Barton-Odro deserves the sack, not re-election (Part II)
On our front page today, is a report on a statement issued by Mr. Martin Amidu, former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in Prof. John Evans Atta Mills’ regime, who was sacked by the ex-President for standing up to the rot in the administration of the National Democratic Congress Mark II.
One of the major exposés by Mr. Amidu is what he called “gargantuan collaborative judgment debts.” For evidence, Mr. Amidu directs the reader to his letter D45/SF. 173/10, dated January 6, 2012, with the title: “Why the Government of Ghana must be unequivocally resolute to set aside the collaborative or collusive default judgment entered in favour of Alfred Agbesi Woyome.” He addressed the letter to the Secretary to the President and Chief of Staff.
In earlier statements, Mr. Amidu made references to top officials at the Attorney-General’s Office who were more interested in aiding Mr. Woyome to collect more illegal monies from the state, than helping the state to recover the huge money illegally handed over to him.
In all this, there has been no evidence that Mr. Ebo Barton-Odro, as Deputy Attorney-General, ever tried to aid the state recover the loot. Instead, what many Ghanaians recall was the infamous pronouncement by the Member of Parliament for Cape Coast: “The state has no case!”
The Chronicle is unambiguous in our understanding of that pronouncement to mean that any attempt to recover the loot would be a waste of time and resources. We are not lawyers, but we put it to Mr. Ebo Barton-Odro that his pronouncement was to ward off all questions about the propriety, or otherwise, of the Attorney General aiding Woyome to collect that huge amount from the state without any document.
Nearly two years after the Attorney-General’s Department had virtually parceled GH¢51 million of state money to Alfred Agbesi Woyome, and worked towards other huge payments to Construction Pioneers and other institutions, leading to huge loses to the state, Mr. Ebo Barton-Odro, who has been enjoying a fat salary as the second in command to the Government Chief Lawyer is now telling Ghanaians that he was not involved in meetings to discuss the payments.
If Mr. Barton-Odro was not involved in such major decision-making processes at the Attorney-General’s Department, what has he done in the nearly four years that he has been paid as the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, aiding the Attorney-General to offer legal services to the state?
In any case, if he was not involved in decision-making and could not be held accountable for the looting of state coffers, on what basis did he arrive at the conclusion that the state had no case in respect of the Woyome loot?
By his own utterances, Mr. Barton-Odro has failed to make a case for his relevance at the Attorney-General’s Department.
His demeanor does not support a case for effective representation of the people of Cape Coast. The former national capital is a historic land, populated by a people proud of their heritage. ‘Oguaa Akoto’ is a clarion call for people who could stand up and be counted.
The old maxim of thirty people who fought a thousand and scattered them is a story of bravery. Cowards cannot, and should not, be made to represent Cape Coast. That is why Mr. Ebo Barton-Odro should be rejected at the polls.
From Jacob Wilson Sey, alias Kwabonyi, through John Mensah Sarbah, through sons and daughters of the modern era, the good people of Cape Coast have stood to be counted. There cannot be room for cowards to be sent to Accra as the people’s representatives in the august House. Ebo Barton-Odro does not fit the bill of bravery symbolised by ‘Oguaa Akoto’!
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