A Referendum On The NPP Bawumia

…Selected speeches and Brief Profile of NPP Dr Mahamudu Bawumia- the two-times New Patriotic Party (NPP) Vice-Presidential Candidate and the Prophet Elisha in Contemporary UP Politricks

ABSTRACT

Historically; as it had always been, there are currently, two huge political eagles perching on two olive branches of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) political Baobab Tree or should I say, the United Party(UP): The Popular Front Party (PFP) and the United National Convention (UNC). According to Statesman Akenten Appiah Menka; the U.N.C. was essentially, a combination of the Progress Party “Walk Outs” from da Rocha’s law office and most of the Gbedemah’s N.A.L. Party members notably Okudjeto, Osei Nyame, Dr. Obed Asamoah, Dr. Agama and few outsiders including Peter Ala Adjetey, Prof Adu Boahen, Harry Sawyerr and unbelievably, General Afrifa. “The battle for the dirty mudslinging had begun between P.F.P. and U.N.C. The result was the second round Presidential election between Hilla Limann’s P.N.P and Victor Owusu’s P.F.P. As the U.N.C. came third with their political stalwarts of Paa Willie, N.Y.B. Adade, Prof. Adu Boahen, Afrifa, R.R. Amponsah,Yaw Manu, Ala Adjetey, Dr. Agama, Sam Okudjeto, Obed Asamoah and Harry Sawyerr, ignored their political roots of the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition and opted for the P.N.P. of the C.P.P. ancestry. This enabled Limann Win the Land slide victory over the PFP victor Owusu in Round Two. Thus the Danquah/Busia/Dombo houses divided against itself, fell in 1979 and the builder had to wait for over twenty years to put it back in 2001.”[1] Are these NPP’s [mis]fortunes before Bawumia- the first UP non-Akan leader?

INTRODUCTION

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia made a strong case and repute for himself when he mounted the witness box at the Supreme Court of Ghana in his party’s legal bid to unseat the president-elect John Dramani Mahama on allegation of the 2012 presidential election fraud and irregularities. He was nearly killed in a car accident at the time John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, was seeking the support of president-elect, in his bid to become WTO boss. What many are puzzling are: what if Kyerematen- a former Minister of Trade, Industry and Presidential Special Initiatives, had triumphed in his bid to become the next World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General, in which according to the Reuters News Agency, he was at the time in close-contest with candidates from Brazil – Roberto Azevedo, Taeho Bark of South Korea, Herminio Blanco from Mexico, Mari Pangestu of Indonesia and not least, Tim Groser of New Zealand?

COMMENTARY

On Friday, 31st of August 2014; Special Electoral College of the main opposition NPP will be confronted with a historical continuity or a reform. If our projections were to be true, the contest shall remain with the known faces of Nana Akufo-Addo and Alan Kyerematen. If Alan wins, then obviously, it might represent a generational leadership change that shall require some political ground-breaking and diplomatic patchwork aimed at healing wounds and fractures. A landslide success for Nana Addo, might herald not only a crucial political rematch over “disputed crown”, introspection and consciousness but also, NPP’s reoccurring succession disputes and political future of Bawumia.

Beaming like one of the unblemished contemporary political Elijahs in Ghana who seems to have even succeeded in pinning one of his once bitter critics- the former Member of Parliament for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa Constituency- Paul Collins Appiah-Ofori, on his political apron, I’m tempted to conclude that politically, Bawumia is well positioned. No wonder, he has become a political bargaining-chip in NPP’s leadership apolitriks. As to how Bawumia- an economist and banker, and perhaps, with fainted foot-prints on the ideological tracks of Grant-Danquah-Busia-Dombo traditions, travailed from the end-tail of UP electoral struggles to the forefront of NPP politicking, baffles many minds.

Born on 07 October 1963 to the Convention People’s Party (CPP) politician- Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia [Chairman of Council of State (1992-2000)] in Tamale, critics like PC Appiah-Ofori, had had doubts as to whether the former Deputy-Governor of the Central Bank of Ghana, was ideologically, fit enough to become a vice-president in an NPP-led government in the Republic. Bawumia is the 12th of his father’s 18 children and the second of his mother’s [Hajia Mariama ] five. With this big family, it is speculated that majority of them lean on the NDC rather than on NPP.

