By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

My good friends, if you have been wondering why Akufo-Addo wants Justice Kpegah’s suit against him to be struck out, you need to go beyond the technicalities behind which he is framing his defence. The truth is that Akufo claims he has lost his law certificates.
If Akufo-Addo didn’t say that he had lost his certificates, why did Bart-Plange (Acting Administrative Secretary of the General Legal Council who signed the NOTE for him to confirm his enrollment into the Ghana Bar on Tuesday, October 16, 2007) say in paragraph 2 of that NOTE that “I have been informed of the loss of MR. WILLIAM ADDO-DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO’S Qualifying and Enrolment certificates. This note, therefore, serves to confirm his enrolment”?
And that was as far back as 2007.If Akufo-Addo hadn’t informed E. Bart-Plange about the loss of his certificates, how would he have known on his own to say so in the NOTE that he signed? And why did Bart-Plange go ahead to confirm Akufo-Addo’s enrolment without any confirmation from official records? And should it have been a mere NOTE to be given to Akufo-Addo or a duplicate certificate as is usual in all cases?
Akufo-Addo’s fear, then, is that if the case is heard, he will be found wanting because the documentary evidence to authenticate his claim of having attended a law-training institution and being called to the English Bar (Middle Temple) in July 1971 and the Ghana Bar cannot be provided. It is an undeniable fact, a terrifying moment of truth awaiting him.
That is why the denial by Frank Davis of the Enquirer newspaper’s publication on the matter is disgusting. Speaking to XYZ News, Davis said the publication lacks merit and must be disregarded. “We didn’t say his papers were missing…we never said so, we have never said anywhere that Nana Addo’s certificate is missing…the story put up is false,” he added.
I say with all certainty that Frank Davies is dead wrong. He is lying through his teeth and I will expose him big time. I have all the documents that Akufo-Addo submitted as supporting affidavits in his motion asking the court to strike out Justice Kpegah's suit. These documents clearly expose the lies that Frank Davies is telling. How daring can some of these people not be? The fact that they gave only what would favour them to journalists to publish shouldn’t deceive them that no one could go behind them to see reality.
I have done that and can say with all confidence that the documents that Akufo-Addo produced in support of his motion for the suit to be struck out are not certificates but NOTES. The supporting documents that he attached to the motion filed on April 5, 2013, by his lawyer (Frank Davies) are three:
(a) NOTE signed by the Acting Administrative Secretary of the General Legal Council, dated October 16, 2007
(b) NOTE signed by the Under Treasurer for the Middle Temple, dated 2007
(c) Handwritten NOTE with information on the various legal brains (Gold Coast) and Chief Justices of Ghana.
I will patiently walk you through these areas for you to know what is at stake. Then, I will do a critical analysis of these NOTES and their implications.
In the meantime, two of the supporting affidavits are the one signed by Bart-Plange Brew (which is right in front of me as I write) and the second one from the so-called Middle Temple, signed by the Under Treasurer. The funny part is that both documents are not authenticated as CERTIFICATES but as NOTES.
The information regarding the NOTE signed by E. Bart Plange Brew as published by the Enquirer newspaper is correct. I have it right in front of me. It has only two paragraphs, and I quote it in full:
“MR. WILLIAM ADDO-DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO
1. I certify that MR. WILLIAM ADDO-DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO was enrolled and called to the Ghana Bar at a meeting of the General Legal Council held at the Supreme Court, Supreme Court Building on Tuesday, 8th July, 1975.
2. I have been informed of the loss of MR. WILLIAM ADDO-DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO"SA Qualifying and Enrolment certificates. This note, therefore, serves to confirm his enrolment.
Dated at Accra this 16th day of October, 2007.
E. Bart-Plange Brew (Acting Administrative Secretary) signed the NOTE on behalf of the Secretary, General Legal Council.”
Let me tell you pointblank what is in the NOTE signed by the Under Treasurer at the so-called Middle Temple. I will quote this document word-for-word for your reading pleasure and analysis.
"The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple
These are to certify that
William Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo BA of Ghana University and of 162 Ambassadorial Enclave, East Legon, P.O. Box 207, Accra, Ghana, was specially admitted of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple on the thirteenth day of January One Thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine and called to the Degree of the Utter Bar on the twenty second day of July one thousand nine hundred and seventy one and published in the common Dining Hall of the said Society on the same day And that he hath paid all Duties which were owing by him to the Society and the Officers thereunto belonging.
"In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and the seal of the said Society this twenty second day of October in the fifty sixth year of the Reign of Our Gracious Sovereign Lady, Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain Northern Ireland and of her other Realms, Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, and in the Year of our Lord Two thousand and seven."
My friends, the name of the signatory is not stated in this NOTE, but there is an initial that is in it that looks like P.J. The rest of the marks on the signature part are not clear.
Folks, read carefully the contents of the NOTE quoted above for yourselves and see even if you can't notice serious grammatical errors all over. I doubt if this document is authentic. Otherwise, why should it be signed by an UNDER TREASURER and not the official head of the institution giving recognition to those called to the bar?
In addition, there is also a third handwritten document, provided by Akufo-Addo (also right in front of me as I write now), which lists many names of former legal heavyweights on the Ghanaian bench and dates. It is indecipherable in most cases, but one can see names and “Gold Coast” written in the top part against some names while the bottom part has the names of all the Chief Justices of Ghana, from Samuel Azu Crabbe to Isaac Abban and Georgina Wood, and dates given for each.
My brothers and sisters, there is a lot to question about why Akufo-Addo doesn't want Justice Kpegah's suit to be heard.
When did he lose his certificates? Did he report that to the authorities that issued them to him so he could be given replacements? Why were the two documents signed in 2007 (when he was the Foreign Affairs Minister under Kufuor)?
There are many more questions. If he, indeed, lost those certificates, why didn't the institutions (the Middle Temple and the general Legal Council) replace them for him? Is his name on their roll to be so served as a qualified applicant for duplicate certificates?
Why be given NOTES and not duplicate certificates to confirm his status? Why did Bart-Plange sign the NOTE for him to confirm his enrolment without even knowing anything beyond being told by Akufo-Addo that he had lost his certificates?
The questions are too troubling. We will continue to probe this matter until we get to the bottom of it.
The only thing that can stop the probing at the official level is if an NPP judge is chosen by the Chief Justice to dismiss Justice Kpegah's suit. Even then, we will not stop probing it. What the legal technicalities cannot do, our determination to put aside those technicalities to reveal what the technicalities prevent will do.
Meantime, as we revealed when the suit was filed, the General Legal Council had met to attempt resolving the matter in favour of Akufo-Addo but couldn’t because of opposition from some of its members. The General Legal Council didn’t come out to refute our report.
Now, there is speculation that Bart-Plange was induced to provide that NOTE to Akufo-Addo. Nothing but a full-scale investigation will establish the truth or otherwise. If the General Legal Council wants to be respected, it must initiate its own internal investigation before external forces step in.
This matter is assuming very intriguing dimensions for what it is and must not be swept under the rug. We will continue to look into it till we reach the bottom. Those benighted Akufo-Addo followers who are using insults and useless intimidation to attempt preventing our further prying into the matter had better inform themselves of what we already know and learn not to provoke us further.
The more they insult us, they more they energize us to go the extra mile and we are more than ready to do so. Our next move is already well-cut-out for us.
I shall return…
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