Opinions of Monday, 15 July 2013

Columnist: Boamah, Ebenezer

Ken Korankye and the Supreme Court.

(The Guiltless Pay for Their Sins, but The Guilty Goes for Free).

The guiltless pay for their sins while the guilty goes for free. Notwithstanding, all culminating in the common good of mother Ghana. The praise and honor is due the Most High, our Father, who so graciously works all things for our good. This is pertaining to the arraignment of the three infamous brothers before the Supreme Court of Ghana to answer to some possible contemptuous statements. I must be quick to indulge your patience, for you should be in a bit state of confusion. How could those who are said not to be guilty, ‘the guiltless’, ‘pay for their sins’ (not supposed to have sinned), yet the one who has supposedly sinned, ’the guilty’ goes for free in the light of his iniquity? Sounds illogical, right? Well, folks, that is what actually resulted (final effect), beyond the face of it, at the end of the day, at the Supreme Court, when the three persons were tried.

Ladies and gentlemen, at this stage, I take leave to introduce myself, and to set my mission thereof. Once again I come as an angel of Heaven to crisply analyze the just ended case of Mr. Ken Korankye; and the other two persons; and most importantly draw out effects on the fortunes of the beloved nation, the seat of the Throne of our Heavenly Father. True wisdom, without dispute emanate from God, He who is the maker of the universe. I set my message naturally then by James 4:17 ‘So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it for him it is sin.’ ESV. The Lord God has one mother rule which is the rule of Love, Mark 12:28, ‘And coming up one of the scribes heard them reasoning, knowing that He had answered them well, he asked Him, Which is [the] first commandment of all? 29 And Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel, [the] Lord our God is one Lord; 30 and you shall love [the] Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This [is] the first commandment. 31 And [the] second [is] like this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.’ MKJV1962. Jesus in fact intimated further that all good conduct or law dwell on the aforementioned. Haven said that, God knows that not all good and bad conducts could be stipulated; and that not all conducts are black or white (good or bad) inherently; and therefore has sets the golden Rule of Good Faith in James 14:17, which is well amplified throughout the Word beyond any doubt.

We must know and remember always also, that God, Yahweh is the God of MOTIVES (intent), and thus does not judge by mere acts or actions. This is why it is written at, 1Sa 16:7 ‘But Jehovah said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for Jehovah seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looketh on the heart’. Mat 5:8 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’ It is by this same wisdom that I am set to judge the matter before us. I must make clear that I sit on this case cognizant of possible contempt invite from the Mother Court, however my sword is ready to thrust where ever it must, even as the gavel of the Supreme Court (by the justice of God) will hit where it must; for an angel of God has the only fear to FAITHFULLY execute the bidden of his Father, who has the exclusive power to punish both the body and the soul.

The Prelude It is a fact that in the face of the public chorus in praising the court to have stamped its constitutional authority to restoring sanctity and sanity into the public discourse concerning the matter before it, and the nation at large, there are many others also, who are silently or openly at variance with the court’s decisions, especially as against Mr. Ken Korankye. This is because truly, there is a legitimate interesting dichotomy as per the case of Mr. Korankye. I, myself, even as an angel (upon my own volition, not that of the Lord) could make compelling arguments in favor or against both the stands of Mr. Korankye and that of the Court. However, true judgment does not necessarily hinge on objectivity, even though to be objective is such a sought-after tenet which very elusive to many. To be objective is to have a goal or task (an objective) to fulfill. This means that based on some premise, which is the sole prerogative of yours as the judge, you then use all the favorable ammunitions available in support of your set objective, while abandoning wittingly or otherwise the ones that go against your position. Therefore to be a good judge demands more than objectivity (that suffices for an advocate, say a lawyer). In this wise, to be a good judge in whatever respect, before God, who is the only infallible true arbiter, is to be first assailed with LOVE, which in turn would balance you on the scale of true MOTIVE (good intent). Remember also that the motive must be borne of the facts or substance of the case. And when you are set with true motive, since even the Devil himself profess to love the Light (the Truth), or attest to its goodness ( 2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light. ASV), then you are good to faithfully deliver your judgment to effect that compelling true Motive (for there could be many other good intents, but the one which best does justice on the occasion).

