THE National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the President, Mr John Agyekum Kufuor, to remove the Chairman of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), Justice K.E. Amua-Sakyi, from office if he is not willing to resign voluntarily.
According to the party, this will salvage what is left of the commission’s credibility.
The call, which was contained in a petition addressed to the President and signed by the General Secretary of the party, Dr Nii Josiah-Aryeh, is copied to the Chairman of the NRC, members of the NRC, Accra, Chairman of the Council of State, the Majority and Minority leaders in Parliament, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and the media.
The petition said from the antecedents, postures and hostile attitude by the commission’s chairman, among other things, towards witnesses who speak in favour of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) he has clearly portrayed himself as somebody who has an agenda other than national reconciliation.
The NDC referred to the whisper made by Mr Amua-Sakyi to Maulvi Wahab Adam in which he remarked that Mr David Walenkaki, a former Commissioner of Police and witness before the commission, had made a fool of himself, and said this was unbecoming of the chairman of a commission of this stature.
“His whisper has gone to confirm fears that he should never have been appointed to chair the NRC and that having been so appointed, he should not have accepted the position, being a person with so many axes to grind against the PNDC and NDC governments, two of the governments clearly targeted,” it stressed.
It noted that despite frantic efforts by the commission’s Executive Secretary, Dr K.A. Attafuah, to defend or rationalise the chairman’s “gaffe” on radio stations and in the print media , and the chairman’s own formal statement to explain away his remarks to one of the members of the commission, it is obvious that the commission’s position has been seriously compromised by the chairman’s remarks.
The petition said “they are seen as pre-emptive and very prejudicial and would undoubtedly impact on the credibility of the final report of the commission if steps are not taken to remove Mr Justice Amua-Sakyi as its chairman”.
It alleged that Mr Amua-Sakyi is bitter against the PNDC government because his father was convicted and sentenced by a public tribunal, adding that “he is aggrieved with the NDC government that his father’s property was confiscated, property that he tried unsuccessfully to have restored to him as a substitute appellant”.
The petition also alleged that the chairman of the commission bears a grudge against the NDC government for nearly being disgraced through investigation by a constitutional committee and thereby being compelled to retire prematurely from the Judicial Service, adding that he is also embittered at the NDC government for the interdiction of his wife from office at the Ghana Education Service (GES).
It is against this background, according to the petition, that Justice Amua-Sakyi should be appearing before the commission as a perceived victim and not presiding over its proceedings as chairman.
“He cannot be sincere,” the petition noted, stressing that “he cannot be genuine, he cannot be neutral, he is clearly biased.”
The petition further indicated that though some members of the NRC may be sincere in their bid to seek national reconciliation, “we doubt that the framework within which they are working will allow them to be.”
It said while some may be genuine, some may be neutral or strive to be neutral; Mr Justice Amua-Sakyi is neither genuine nor neutral in this respect.
The petition also noted that Mr Justice Amua-Sakyi has surprised observers by his discretionary application of time-honoured rules of evidence and in particular, rules of hearsay.
“When Naval Captain (rtd) Baafuor Assassie-Gyimah wanted to question a witness, Corporal Stanley Otchere, about a statement he had made after the February 27, 1983 coup attempt against the PNDC government, which was contradictory to his evidence before the commission, the NRC chairman ruled that once the statement was not in evidence, he would not allow the witness to be cross-examined on it,” the NDC said.
According to the petition, the NRC Chairman allowed what it described as the “most blatant of hearsay” evidence given by Mr Kweku Baako in a testimony that sought to incriminate ex-President Rawlings, including one to the effect that the driver of Major Boakye-Djan (rtd) had come to tell him (Kweku Baako) that he (the driver) had seen one Lance Corporal Sarkodie-Addo shot in the presence of ex-President Rawlings.
The petition said “it is clear that part of the audience that has been attending the proceedings at the NRC has been ‘rented’ to jeer at witnesses who appear in defence of the AFRC/PNDC eras and to cheer witnesses who appear to castigate those eras”.
It said this was very much in evidence when Kwekau Baako appeared before the commission, adding that it took Bishop Charles Palmer Buckle. a priest, and not Justice Amua-Sakyi, a former Supreme Court Judge, to call the audience to order.