Part One, By Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.
It is
fitting and proper that Ghanaians want to know about the character
and the integrity of any individual who offers himself for public
office. Truth telling is fundamental in establishing trust. Massaging
the details of one's past and telling lies by omission or commission
erodes such a trust. It is for this reason that the issue of whether
or not the NPP Presidential candidate, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo's
silence over his stint at Oxford University raises many an eye brow.
I am writing this piece to call on Nana Akufo-Addo to come clean with
Ghanaians and do the right thing by spilling the beans in order to
urgently restore his own credibility.
I just read an
interesting article by a conscientious
Ghanaian who is also non-partisan, which brings into a sharp focus as
to why Akufo-Addo has remained dead silence on his stint at Oxford
University in the 1962/63 academic year. If Nana Akufo-Addo was
betting on his ability to cover up such a juicy story in this
information age, he better think again, and plan an appropriate
damage control. An authoritative feature article by Mr. Kofi Ata,
published 11 November 2012, has the title: “Why has Nana Akufo Addo
omitted Oxford University from his Profile?”
“I can confirm on
authority that, I submitted Freedom of Information Request (FOI) to
Oxford University in January 2012 asking the university to confirm if
Mr William Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo also known as Nana Akufo Addo was a
student at the university. The university in a reply dated 27 January
2012 (Ref. FOI/2012/Jan), stated as follows: 'We have searched our
records and the only published information that falls within the
scope of your request is that Mr William Addo Dankwa AKUFO-ADDO was a
member of the University (and of New College) during the 1962/63
academic year'.” [Why has Nana Akufo Addo omitted Oxford University
from his Profile? - ModernGhana.com
http://www.modernghana.com/news/429126/1/why-has-nana-akufo-addo-omitted-oxford-university-.html]
Even though it has been
an open secret that Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo did set his feet at
Oxford as a student, the NPP has been adamant that Nana never went to
Oxford. Mr. Ata checked with Oxford to find out the truth when Kabila
categorically denied that Akufo-Addo had ever set foot at Oxford:
“He revealed that
Nana Akufo-Addo was never a student at Oxford University as it is
being alleged.
'For a fact Nana Addo
never went to Oxford; he never got admission or applied to go to
Oxford. It is his father who went to Oxford'. Kabila as Bomfe is
popularly called, said that the NPP flag-bearer has refused to
comment on the issue because he (Nana) is treating it with the
contempt it deserves.” [Where is Nana Addo’s Oxford University
record? Felix Kwakye quizzes | Ghanamma.com
http://www.ghanamma.com/2011/12/where-is-nana-addos-oxford-university-record-felix-kwakye-quizzes/]
By the
time of the IEA debate, Mr. Kofi Ata had been fully informed by the
that,
yes, indeed, Akufo-Addo was enrolled at Oxford University “and of
New College) during the 1962/63 academic year”. It must have come
as a big surprise and quite curious that Akufo-Addo virtually
mentioned all the schools he attended, including Primary school, but
omitted his enrolment at Oxford University. Now, why would he want to
hide that? Is he ashamed of the University? What is wrong with being
at Oxford for a almost one academic year?
Akufo-Addo
has carefully doctored all his records to toe a certain line. They
all exclude mentioning his days in Oxford. Even Wikipedia stands
unchallenged! I urge Mr. Ata to help in up-dating the information on
wikipedia as they are based on facts. So far this is what we have
there:
“Early life and education: ...Akufo-Addo received his primary
education at the Government Boys School and later at the Rowe Road
School (now Kinbu) both in Accra Central. He went on to England
to study for his O
Level and A
Level examinations. Akufo-Addo returned to Ghana in 1962 to teach
at the Accra
Academy before going to the University
of Ghana in 1964 to read economics.
After graduating as an economist, he went on to read Law
in the UK and was called to the English
Bar (Middle
Temple) in July 1971 and then the Ghana Bar in 1975.” [Nana
Akufo-Addo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nana_Akufo-Addo]
The reason for this
large-scale attempt at a cover-up is not far-fetched. Exactly a year
ago, on Friday, 9th December 2011, in “Where is Nana
Addo’s Oxford University record? Felix Kwakye quizzes” we read:
“A member of the
communication team of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC),
Felix Kwaye Ofosu has questioned the motive behind Nana Akufo-Addo’s
exclusion of his academic credential at Oxford University from his
curriculum vitae.
According to him, the opposition New Patriotic
Party (NPP) flag-bearer’s refusal to make public his academic
performance in Oxford University gives credence to rumours that he
(Nana) was sacked from the institution for smoking marijuana.”
The story of
wee-smoking has been collaborated in several unrelated sources. The
most famous of them all was from an old friend who in trying to
defend him from more serious charges of cocaine abuse, admitted the
lesser crime of marijuana smoking. This is what the Wikileaks
say:
"¶3...When questioned about persistent rumors of Akufo-Addo's own cocaine habit, Pratt admitted that he had personal knowledge of the candidate's drug use, but that it was not cocaine. "Nana used to smoke a lot of marijuana," Pratt said, "and I'm telling you, a lot. Even in the morning, there used to be a cloud around him and you could see that he was high. But I never saw him do cocaine, and I think that is just an assumption people made."
"¶3...When questioned about persistent rumors of Akufo-Addo's own cocaine habit, Pratt admitted that he had personal knowledge of the candidate's drug use, but that it was not cocaine. "Nana used to smoke a lot of marijuana," Pratt said, "and I'm telling you, a lot. Even in the morning, there used to be a cloud around him and you could see that he was high. But I never saw him do cocaine, and I think that is just an assumption people made."
In another development,
Dr. Kwesi Aning, another very respected security analyst who is head
of Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Centre,
and an NPP sympathiser, was quoted to have
admitted that Akufo-Addo had used drugs in his younger days, but that
was now "under control." He
added cryptically that "you can check with German intelligence
on that." Apparently, the only people unaware of this habit is
the average Ghanaian voter. This is why we need Akufo-Addo to confirm
that, indeed he was sacked from Oxford University, after being caught
smoking wee, so that we will know what to do on the 6th
of December, 2012. One thing is sure: his continued silence on this
issue is no longer helpful, and he risks automatic rejection with the
contempt that an arrogant, unrepentant and lying wee-smoker deserves!
Forward Ever! Backwards Never! Long live Ghana!
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.
Give
me a follow on twitter: twitter.com/TheOdikro
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