Yet Africa Watch, alleges in one of its articles that , Nana Akufo-Addo and his Akyem sympathizers, view Bawumia as someone who could succeed him after his tenure if he became President, and that the continuity would serve well to frustrate his main political rival- Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen?s dream of becoming President of Ghana any where soon [2]. More recently, the Daily Guide quoted Nana Akufo-Addo as saying: “By God’s willing if everything goes well for me, I’m very prepared to keep that team again for the 2016 elections.” Nana Akufo-Addo said this during an interview on Tamale-based Justice FM, after he was given a rousing welcome to the Northern regional capital [3]. But from Ghanaian mindset, many are of the opinion that it cannot be fathomed how soon after John Mahama, Nana Addo, if successful as president, could groom a “Northerner” as an NPP presidential candidate.

Although we are all born different and could accordingly, not be tied up to perpetuity, the ideologies or political leanings of our parents or relatives, others make a comparative reference to presidential competences of Dr Hilla Limann and John Mahama. I construe this as weak political misconceptions without linkage to Bawumia’s political future. Yet you might agree that the August Referendum is not to test the popularity of Nana Akufo-Addo within the rank and file of the NPP and to the larger extent, to evaluate his reasons for the 2012 presidential election petition but Bawumia- the unrivalled NPP “Star Witness”- who coined the term- “You and I were not there”, at the televised hearing at the Supreme Court of Ghana, that sprang him to political prominence within the teeming NPP presidential hopefuls?

By all political calculations, it could be predicted that this might be Nana Akufo-Addo’s final bid at the NPP flagbearership and the presidency, and if per adventure, he fails at the NPP primaries then that could be the end of Bawumia. So many are puzzled why Bawumia had failed to present himself like many others. As at the time of going to press, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, Stephen Asamoah Boateng, John Alan Kyerematen; Joe Ghartey- all of them, ministers of state under President Kufuor’s government, not forgetting Francis Addai-Nimoh- the MP for Mampong and MP for Asuogyaman- Kofi Osei Ameyaw have filed to lead NPP. But like Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia, who became Prime Minister after Okatakyie Akwasi Amankwa-Afrifa, of the National Liberation Council (NLC), Bawumia, who now walks under the shadows of Nana Akufo-Addo, is deemed as the NPP’s crown prince after Nana Addo.

As the Deputy Governor in charge of financial stability in Ghana, Bawumia- a product of Sakasaka Primary school and Tamale Secondary School is said to have successfully maintained oversight over the soundness of the Ghanaian banking sector. The New Statesmanonline report[4] that Bawumia, was instrumental in the opening up of the banking sector to competition, resulting in the increase in the availability of credit to the private sector from 12.5% of GDP in 2001 to 28.5% of GDP in 2008. “Dr Bawumia also led Bank of Ghana’s technical negotiation team with the World Bank and IMF that successfully ended Ghana’s dependence on IMF assistance, allowing Ghana to pursue more independent policies. Dr Bawumia was responsible for drafting the financial sector component of the Millennium Challenge Account Compact which resulted in $547 million worth of projects for Ghana.” [4]

After graduating from Tamale Secondary School, Bawumia went to the United Kingdom where he studied banking and obtained the Chartered Institute of Bankers Diploma (ACIB). He took a First Class Honours Degree in Economics at Buckingham University in 1987. He then obtained a Master’s Degree in Economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, and obtained a Ph.D. in Economics at the Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1995. His areas of specialization include Macroeconomics, International Economics, Development Economics and Monetary Policy. He is credited with numerous publications. He was also responsible for the strategy for accessing the international capital markets with a debut $750 million dollars, which was four times oversubscribed. [4]

From 1988 to 1990, Bawumia worked as a lecturer in Monetary Economics, and International Finance at the Emile Woolf College of Accountancy in London, UK. He also served as an economist at the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, USA. Between 1996 and 2000, and as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University, Texas, USA, where he also received the Young Researcher Award in 1998. Bawumia was listed in “Who is Who Among America’s Teachers’ in 1999. He returned to Ghana in 2000 to work as an economist at the Bank of Ghana and rose from Senior Economist to Head of Department, and subsequently as Special Assistant to the Governor of the Bank. According to unconfirmed reports President Kufuor, discovered young Dr Bawumia in one of his conferences where Bawumia spoke. He appointed him as a Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana in June 2006 at the prime age of 42.