The Verdict of the Supreme Court Now what then motivated the court as per its judgments on the trio? Was the court malicious in penalizing Korankye, and Atubiga, and letting go Boahen? Did the facts or perceived facts on the ground supportive of the set motive as said by the court? The court wanted to sanitize the reportage and public discourse on the petition (true motive)., but not to gag free speech or flamboyantly display their constitutional authority. I believe they sentenced the two for the good of the nation. There were people who had set out systematically to publicly intimidate or unduly influence the court. There were others also who were conducting pseudo case with the public to cause disaffection for the court in case of unfavorable verdict. There were others too whose utterances were a direct contemptuous disregard to the very constitutional authority and mandate of the court, falsely propagating that the Court has no power to deliver a verdict as per the pleadings of the petitioners. It was in this vein that the court after caution upon caution needed to act, and acted thereof. Therefore the Supreme Court acted in Good Faith; thus their conduct passed the rules of James 4:17 which is a subset of Mark 12:29-30. The court thus balanced on the true Motive delivered true judgments in season.

Something Noteworthy As to the procedure by which the court conducted the trials, it is immaterial since the complainant is also the judge; and that the court has authority to set the mode of trial. There are others who believed that the court has taken a rigid posture – that all arraigned persons must beg for mercy. This assertion is set aside by the instance of the case of Mr. Kwaku Boahen, who was let go without begging. However one thing is very noteworthy that it is about time our laws and judicial establishment took into greater consideration than the status quo, the Motive of the culprit. Some jurisdiction like the Republic of South Africa has a good appreciation of Motive haven gone through the painful past of Apartheid. This is why their prison services are aptly called The Correctional Services. It is the same reason why Oscar Pretorius, the Blades Man, is walking on unconditional bail since he has argued to have mistaken his girlfriend for a burglar in shooting her to death. Had it been in Ghana, he would have served a long indefinite jail term in the name of Remand before he was even convicted.

Mr. Ken Korankye Stands Notwithstanding the flowing sympathy for Mr. Korankye, there are many others who continue to castigate him for his write-up, while many more fault him for putting up a bold defense (stubborn, disrespectful et tal, they say) before the Court. It is a worrying trend of the Ghanaian society to disown and castigate those who have already fallen under the wrath of some authority. The Ghanaian society is very hypocritical in this vein (the case Ken Agyapong, nothing was said about his outburst until National Security and the Attorney General pounced on him). I bet you, had the court acquitted Mr. Korankye after putting up the same defense and bravery that he so courageously and admirably offered, the same lips that are busy singing his woes would have praised him into a deity. This man, though convicted, has done so much for the nation, including the justices, for standing fast by his conviction in the face of an unknown jail terms. He was very much aware of the danger he faced. He was aware of his dependants who would suffer should he be put away. He had the chance to go the soft way by hypocritically pleading profusely just for him to walk, and yet because he couldn't fathom the wrong that almost everybody else seemed to have understood him to have committed after his trial, he did the sincere thing even unto prison.

We must also remember that Sammy Awuku never abandoned the thrust of his submission, but rather succumbed to an untoward choice of words. In that vein Ken believed that the diction is immaterial if the description of the substance is aptly justified by it. If it is the choice of words that we are disputing, then as I always say, it is about time that we redefine what insult is, and recalibrate our sentiment as a society, because God calls spade ‘spade’. However, if it is about some bad Motive that a certain word imputed to the Court, then the Court is right in punishing a believed inapt attribution. Notwithstanding, Ken would have been wrong before God to have insincerely retracted that which he sincerely believed was true to the said action of the Court. We must praise the court, and so also praising Mr. Korankye is in order, as both parties stood by their convictions. Had he not stood to his grounds, many are those who would have cowered into silence even when they had something constructive to say, even so many a fine journalists and people are kept mum for fear of committing some contemptuous act. We must remember that already because of the subservient way of our upbringing, breeding timidity, and the Culture of Silence suffered, we are plagued by undue abuses by public officers like the police, and other people in authority who abuse the fear and respect people accord them. Let us also be careful to uproot the false believe that the elderly or the one in authority is always in the right.

