It all begun from its roots, its origin. Rawlings who had killed military personnel in 1979, for overthrowing constitutional governments in 1966 and 1972, swearing on oath, to all Ghanaians, that never again should this be tolerated, came back in two and a half years, to overthrow a constitutional government.
He lied to Ghanaians and so committed perjury. Yet no one took Rawlings to court for perjury.
Fast forward to 1996 and Rawlings was going for re-election with a new running mate. He was the quiet, humble looking professor of law, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills. As a running mate he was to file his papers and at the Column: Number Of Children, he ticked NIL.
It was then that the ever truthful and vibrant, Ghanaian Chronicle, the Voice of the Nation, remembered that one fine day, a certain Ruby Addo, who was student of the renown Professor, had delivered a bouncing baby boy for John Evans Atta Mills.
According to the Chronicle, due to both the fear and respect the lawman had for his legally married wife, he performed the outdooring and naming ceremony of the boy-child in a friend’s house. But fast-forward to 1996, how can the Professor forget he had a son? This was perjury.
But guess what, it was the era of an NDC regime and the NDC clearly displayed to Ghanaians that in its books and with its lawyers of good legal standing, perjury cannot be found. So, John Evans Atta Mills sailed through to become the second vice president of the republic, even after committing perjury and NDC will not sue him.
In December 2008, the NPP parliamentary candidate for Bawku Central, won the seat with 55.44% of the total votes cast.On July 31, 2009, he was charged with nine counts of perjury, forgery of passport, election fraud, false declaration of office and deceit of public officer before the High Court, after an NDC cattle dealer from Bawku, Sumaila Bielbiel, challenged his status as MP for Bawku Central in a civil suit.
On Friday July 27, 2012, the late MP for Bawku Central, Adamu Dramani Sakande, was sentenced to two years in prison by a High Court after being found guilty of false declaration of office, perjury and deceiving a public officer.
It then became obvious that at long last the NDC had come to realise that there was a crime called perjury.
Adamu Sakande had gone to file his papers, stating that he was not a dual or multiple-citizen, when he was. FULL STOP, HERE!
In 2012 and 2016, a certain Canadian-Ghanaian, attempted twice to be on the ticket of the NDC as parliamentary candidate of Assin North, but twice the Central Regional Executives of the NDC rejected him.
Still, holding dual-citizenship he made a third attempt in 2020. The region dismissed him again, but the National Head Office of the NDC, endorsed him to present himself as parliamentary candidate which he did. This gentleman, James Gyekye Quayson, filed to contest the seat, stating, as Adamu Sakande did, that he was not a dual or multiple-citizen, when he knew he was. FULL STOP, HERE!
Will his perjury case be heard, if the NDC had won the 2020 Elections? Ghanaians will doubt. If Woyome could be literally set free of criminal charges, by the NDC government, after stealing money belonging to Ghanaians then nothing could go past it.
James Gyakye Quayson was thrown out of Parliament but was illegible to contest this time, since he had renounced his Canadian citizenship, notwithstanding the perjury case against him in court. He contested and won and he is back in court to explain why punitive measures should not be taken against him for the perjury he committed in October 2020.
Today the NDC is fully behind Mr Quayson in court and doing its best to convince Ghanaians that the MP had committed no offence.
The NDC party which was screaming all about the that it was unconstitutional to deny two constituencies, Guan and Assin North, off MPs, who need to be in Parliament to do business for the constituents, is today denying one-hundred and thirty-seven constituencies of their MPs, since all NDC MPs have boycotted Parliament to be in solidarity with Gyakye Quayson who is facing criminal charges in court.
And what is all this noise about the NDC challenging the proposed daily court proceedings, as if it will serve injustice? Twice in 2013 and 2021, Ghana witnessed daily proceedings in court on election petitions. If during those times, justice was served, why could it be different in this case?
Today the NDC is telling Ghanaians that perjury is not a crime and yet, it is in the 1992 Constitution drafted by a majority PNDC appointees who formed the Consultative Assembly.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Opposition, Ato Forson who is also in court for criminal charges, and he too, is also fully backed by the NDC who has decided that it is wrong to punish someone for economic crimes. It is not surprising, since Woyome was let loose after stealing our tens of millions of dollars.
The NDC does not see perjury when it is committed by its members. It wants to live by the law but at the same time, it wants the rest of Ghanaians to die by the same law.
Hon Daniel Dugan
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance.