But there seems to be contestations and doubts within the NPP family as to whether or not the continuous vice-presidential domination of the better-half of Samira Bawumia- a product GIMPA and BA Social Science in Law and Sociology at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), not forgetting Mfantsiman Secondary School, is attracting any floating-voters from his native Kpasenkpe, in the West Mamprusi District, Upper West Region and the northern regions perceived to be NDC strongholds. Although Akufo-Addo/Bawumia lost the 2012 presidential elections to incumbent John Mahama, NPP managed to hold on to ten (10) seats in the Northern Region which includes Yendi, Walewale, Yagaba– Kubore, Bunkpurugu, Bimbilla, Chereponi, Kpandai, Tatale– Sanguli, Tolon and Zabzugu, not forgetting Nabdam and Talensi Constituencies in the Upper East Region.

So; politically, Bawumia could also be a force to be reckoned with in NPP’s strategic thinking. In the words of New Statesman [4], Bawumia was part of the team that designed and implemented the successful redenomination of the cedi which has been hailed globally, and played a key role in the design and implementation of the e-zwich common platform for all banks, savings and loans companies and rural banks. “More recently, with the African Development Bank, he has played a leading role in helping Zimbabwe to re-engage with the international community. He is married to Samira and they have three children,” the report adds. Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, had been a presidential running mate to the NPP and for this matter Nana Akufo-Addo, since 2008. It appears that this might remain so in 2016.

With the current NPP’s Expanded National Delegates’ Congress pegged at some over 13,000 eligible voters, notwithstanding the overwhelming grassroots and official endorsement and the solidarity being accorded to the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia combined forces, political observers are prophesying a landslide victory for Nana Addo, on the 31st August Referendum, which is to be decided by some 800 kingmakers. If this comes to pass, it might raise a strong signal to the potential candidates to the 18th October Leadership Roll Call. In the 2010 primaries, Alan and Nana garnered some 90% of the total valid votes cast in a conservative proportion of 20 and 70. But Ben Ephson- the Managing Editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper and the seemingly Akyem-Asante political and ethnic enthusiast, projects that with the recent open declaration of support for Nana Addo which he describes as an unfair advantage over his competitors, Ben foresees Nana Addo leading disjointed NPP if he were to win the impending race.

This could be true if Nana Addo fails to break his 2010 standard record that he has set for himself. Yet a win by any of the aspirants might also project a similar outcome, reasoning that many supporters of Nana/Bawumia who perceive Nana Addo as the winner of the 2012 presidential election and for that matter a challenge to his comeback as a ploy to deny him the same, might also run away with their ball. With the mammoth support and endorsements not being heavily valued by his opponents, who could also penetrate into the mind of Akufo-Addo/Bawumia, on his next line of action if the perceptions out there were to confirm that some NPP National Executives are not ready for political power in 2016 but in 2020? It must be noted that the Ghana Congress Party founded in May 1952 and which forms part of NPP’s history, was bedevilled with a leadership struggle between Nii Amaah Ollennu and Dr. J.B. Danquah.[6]

The National Reconciliation Commission notes that, Ollennu eventually left politics and joined the bench and the struggle continued with Dr. K.A. Busia and Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey. “Eventually the party broke up into two when Obetsebi-Lamptey broke away and formed the Nationalist Party. This break greatly reduced the strength of the GCP. In the 1954 elections Dr Busia was the only one to win a seat on the ticket of the GCP. The Nationalist Party achieved little prominence as it never really attracted a following outside Accra.” I mention in passing that it was Chief Simon Diedong Dombo’s Northern Peoples’ Party (NPP) formed in 1954 that saved the face of the UP tradition with some 12 seats in the 1954 elections. The Dr Busia-led Ghana Congress Party, notwithstanding its support from the UGCC, which was disbanded after a poor performance in the 1951 elections, not forgetting the conservative chiefs and the teeming intelligentsia, contested the 1954 election, winning only one out of 104 seats. [6]

