Petition for President Akufo-Addo’s impeachment

PETITION TO THE PARLIAMENT OF GHANA FOR THE COMMENCEMENT OF IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST H.E. NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA FOR BREACHING HIS OATH OF OFFICE

We, the undersigned citizens of Ghana, in due regard for our duties conferred on us by the Constitution, 1992, hereby submit this petition to invoke the authority of the Parliament of Ghana to commence impeachment proceedings against the President of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. We are minded by the provisions in Sub Clauses (a)(b) and (f) of Article 41 of the 1992 constitution which provides:

41. The exercise and enjoyment of rights and freedoms is inseparable from the performance of duties and obligations, and accordingly. it shall be the duty of every
citizen –

(a) to promote the prestige and good name of Ghana and respect the symbols of the nation;

(b) to uphold and defend this Constitution and the law; and

(f) to protect and preserve public property and expose and combat misuse and waste of public funds and property;

Owing to these duties and other responsibilities as concerned citizens, we deem it imperious to petition Parliament on the wake of consistent allegations leveled by one Ms. Evelyn Aidoo Alias Serwaa Broni, a Canada-based Ghanaian, against the President of Ghana, on several counts of human rights abuse, abuse of office, exposing the security of
Ghana to external threat, the use of the national security apparatus to perpetuate  criminal activities and dragging the name of the high office of President into disrepute, among others.

The President of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo-Addo swore an oath of Office on 7th January 2017 and on the 7th January, 2021. This oath of Office bestowed on the President, a moral obligation to ensure the name of the high office of the President is not brought into disrepute. Again, the first schedule of the oath of Office of President reads in part ” … and that l dedicate myself to the service and well-being of the people of the Republic of Ghana and to do right to all manner of persons”.

The above requires of the President of Ghana to ensure the well-being of every Ghanaian irrespective of the background, sex, political or religious persuasion. As per the consistent narrative of Ms. Evelyn Aidoo popularly known as Serwaa Broni, her well-being and fundamental rights as a citizen of Ghana by birth was trampled upon by agents/assigns of the President.

The second schedule of the oath of office of President reads “I further (solemnly swear) that should I at any time break this oath of office; 1 shall submit myself to the laws of the Republic of Ghana and suffer the penalty for it.” By the allegations of Ms. Evelyn Aidoo, a.k.a Serwaa Broni, we believe that her well-being and rights as a citizen of Ghana by birth were trampled upon by the President, and therefore in breach of the oath he swore not to break.

Ms. Evelyn Aidoo alleged in her narrative first, on her Facebook and other social media handles, the use of one Mr. Hopeson Adorye, the then Deputy National Security Coordinator in charge of the Airport, to stage an armed robbery attack on her. This was after the President was alleged to have sent the said Hopeson Adorye to meet and pick Ms. Evelyn from the airport and to arrange a hotel accommodation for her. These allegations were subsequently denied flatly by the said Mr. Hopeson Adorye amidst threats, on Kofi TV when interviewed by one Kofi Adormah (Follow link for full interview: https:ijfb.watch/cwOHGYRmoF/).

On 17th April, 2022, the Loud Silence Media, owned and operated by one Kevin Ekow Baidoo Taylor, a United States of America-based Ghanaian journalist conducted an interview with Ms. Evelyn in which she made available an audio purported to have been recorded at the instance and c;all of the then CID boss, Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah.

In the audio, a voice purported to be that of Hopeson Adorye was heard admitting that he had gone for the keys to the hotel room of Madam Serwaa Broni and indeed went into her hotel room (Follow link for full interview: https:ijfb.watch/cwOsMTLqXz/). This admission is in sharp contrast to the earlier denial by Mr Hopeson on Kofi TV. These conflicting reports on the issue of alleged armed robbery and threats point to the fact that the agents/assigns of the President, in this case, Hopeson Adorye and his national security operatives are close to the truth, especially that there are no contrary submissions from the President or his assigns.

Ms. Evelyn also alleged of a compensation package being arranged by the President through Mr. John Boadu, General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and others including Hon. Kennedy Agyepong, one Colonel Mike Opoku, the Ofori Atta’s to be handed to her. We dare ask, what was Ms. Evelyn being compensated for? If the allegations should go unrefuted, it implies that a wrong had been committed against Ms. Evelyn by the President and his assigns for which the compensation package was being arranged. In our estimation, an impeachment proceedings will reveal all these allegations as true or otherwise.

The 1992 Constitution of Ghana set out in Article 69 (1) the grounds on which the President can be removed from office. Article 69 and its adjoining clauses and paragraphs read:

69 (1). The President shall be removed from office if he is found, in accordance with the provisions of this article –

(a) to have acted in willful violation of the oath of allegiance and the presidential oath set out in the Second Schedule to, or in willful violation of any other provision of, this Constitution; or

b. to have conducted himself in a manner-

i. which brings or is likely to bring the high office of President into disrepute, ridicule or contempt; or

ii. prejudicial or inimical to the economy or the security of the State. It is our humble submission that the President has breached Sub Clause (a) of Article 69 because the alleged act of armed robbery staged by the assign(s) of the President, who was/were alleged to be acting on the orders of the President, was in breach of the oath to ensure safety and well-being of all the people of Ghana.

