member of the Parliamentary Service Board; Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, Minister for Trade; Kwasi Mensah Duku, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander and Augustus Andrews Nana Kwasi, the NDC Ashanti Regional Chairman.
All of these people came with a huge entourage with little regard to the law restricting mass gatherings that could spread COVID-19.
The unprecedented petition is calling for a criminal investigation of President Akufo Addo and his entourage because “Our laws do not exempt anybody or person from criminal liability for offences committed against the Republic. In fact, our entire democracy is premised on the idea that no single individual is above the law or perpetually immune from criminal liability for offences committed against the Republic.”
Mr. Barker- Vormawor used a Supreme Court’s pronouncement to insist that President Akufo Addo was liable for criminal investigation.
The said referenced Supreme Court declaration reads: “Although the President is the first citizen, he is not above the law.”
According to him, “the medieval fiction that the “King can do no wrong”, which the sophist interpreted to mean that if the action was wrong then it was not of the King, has no place in a republican setting.” Baker-Vormawor,
“We recognise that an executive President being the most powerful person in the state is the one who has the greatest capacity for wrong-doing. We do not need a petition of right or a notional defendant like the Attorney-General before we can exercise our democratic right of calling an erring President to order under article 2 of the Constitution, 1992 which only commands him to obey any order or direction this court may give, but also makes his failure to obey any order or direction a ground for his removal from office.”
It appears that the petition is motivated by the fact that Baker-Vormawor and his group have been incessantly prevented by the Ghana Police Service from mounting a street protest against corruption and crumbling socio-economic conditions caused by a rotten political status-quo.
The Police had caused injunctions to be slapped on the youth group with the excuse that their street protests would be illegally breaching the COVID-19 restrictions which were legislated under the signature of President Akufo Addo.
Source: whatsupnews
