Former Convention People’s Party (CPP) Presidential candidate and leading Tamale lawyer, Alhaji Ibrahim Mahama, has added his voice to the call for proper investigations into the rot of the Kufuor-led NPP regime.
Alhaji Mahama said all the ‘evil things’ that the NPP government did must be unearthed. He said one of them is to ensure that justice is done to the late Ya Na and Issa Molbila so that others will take their lessons forms that.
The renowned Tamale lawyer reminded Ghanaians that former president Kufuor had packed the courts with his cronies. Speaking during a courtesy call on him by Former president Jerry John Rawlings in Tamale last Saturday, Alhaji Ibrahim Mahama said “… when Kufuor and his rascals took over the governing of this country, I had to take leave of my people and run away to Burkina Faso where I spent four years in self-imposed exile.”
He said had the NDC not come to power, he would still have been languishing in Burkina Faso or some other neighbouring country, adding, “… having peace alone is not enough. We need justice first. And I am happy that you (referring to Rawlings) are here preaching the whole them you have been preaching since you came into the political life of this country.”
The leading CPP figure said he was shocked when arrangements were made to try those who allegedly murdered Issa Mobila. He said he was equally surprised when the trial of the alleged murderers of the Ya Na Andani Yakubu II was based on the report of the Wuaku Commission.
“We went back in the case of the Ya Na to pick only the people from the Ya Na’s palace who gave evidence to the Wuaku Commission … Wuaku did all he could to bury the evidence.
The security agencies were plenty in Yendi. The BNI was visibly present in Yendi. The police CID were visibly present in Yendi; the prison warders were there. They have not called one single CID man or one single BNI man who saw what happened,” Alhaji Mahama said.
Following the brutal torture and murder of Issa Mobila, Alhaji Mahama escaped an attempt to pick him too up at dawn on December 11, 2004. When the armed men in military uniform failed to locate him after ransacking his Tamale residence, they vented their anger on his security man, beating him up mercilessly.
Lamenting the death of Issa Mobila, Alhaji Mahama, who was the last person to interact with the deceased before he voluntarily handed himself to the police and got murdered, said “…. As Your Excellency has rightly pointed out, how can two corporals, nonentities, who have nothing to do with guardroom, who are instructed to be there, be brought forward for this heinous crime committed against a civilian in military barracks and murdered in cold blood? I think that those behind it ought to be brought to book. So I am hundred percent with you for your sympathy with us.”
Alhaji Mahama said it is his duty to do all he can to ensure that the NDC government stays in power as long as he is alive and called on former President Rawlings to endeavour to counsel President Mills, however difficult the process is.“Do all you can with Atta Mills, sit with him, talk to him, day and night.
“They say that we are washing our dirty linen in public. If people go wrong, go to them. Even if they are throwing you out, force yourself on them and let them understand that this country belongs to all of us.“I have no doubt all in my mind that if the NPP gets power tomorrow I will not be in this country, you will not be in this country unless we are prepared to die. But if we can spare ourselves the life and still do better things for this country I think you and I and all others who share this view and aspiration will do all they can.
“And I pray that you will be able to convince our brother the President. If you are a tortoise, the society will go and leave you. People want action. You have brought the action and they should adopt the action form you. “With our conviction with our advocacy, with our determinations I believe that before the end of our four years, we should be able to bring sanity to the government of this country.
“So let us appreciate that we are looking to protect our lives.
We are looking to save this country, we are looking to make Ghana greater than we even came to meet it and history will decide.
“Whether people like it or not action has been taken, the history had been written, nobody can take away that history from this country. Rawlings has brought peace and justice to this country and we will keep the light burning. You have my prayer; you have my support, count on me night and day,” Alhaji Mahama said.
Earlier, former president Rawlings commended Alhaji Mahama for his strength of character and promised not to stop seeking justice for the late Issa Mobila, Ya Na Yakubu Andani II and all those who lost their lives under suspicious circumstances during the past NPP regime.
Former president Rawlings said the NPP was removed due to the cumulative effect of the unresolved murders and it was imperative proper investigations were conducted by the NDC government.
Source: Daily Post-Ghana