The analogy here is that the NPP had had not only a scary historical precedent on its electoral score sheet but also, succession resolutions- the most recent one being 2007 where a navigational compromise eluded the 17 captains on a floating political ship. For all those who are worried about some of the causes of the emergence of one-party state of the 1960s; NPP needs your counsel on its chronic succession ailments and more recently, the nearly bloodbath described by Ex-President Kufuor as “alien, untraditional and thuggery”, at its National Headquarters, in Accra. “I call for calm from all who feel aggrieved in one way or the other…while we accord the national executive the necessary freedom and space to operate. “We should all return to the true tenets of the party which encourage frank exchange of views and accommodation of one another in healthy debate free from intimidation or fear,” Kufuor, who states those responsible for the melee, cannot claim to be true members of the NPP, had said. [7]

But how long could NPP continue to disown its self-inflictions? A careful study of a statement issued by Nana Akufo-Addo, might help uncover the seemingly Kufuor-Akufo-Addo political diplomacy: “I want to appeal to all NPP supporters and officials to remain calm and focused, and desist from actions that might undermine the unity of the party and compromise our chances for success in 2016. We are all members of one family and we should find a way to deal with our issues in a satisfactory manner. “I urge all NPP members to promote the things that bring us together and eschew those that seek to divide us. We must, always, be guided and guarded constantly by an uncompromising sense of unity, fellowship and greater purpose.” Whereas Kufuor talks of “healthy debate free from intimidation or fear”, Akufo-Addo highlights on actions that undermine unity and compromise NPP’s 2016 chances. [8]

THESIS

In Economics, Bawumia states if you play propaganda with the economy, interest rate will expose you or “market forces shall rise up against you where the sampling baskets are missing?” Bawumia puzzled the Law Lords at the Supreme Court of Ghana on whether mathematically, a blank column on a pink-sheet or one with entry zero (0), could have the same meaning. He is indeed wealthy of honorary degree in jurisprudence- in relation to his definition for over-voting which prompted EC- Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan’s celebrated classical definition of the same. What then, could be predicted of the political future of Bawumia after Nana Addo? The answer might lie with NPP’s ancient history and modern practices.

Asante Fordjour authored this Compilation and Commentary

JusticeGhana

……

References

[1]Enoch Darfah Frimpong (16 August 2013), “Tribute to Justice N.Y.B.” Daily Graphic/Ghana, http://graphic.com.gh/features/features/10681-tribute-to-justice-n-y-b-adade.html#sthash.ROOfNjB9.dpuf

[2]Bawumia Trades Wife?s Secret For Position(12th May 2012), http://www.ghanasoccernet.com/bawumia-trades-wife%C2%92s-secret-for-position-23/

[3] Daily Guide(05 August 2014) “Akufo- Addo Settles For Bawumia”,http://www.dailyguideghana.com/akufo-addo-settles-for-bawumia/

[4] The New Statesmanoline, “Akufo-Addo 2012”, statesmanonline.com

[5] PeaceFM (01 August 2014) “Ben Ephson: I Foresee Nana Addo Leading A Disjointed NPP”, http://elections.peacefmonline.com/pages/politics/201408/209213.php

[6] The Ghana National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), Chapter 3.2.3.2

[7] “In NPP, we exchange ideas not blows – President Kufuor appeals for calm”, http://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/2014/August-20th/in-npp-we-exchange-ideas-not-blows-president-kufuor-appeals-for-calm.php

[8] “Don’t compromise our chances in 2016 – Akufo-Addo urges NPP members”, http://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/2014/August-20th/dont-compromise-our-chances-in-2016-akufo-addo-urges-npp-members.php

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Measuring John Evans Atta-Mills

...A Political and Legal Tribute to Professor John Evans Fiifi Atta-Mills

The OmanbaPa Research Group

As governmental institutions, agencies, embassies and consulates- both at home and abroad, swiftly-and-solemnly pull or lower down his presidential portraits off the walls of their offices with hesitations, disbelieve, fingers-pointing and his families feud over his final passage, stood those who still ponder over what Law Professor President J.E.A. Mills, known otherwise as Asomdweehen, would have wished to be remembered for when Parliament moved, to ordain John Dramani Mahama, as his next-of-kin. President Mahama describes Prof Mills’ passing, as a “Godly intervention and a leadership opportunity” for us- those born in post-colonial Gold-Coast Ghana.