We further submit that the President breached Sub Clause (b)(i) of Article 69 since the outcome of his alleged conduct with Serwaa Broni at all times is a ridicule to the high office of the President in International proportion. We also submit that Sub Clause (b) (ii) of Article 69 of the Constitution was breached in larger proportions. This is because, the Presidential Jet which is operated by the Ghana Armed Forces is a security establishment of Ghana in which private citizens should not ordinarily have access to. Even if they (private citizens) were given any such opportunity to access, they must go through security clearance before.

In the narrative Serwaa Broni gave in that interview with Kevin Taylor on Loud Silence TV, she admitted that she did not go through any security clearance before boarding the flight from Accra to Kumasi on the President’s request and command. To add to that, she had all the privileges to take pictures with the President inside the Presidential Jet and shared same on her social media handles. This opened our Presidential Jet to the public and that can be dangerous for the security of the President and Ghanaians as a whole.

It is also our estimation that, the pictures shared by Serwaa Broni on Facebook subsequently, indicated that she shared the same room with the President at the Otumfour Guest House in Kumasi. These are all matters of national security because the security of the President is a national obligation on all citizens. So, if a private citizen, Serwaa Broni, a Ghanaian citizen by birth but who currently resides in Canada and possibly owes allegiance to that country, could have such unfettered access to use .her gadgets and to take pictures including alleged “nude pictures and vidoes” of the President, then the security of the state is breached and must be of concern to all citizens including the petitioners in this matter.

As per Article 83(1) of the Constitution, 1992, the President is Head and Chairman of the National Security Council. Also, Clause (l)(e) of Article 83 of the Const1tut1on, 1992 provides that the Inspector-General of Police and the Director of the CID are equally members of the National Security Council. Sub clause (e) provides as follows:

e. the Inspector-General of Police and two other members of the Police Service, one of whom shall be the Commissioner of Police responsible for Criminal lnvest1gat1ons Department;

In consonance with the composition of the National Security Council are their 4 cardinal functions. These are captured in Article 84 of the Constitution and its adjoining paragraphs thus:

84. (1) The functions of the National Security Council include-

a. considering and taking appropriate measures to safeguard the internal and external security of Ghana;

b. ensuring the collection of information relating to the security of Ghana and the integration of the domestic, foreign and security policies relating to it so as to enable the security services and other departments and agencies of the Government to co- operate more effectively in matters relating to national security;

c. assessing and appraising the objectives, commitments and risks of Ghana in relation to the actual and potential military power in the interest of national security; and

d. taking appropriate measures regarding the consideration of policies on matters of common interest to the departments and agencies of the Government concerned with national security.

Amongst the 4 above, there is no provision for the CID Director to conspire and connive with state agencies or their assigns/agents to conceal information, obstruct justice or defend an alleged wrongdoing by a national security operative, in this case, Mr Hopeson Adorye.

In the audio recording played on the Kevin Taylor and Serwaa Broni interview of 17th April, the then CID Director, Mrs. Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah was heard attempting to bury the issues (Follow Link for specific recording between 1:25:15 and 1:34:23: https://fb.watch/cwPg30pWa2/). According to Serwaa Broni, the docket to her case has since been buried without any follow-up investigations into the alleged armed robbery attacks on her by Hopeson Adorye and his national security operatives.

If the content of the tape is found to be true and without any contrary position by the parties recorded in that tape, for that matter gov_ernment operatives, then it will stand to reason that the CID Director who was by then a member of the national security had acted to obstruct justice and to truncate an investigation into an alleged wrongdoing by agents of the President.

Since her Facebook Live revelations in 2021 and the subsequent interview with Loud Silence Media on the 17th of April, 2022, the President and for that matter, the Presidency, the National Security apparatus and their agents and the Government of Ghana have all been tight-lipped, giving the room for the name of the Presidency to be brought into disrepute, ridicule and in contempt as against the provisions in the constitution of Ghana.

We, by this petition, call on the Parliament of Ghana, through your High Office of Speaker, to follow the example of the USA House of Representatives when the latter commenced an impeachment hearing against President Clinton on the 8th of September 1998, which ultimately resulted in the impeachment of Mr. Clinton on December 19th, 1998. Although the trial of Mr. Clinton at the Senate resulted in a 45-10 vote5 against the charge of perjury and 50-50 votes on the charge of obstruction of Justice, President Clinton admitted and apologized to the nation for his wrongdoing after he was discharged by the Justice Williams Rehnquist Supreme Court.

We hold that our petition is well grounded to invoke Article 69(1) of the Constitution 1992, and warrant an inquiry into the matter and a subsequent impeachment proceeding initiated by Parliament to give effect to the letter and spirit of the Constitution, 1992. Please, find attached some relevant supporting materials’ to this petition for your attention.

We respectfully submit for your attention and action, Mr. Speaker,

SOURCE: Coverghana.com.gh