The
heartlessness NPP flag-bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo exhibited at the age of 23 when while
high on drugs, he left a 41-year old Mails Supervisor, Mr. Woeledzi, of the then
P&T Corporation totally and permanently maimed till death is being enacted
before Ghanaians’ eyes in a real-life drama once again.
On the
second day of last month, the NPP flag-bearer’s 4-wheel drive ran over the tender
foot of an eleven year old girl at Ashaley Botwe, near Madina in Accra leaving
the child in excruciating pain with a fractured left foot. (the picture of the girl
and had
fractured leg is on the front-page of
today’s edition of the Daily Post)
Did the
driver stop for the child to be attended to? No! Did the NPP flag-bearer order
his driver to stop for the child to be attended to? Never! The vehicle,
according to eye witnesses, sped away, reminding one of how the vehicle sped
away in Theo Mazuka’s poem “The Motoka”
“But
I tell you that motoka can run
It sails like a
lyato, speeds like a swallow
And doesn’t know
anyone stupid on its way”
Weeks of investigations by this paper reveals that after
Akufo-Addo and his driver sped away, eye witnesses rushed the child home from
where her father, a petty trader, rushed her to a nearby hospital.
At the hospital, the father spent GH ¢95.00(the very first
day). Subsequent days saw the petty trader spending more money to save his
daughter’s foot. Some executives of the NPP at Ashalley Botwe, after being
berated by people who got wind of the matter went to see the child’s father and
gave him a paltry GH¢100 to take care of her.
Later, the NPP parliamentary candidate for the Adenta
Constituency, Frances Asiam, is said to have sent word to the girl’s father that
she will be coming to visit to see what can be done to save the girl’s foot but
over a month on, she has not set foot in the girl’s house.
Had pressed for cash, the child’s worried father phoned Hon.
Dominic Nitiwul, MP for Bimbilla (who once rented a room in his house) and narrated
the incident to him. Nitiwul promised to get help for the child but till date,
no help has come.
According to sources, some friends of the girl’s father,
unhappy about the behaviour of Nana Akufo-Addo in speeding away, as well as
with Frances and the executive members of the NPP in the constituency went to
Akufo-Addo’s house to report the matter to his wife.
Rebecca Akufo Addo is said to have expressed anger at the way
the child had been abandoned to her fate and promised to brief her husband. One
would have thought she would, in the interim, provide some cash for the child’s
foot to be saved but after expressing concern about the child, saw the visitors
off with nothing.
Sources close to the child and her father say the two have
struggled, as a result, shuffling between hospital and home for almost a month
to save the fractured foot.
The eleven year old, who attends school in Madina and whose
identity the Daily Post is with-holding because she is a minor is said to
have endured the pains stoically and has resumed school though she limps
heavily.
This atitude of Nana Akufo Addo of not taking responsibility
for his recklessness especially when it involves the lives of others dates back
to late 60s.
In a case that is reported in the Ghana Law Reports asWOELEDZI VRS AKUFO-ADDO(
1982-83) part 1 –GLR
421, on 14th January, 1967, Akufo-Addo,
then 23 years, negligently drove his mother’s uninsured car into the car of one
Mr. Woledzi, a 41 year old Mails Supervisor of the then P&T Corporation.
Mr. Woledzi was
in coma for three weeks as a result after which he was hospitalized for six months.
In September
1967, Mr. Woledzi sued Akufo Addo. The case was first heard by Justice Anterkyi
but after taking two witnesses, the Judge decided not to continue with
proceedings. After several adjournments,
the case was finally heard by Justice Charles Crabbe who in 1969 dismissed Mr.
Woledzi’s claim.
At the time, Lt. Gen. J. A. Ankrah was the Chairman of the National
Liberation Council (NLC) and Head of State (February 24, 1966 – April 3, 1969)
The
plaintiff (Mr. Woledzi) entered an appeal but mysteriously, the entire record
book containing the record of proceedings of the case was missing. The Court of
Appeals therefore ruled that the case should be re-tried.
The Chief
Justice then, whose responsibility included appointing all judges who sat on
cases at the time, was Edward Akufo-Addo (1966-1970), Nana Akufo-Addo’s father.
Edward was to become the ceremonial President in August 1970.
In 1980 (13
long years after the incident), the case came for re-trial before Mrs. Justice
Cecilia Koranteng-Addow of blessed memory (she was one of the three judges abducted
and callously murdered in 1982 in the early days of the revolution).
This is how
Mrs. Justice Koranteng-Addow described the state of Mr. Woledzi at the time of
the trial;
“….the plaintiff is a different
person from what he was before the accident. His appearance is terrible; his
mouth is twisted to one side and it droops. This was caused by the loss of
sensitivity on the right side of the face. His eyes are so pronounced with a
squint and he walks gingerly without co-ordinating his limbs. He moves as if he
is going to trip at any moment. He still continues to take treatment for the
after effect…….”
Mr. Woeledzi, maimed permanently by Akufo-Addo’s
recklessness never got compensated because the man who is now the NPP
flag-bearer had influence in the society and was able to manipulate his way out
of court instead of taking responsibility for his action. His victim later died
a broken and bitter man still crying for Justice from a man who ironically was
to become Minister of Justice years on.
As if one life is not enough, now, the NPP flag-bearer
is toying with another life again; the energetic life of an eleven year old
girl, by refusing to attend to her after running his car over her tender feet.
The NPP is spending millions if not billions of Ghana cedis campaigning to win
the elections in December. Just a few hundred Ghana cedis, and showing the
little girl affection and love, will save her foot. But Akufo-Addo does not
care. Neither does his wife, Frances, Nitiwul or the executives of the NPP in
the Adenta Constituency. This is the typical NPP politician for you. For them,
power is more important than life.
The way Akufo-Addo and his driver sped away reminds after
running their vehicle over the foot of the poor eleven year old reminds one
of the poem “Motoka” by Theo Luzuka. We
produce it below for our readers reading delight;
The Motoka
You
see that Benz sitting at the rich’s end?
Ha! That motoka is motoka
It belongs to the Minister for Fairness
Who yesterday was loaded with a doctorate
At Makarere with whisky and I don’t know what
Plus I hear the literate thighs of an undergraduate.
You
see those market women gaping their mouths?
The glory of its inside has robbed them of words,
I tell you the feather seats the gold steering
The tv the radio station the gear!
He can converse with all the world’s presidents
While driving in the back seat with his darly
Between his legs with the driver not seeing a thing!
ha! ha! ha!
Look
at the driver chasing the children away
They want to see the pistol in the door pocket
Or
the button that lets out bullets
from the machine
Through the eyes of the car
shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Let’s not talk about it.
But
I tell you that motoka can run
It sails like a lyato, speeds like a swallow
And doesn’t know anyone stupid on its way
The other day I heard -
But look at its behind, that mother of twins!
A-ah! That motoka is motoka
You just wait, I’ll tell you more
But let me first sell my tomatoes.