“The Man Atta Mills”; as the Ghanaian Mirror captioned him on Saturday; 30th October 2004, at page 9, describes him as follows: “Principled & Honest; Dedicated & Hardworking; An Effective & Reliable Leader; A Ghanaian for All Ghanaians; and A Man of Achievement.” We at JusticeGhana would like to remember Prof Atta-Mills, a royal of Odowna family of Ekumfi Otuam, who has passed away aged 68, as a warm, passionate and unpredictable man with a fine sense of humour.

Mills strove to be focused even in the face of political boos and jeers, ovations and uncertainties. His inability to translate billions or trillions of Ghanaian local currency- the Cedis [ope-pe-pee-pee]; from English into Fante-Twi, which attracted cross-political laughter, excitements and ordered polity in a hitherto, a tensed up parliamentary sitting, might have been recorded in the Ghanaian Parliamentary Hansard. His measured composure to overcome the overflow of his adrenal glands during his presidential inauguration of 7th of January 2009 revealed the fragility and unreliability of the human faculties. But Mills’ seemingly political indifference or sarcasms in the face of glaring frustrations and anger- here: “Atta Mills is not a law enforcement officer…,” is worth preserving.

Yet “Great Men”- it is said; have controversial personalities- so uncertain that even long after their deaths or passing away; both historians and biographers will continue to be poled apart or divided over their true beliefs or what they really stood for while on this planet earth. And since history is said to be indeed written from class or ideological perspectives- their triumphs and tribulations or should we honestly say, obvious human failures or meekness, are either dramatized or traumatized.

John Fitzgerald [“Jack”] Kennedy (29 May 1917 to 22 November 1963)] - the 35th President of the United States, was for example, a great leader and a devout Catholic. So we might rightly remember him as a president who openly, abhorred abortion in his time. Yet the story of JFK’s relationship with Mimi Alford- the 19-year-old White House intern, which surfaced in the public domain after his death, cast crowd over his anti-abortion motivations and preoccupations, under his presidency.

Mimi Alford, who zipped her mouth and the amorous relationship with one of America’s Greatest Presidents secret until it was eventually exposed in 2003, has this to say to the world: “Since the fourth day of my internship in the White House press office, when the president had tipped me on to his wife’s bed and taken my virginity, our relationship had been sexual, intimate and passionate.... I knew my role and played it well. It was to be young, full of energy and willing to play along with whatever he wanted. So we’d joke about members of the press office staff and who was saying what about whom in the press corps.” Mimi was flown in for secret sex dates with the President JFK.

I dare not remember the humiliating congressional debate to impeach President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinski affair. What might be of importance or newsworthy is how President J.F. Kennedy, who used pseudonym “Michael Carter” in his relationship with Mimi- could have been so dishonest to himself and the Oath of the American Presidency. Listen to what Mimi had said about this impersonation to the Daily Mail UK: “His survival instincts must have told him that no young woman would ever suspect that a man named Michael Carter on a dormitory phone could possibly be the President of the United States.” But what are the correlations to a tribute to Prof JEA Mills?

I attempt not to frustrate the glowing tributes being showered on the immediate-past president- John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills, both from home and abroad. This includes the honouring tribute skifully sketched in outline by Prof Ahwoi. That would be academically, a farce enterprise. What I do, though, seek to document is that yes, the subject greatness or honesty in leadership- is scintillating and of elementary importance to multi-party democracy. But do higher positions such as presidency, not come with loads of challenging temptations? The year 2012 brought to Ghana mixed-feelings. Citifmonline.com, reports in April that “Just when almost all Ghanaians have come to accept that Ghana’s first President- Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, has four children, a fifth child [Dr. Onsy Anwar Nathan Kwame Nkrumah] also surfaced and claims he is a true son of the Osagyefo.”