Therefore those who hypocritically come under cover as sympathizers to castigate and ridicule Mr. Korankye are not acting in good faith, and thus must cease. Mr. Korankye is as right as the Supreme Court, because he acted in good faith. A warning must also be sounded to those who want to abuse the sentences of the courts that they could be cited for contempt, because the inappropriate execution of the court’s rulings also defeats justice. I call on the courts to take note of such; and respond accordingly by constantly monitoring the prison services, and prison conditions thereof. This would also help them in measuring their rulings. For it seems that many a judges do not appreciate the true magnitude of their rulings evens petty akoko/bankye thief could be slapped with ten year jail term.

Mr. Stephen Atubiga Mr Atubiga was one of those who were making some damning inflammatory statements that had the potential to upset the peace of the nation. However, like the Paul of Tarsus, upon the invitation by the court, made a complete turnaround haven realized the folly of his utterances. With uttermost remorse, the angel of war that he was has since become an angel of peace to the same of the Devil and likeminded people. He had earned the pardon of the court and that of the people, but for a strong message to the bad guys, he was made to legally atone for his sin to safe guide the peace of the nation, and the authority of the court. He was bold enough to admit his guilt and did not make some cowardly hypocritical excuses for the inexcusable pronouncements. He sincerely admitted that what he said was wrong, that has since contributed immensely to the peace of the nation by way silencing those people who were treading the same path. He, like Mr Korankye, and the Supreme Court has passed the rule of Good Faith to the glory of God, and the peace of Ghana. He must be careful to walk in the light that he has seen, and not turn back. His crusade as a peace ambassador would be rewarded by God if he persists.

Mr Kwaku Boahen This is the only man who walked out of the court unscathed. He was the guiltless among the guilty, the saint among the villains. Was he really? This man made his defense vehemently that he had made no such statements on the said date; and that he had not visited any radio station. Truly both the paper that cited him and the court confirmed him so, however, he had gone further to say that he had never ever made even such culpable statements on the petition. However both the paper and court said otherwise. In fact there are plenty of verbal attestations against his denial. Not only was he lying to the court, but vehemently prayed the court to bring the people who exposed him to book. It seems that this man was emboldened to make such a categorical denial because the radio station where he uttered those statements had assured him not to make the recording available. This is the guilty one who walked free. The fact that he faulted before the court’s final warning does not exonerate him for faulting the law. Further more, he tried to fool the Mother Court with his lie, and attempted to incite same against the news paper which had exposed his iniquity. Such are the dangerous and corrupt ones detriment to the peace and progress of our nation. He made those bad utterances, but sensing danger that that which he said was attracting punishment then tried to cover up. The court could have convicted him on the count of perjury; however, it had a definite noble aim, but not just to jail people. Mr. Boahen should repent or he would not forever escape justice. He must endeavor to pass the divine rule of Good Faith for he failed.

Conclusion The Supreme Court; Mr Korankye; and Mr Atubiga, all have acted for the good of the nation, they have passed the rule of Good Faith. In fighting for the good of our beloved nation even to the glory of God, we must remember that "An action done in good faith must bear no shame, even if punishable". We must therefore continue to labor for the good of the motherland even at the peril of our lives. I salute all Martyrs, remembering the trio justices; may the only Holy God bless their souls. Now to Him who has the power to bless and to punish, to Him be all praise and honor. God bless Ghana.

Ebenezer Boamah (ebenbo@yahoo.com) (The Spirit is not void of the flesh)