Saed Sinare
There was drama at the Kaneshie Magistrate Court, Accra, yesterday when a National Vice-Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Saed Sinare, was put in the dock over allegations relating to the supply of some weapons.
However, the police who took him to court made a U-turn and told the court the suspect should be discharged.
Sinare was charged alongside his accuser, Tahiru Ahmed, who is the Chairman of the NDC in Ayawaso North Constituency in Accra.
Tahiru Ahmed had lodged a complaint against Sinare that the NDC guru distributed weapons to some youth to cause mayhem.
Sinare even admitted ownership of one of the weapons but denied the other which the police kept as exhibit.
Formal Charges
Before the decision to ask the judge to discharge them, the police had charged them with three counts of conspiracy to commit crime and unlawful possession of weapon and ammunitions.
The prosecution led by Sergeant Thomas Sarfo, however, withdrew the case stating that there were ‘some further developments’ in the matter.
He did not, however, state what those ‘developments’ were and the court presided over by Ama A. Kwakye struck out the case as withdrawn and subsequently discharged the accused persons.
There were scores of NDC supporters, most of whom were wearing party T-shirts and paraphernalia at the court premise to show solidarity with Sinare.
Official Complaint
Saed Sinare, a one-time Ghana’s envoy to Egypt and later Saudi Arabia under the NDC administration, was reported to the police by the opposition party’s Ayawaso North Constituency Chairman Tahiru Ahmed for arranging for weapon supplies for use to create chaos in the Northern Region during the December polls.
Following the unusual development, the opposition NDC’s vice-chairman is said to have demanded of the NDC leadership to take action against his accuser because he is working against the ‘interest’ of the party.
Telltale Information
A telltale correspondence dated October 27, 2020 and addressed to the National Chairman of the NDC and reproduced by an Accra radio station reads, “According to his accusations filed with the police and the AK-47 gun produced, I gave him those guns to be used in the Northern Region during the national elections on the 7th December, 2020 to intimidate NPP voters.”
“It is my prayer that disciplinary procedures are immediately initiated against him and excluded from party strategies,” Saed Sinare prayed his party’s leadership.
The two persons were said to have been buddies until recently when they parted ways.
Sinare Interview
Saed Sinare said on ‘Citi FM’ after reporting to the police that “He (Ahmed Tahiru) is the Ayawaso North Constituency chairman. He is my boy and I groomed him. He is my employee, and he has been working for me for the past eight years and I fired him exactly about five weeks ago because of so many reasons. That blackmail will never work because I am a very clean person with a good track record. I am not going to cause mayhem anywhere; I have been preaching peace everywhere I go.”
He added that “I don’t own an AK-47. I don’t even know where this guy got the AK-47 but the pump-action gun is my pump-action gun that has been registered. I reported to the police that my pump-action gun has been missing some few months back. I have got an extract of that report so at the end of the day I will be cleared because that guy, that constituency chairman must be caught, and they must put him behind bars, and they must find out from him how he got the AK-47.”
Counsel’s Claim
In between the interrogation, Abraham Amaliba, one of the NDC lawyers who accompanied Sinare to the police, told reporters that “Well they are interrogating Alhaji Sinare, he was shown two guns, one AK-47 and the other, a pump action gun. He denied knowledge of the AK-47 but he indicated that the pump action gun belongs to him and he had already made a report to the Cantonments Police Station of the gun that was missing and so he acknowledges that the pump action gun is his and he has licence to show that that belongs to him.”
Track Record
In July 2008, Saed Sinare told the whole world that he had resigned from the NDC, citing ‘personal reasons.’
However within two weeks, he was back to the party saying he had rescinded his decision.
Empty Boast
In October 2016 in the heat of the campaign that eventually sent the NDC to opposition despite incumbency advantage, Saed Sinare swore that he would resign from active politics if then NPP flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo was to win the presidential election.
“There is no way Akufo-Addo can win this election considering the record of President Mahama. I will resign from politics if Akufo-Addo wins. Mahama is from God and even if you don’t vote for him, angels will descend from heaven to vote for him,” he had bragged at Okaikoi North Constituency in Accra during an NDC campaign programme.
During the first NPP administration under J.A. Kufuor, the same Sinare was put before an Accra Circuit Court at the Cocoa Affairs premises over election-related offences.
By Gibril Abdul Razak & Linda Tenya-Ayettey