At the heart of this family re-unification of the hitherto unknown child of one of the Africa’s “all-time greatest leaders”- Dr Kwame Nkrumah, comes the sudden passing of yet another Great Man- President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills, on 24 July 2012, after a short illness. This comes at the heels of his triumphal return home from the United States, on routine medical check-up. On his arrival at the Kotoka International Airport, on 26 June 2012, President J.E.A. Mills voluntarily and humbly, subjected himself to rigorous “quick-march” or doubled-steps”. The seemingly political venture appeared to some observers as a deal to prove his detractors wrong about his alleged failing health.

Many are those who were tempted to suggest that judging from Mills’ age and the huge political crowd that welcomed him at the airport with some supporters and well wishers rolling on the undulating grounds, wailing and cheering, Professor Evans Fiifi Atta Mills, might probably remain not only as the first-ever president to have honestly submitted himself to immigration control but also, as the first Ghanaian civilian leader to have wished to run a marathon race in a political suit and shoes. The political popularity of Professor Mills- off University of Ghana’s campus, began when Vice-President Ekow Nkesah Arkaah of the National Convention Party (NCP)- which formed an alliance with the National Democratic Congress (NDC), broke tracks with President Jerry John Rawlings. In an ongoing anniversary in memory of the late president, Professor Kwamena Ahwoi, laid an unquestionable claim to how the astute law professor hesitantly, entered Ghanaian politics.

But it would be recalled that in the 1992 Elections, Flight-Lieutenant J. J. Rawlings- the then Chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) and the nominated flag-bearer for newly-formed pro PNDC- the National Democratic Congress (NDC), chose the NCP leader as his running-mate for Vice-President. Following their successful elections bid, Arkaah- also a Fante, as Professor Atta-Mills, became the vice-president for our republic, and served between 1993 to1996.

The alleged uncomfortable marriage and its associated scuffles and separation; received its decree absolute, on 29 January 1996, where the NCP merged with the People's Convention Party (PCP) to form reincarnated Convention People's Party (CPP) which the former Vice-President Arkaah became its presidential candidate in 1996. This contentious and indeed bitter political divorce, notwithstanding family disapprovals and contestations; marked the heroic remarry of the then incumbent President Rawlings, who found deafening favour and love for Professor Mills. The Law Professor, who was obscurely, working with the Inland Revenue Services, became vice-president of Ghana between 1996 and 2000 and with some attempts, eventually emerged as president in 2009.

Atta-Mills was brought to world on 21 July 1944, at Tarkwa, in the Western Region of Ghana. But so far, and here, from all the tributes, including that of his family, dedicated to the passing of the great law professor and president- little is known or had been documented about the family tree or the life of little Fiifi John Evans- growing up as a ?first born son of Mr Atta Mills- a Gold Coast teacher and his wife- Mrs Mercy Dorson-Mills (née Esi Amoanuwah), who according to a family member who spoke to JusticeGhana, was a petty trader. Mills’ academic foundation is rooted in Achimota School, where he obtained his GCE A-Level Certificate in 1963. He proceeded to University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, where he is said to have received "Black Man of the month" several times and eventually graduated in 1967. John Evans Atta Mills was admitted to LLM Master of Laws degree at the London School of Economics in 1968, and thereafter, progressed to the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, where he obtained his Ph.D. in Law and Taxation in 1971. Prof John Evans Atta Mills is a Stanford Law School Fulbright Scholar (1971).

Following the successful completion of his academic pursuits, John Evans Atta took up the challenges in teaching and for over two decades, lectured law at the University of Ghana, from 1971-1991. He was tax commissioner from 1986 to 1996). Besides teaching, Mills loved sports, and his enthusiasm for hockey and football have been well-exhibited at Achimota School, Accra Hearts of Oak and Ghana’s Hockey Galleries. The National Hockey Pitch has been named after him. He is credited with several books on economics and law on taxation which can be traced in most academic books, journals and might have written short memos on politics, marriage and family, too.

Some of his published works and editions included Ghana's New Investment Code: An Appraisal (1993) and Exemption of Dividends from Income taxation: A critical Appraisal (1977). Atta Mills is a known face in Ghana Tax Review Commissioners, Chartered Accountants, Bankers as well as Insurance Brokers. On Tuesday, 23 July 2013, a tribute was given by Professor Kwamena Ahwoi in relation to Professor Mills’ relentless and but constructive contributions to the Ghanaian Tax law, encompassing scholarly criticisms through publications, on judicial and political decisions that fell under the scope of his scholarship. The Value Added Tax (VAT), Reforms/reintroduction or clarification of Capital Gains Tax and the introduction of Commercial Courts are some of the measured and monumental achievements cited by Professor Ahwoi in his tribute to Professor Mills.

But besides these lie Professor Mills’ unpredictability, disappointments and glaring weaknesses. On the national economy, to some, if Mills-led NDC achieved anything it was mainly because of the oil boom which unlike his predecessors, he inherited- and which emboldened his desire to pay any amount of judgement debt even where there seemed to be a contested legal base for it. This together with his drive to borrow without regards to the ability of the future generations to pay, undermined his “Principled & Honest; Dedicated & Hardworking; An Effective & Reliable Leader; A Ghanaian for All Ghanaians; and A Man of Achievement” brand that he yes, politically, coined for himself.

His bid to introduce social democracy without regard for true cost to some of his brutal capitalist-minded, in the areas of appointments, create-loot-and-share and his failure to throw the stone, fatawa or overturn the defiled church tables, on insulting appointees, brought his father-for-all and honest crusade to many contestations. Neither himself, admirers and critics, could hide the fact that much of it was rotting away under his political stewardship. Thus, his father-for-all could not counter the chaos, the grim fiasco of the grandiose ideological empty shelves and fierce stampedes- in which foot-soldiers and babies with sharp teeth trampled to death- for both basic and ostentatious goods when they did arrive on kenkey market. Honesty and truth remain a mystery to his passing.

On international relations, critics cite Pan-Africanist Mills’ double-stand on Ivorian Crisis and the planned military action should diplomatic persuasions on Gbagbo failed, which he was a consented party but shrouded it later in the infamous dzi wofie as3m (mind your own domestic problem), as one of his foibles. But Prof Mills might be understood. Mr Sampson Yeboah- a primary school mate who shared the same desk with Prof had told GNA in his tribute: “Mills Was Never Punished In School”. Mills’ students and working colleagues describe him as a peaceful, humble, helpful and modest God-fearing person, highly unlikely to offend. So we say, he was great but just a human.

JusticeGhana

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Brief Profile: Philip Addison

Addison Philip is a Ghanaian, born in Accra , Ghana in June, 1956. He is a graduate of the University of Ghana (LL.B Hons 1982) and the Ghana School of Law (Qualifying Certificate in Professional Law 1984).  He was admitted to practice in Ghana as Barrister-at-Law and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana in 1984, and Notary Public in 1996.

He is also a graduate of the prestigious Academy of American and International Law at the South-Western Legal Foundation on the campus of the University of Texas at Dallas , Texas , United States of America (1991) and the Wisconsin Institute for International Legal Programs at the University of Wisconsin Law School, Madison , Wisconsin , United States of America (1994).

{sidebar id=11 align=right}Mr. Addison Philip is a Solicitor, Barrister-at-Law and Senior Partner of the Law Firm of Afro-Solicitor , one of the leading Commercial Law Firms in Accra , Ghana , West-Africa. He is a member of the International Bar Association, International Law Association, World Jurists Association, World Intellectual Property Law Forum, Commonwealth Lawyers Association, American Society of International Law, Conference on Consumer Finance Law of United States of America, America Chamber of Commerce (Ghana) and the Ghana Bar Association. He is an Associate Member of the African Venture Capital Association, the American Bar Association and the American Intellectual Property Law Association where he serves on the prestigious Emerging Technologies/Internet Committee of the latter Association.

In recognition of and appreciation for his contributions to the scholarly activities and publications of the Center For International Legal Studies, Austria , Mr. Addison Philip was recently elected a Member of the Congress of Fellows and Legal Scholars of the Centre for International Legal Studies, Austria . In further recognition of his outstanding achievements in the field of information and communication technologies law, Mr. Addison Philip was recently appointed a member of the International Legal Team for Intel Corporation.

Mr. Addison Philip is a contributing author to a number of international publications, including Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments (published by Maxwell Publications, England 1993); Structural Changes In the Banking Industry in West Africa (published by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Accra, 1994), Trade Marks, Trade Names and Unfair Competition: World Law and Practice (published by FT Law & Tax, England 1996); International Regulation of Banking and Banks and The Control of Money Laundering ( published by Carlton Laws of the World Limited, England 1999) Doing Business in 2005: Obstacles to Growth (published in September 2004 by the World Bank); author of Short Notes on the Legal System, Economy and Recent Financial Laws in Ghana (Consumer Finance Law of United States of America, Quarterly Report, Vol.48 No. 1 of 1994); Survey of International Sea Carriage Regimes in Ghana (published by Centre for Maritime Policy now available on the Internet located at the Uniserve Law International Commercial Law site); An Overview of the Copyright Laws of Ghana (published in the 1996 Edition of the International Intellectual Property Law Yearbook by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 1996) and Ship Registration in Ghana (published in the February 2004 Edition of the Maritime Advocate).

Mr. Addison Philip is currently contributing a chapter on The Ghana Stock Exchange & The Foreign Investor ( for publication in the International Financial Law Review 1000 as part of IFLR 1000 Clients' Guide to Corporate Finance Legislation) and The Law and Practice of Foreign Direct Investment in Ghana (for publication in the Foreign Investment Law Journal of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes).

He has been a featured speaker before various groups on banking and corporate law organised by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Accra , Ghana . Mr. Addison Philip is a member of the Board of Governors of the Ghana Branch of the American Chamber of Commerce.

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Position : Consultant

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Telephone: +233 (030) 2779718 /775282

Source: GOOGLE/ Lawyer Biographies

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Frederick William Kwasi Akuffo

The OmanbaPa Research Group

As part of our efforts to travel back to the memory lane, we shall randomly, be focusing on some of the past times of Ghanaian statesmen and women.…

JusticeGhana Military Personality today is General F.W.K. Akufo

General Frederick William Kwasi Akuffo was one of the Ghanaian military heads of state to be executed alongside with other senior military officers of the Supreme Military Council ((SMC I/II )) on 26 June 1979 at the Teshie Military Range. This was a quest of the members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council ((AFRC) to cleanse Ghana of corruption.

Born on 21 March 1937 at Akuapem Akropong, in the Eastern Region of Ghana, the former Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces and later army commander led a palace coup on 5 July 1978 to overthrow General I.K. Acheampongs’s SMCI regime which he was a member. His attempt to return Ghana to constitutional rule was thwarted on 4 June 1979 when the then Captain Boakyen Gyan led an uprising with the junior ranks and installed Flight-Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings as Chairman of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.

Young Akufo completed his secondary education at the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School in 1955 at Odumase krobo and later enlisted in the Ghana Army and trained at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, UK. He also attended the National Defence College in India in 1973. He became Army Commander in April 1974 and Chief of Defence Staff in April 1976.

Before entering Ghanaian politics, Fred served as Commanding Officer of the Airborne Training School at Tamale and later the 6th Battalion of Infantry of the Ghana army between 1969 and 1970. General F.W.K. Akuffo is remembered as an outstanding airborne officer.

F.W. Akufo rose to become the 2nd Brigade Commander and is said to have been one of the SMC top-brass who supervised the change over of traffic flow in Ghana from driving on the left to driving on the right as part of ‘Operation Keep Right’ that was effected on 4 August 1974. This change over, according to research, was successful and largely accident free.

Politically, critics argue that Akufo’s palace coup of 5 July 1978 to overthrow the then Head of State, Acheampong and their eventual collective doom, should have been avoided.

Credit JusticeGhana.com

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