NDC gurus with Bernard Mornah
What was meant to be a People’s National Convention (PNC) National Chairman’s case for his ‘bloodshed’ comment over the upcoming voters’ register has now turned into an opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) affair.
There was near chaos around the police headquarters in Accra yesterday after NDC supporters had massed up at the place when PNC National Chairman Bernard Mornah honoured a police invitation to explain his ‘bloodshed’ remark.
Even before Mornah arrived at the place, NDC National Chairman Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo and some of the opposition party’s gurus had taken the lead to the police headquarters as if they were the ones being invited by the police CID.
Provocative Act
In what could be seen as a pre-planned provocative action, the NDC supporters, in the midst of the heavy rains, chanted war songs and ‘cursed’ the police, who kept them at bay and did not allow them to get close to the police headquarters building, simply because they wanted to interrogate Mornah.
Bizarrely, there was not a single PNC supporter to show solidarity, making observers wonder which political party’s interest Mornah, who defends the NDC more than the party he purports to chair, was serving.
By 10:52 a.m., Abraham Amaliba, who claims to be the lead counsel for Mornah, had arrived at the CID headquarters followed by Mr. Ofosu-Ampofo in the company of other NDC stalwarts.
First Encounter
They gathered in front of the second floor reception, having a mini meeting when the Deputy CID Director-General, DCOP George Tweneboa, came to tell them that they needed only the counsel and no one else.
There was some kind of agitation from the NDC team, but the top police officer left them and entered his office.
Mornah In
Around 11:35 a.m., Bernard Mornah, wearing what looked like red war smock, who was earlier granting interview to some journalists outside the premises in the rains, arrived in the building and was accompanied by a fair-skin lady wearing black T-shirt and jeans, and when the police tried to prevent the lady from entry, the PNC man said “she is ‘my queen’.”
Mornah was led by NDC Deputy General Secretary Peter Boamah Otokunor, who acted as a spokesperson for the PNC man.
Within that period, Amaliba, Ofosu-Ampofo and the rest were then waiting at the CID conference room.
Woyome Arrival
As the interrogation was ongoing, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, the NDC financier who fraudulently took GH¢51.2 million from the state when the NDC was in power and has been made to refund the cash with interest by the Supreme Court (thanks to efforts by the then ‘citizen vigilante’ and now Special Prosecutor, Martin A.B.K Amidu) also arrived to show solidarity.
It appeared that Woyome moved straight from the court where the case in which the Attorney General’s Department was seeking to confiscate his assets over the GH¢52.1 million saga and hand it over to the National Security, and he was present to lend Bernard Mornah some support.
At about 12:50 p.m., then came NDC MP for Ningo-Prampram, Samuel Nettey George, aka Sam George, and NDC MP for Builsa North, James Agalga, who is a former Deputy Minister of the Interior under Mahama.
Sam George Tantrums
When they arrived, they were prevented from entering the conference room where the meeting was ongoing and as a result, Sam George flew into rage and said to the police, “You are professionals, use your head!”
Agalga then remarked, “Do you know me? I have been there before,” and Sam George exclaimed that “70% of the police are NDC.”
Both MPs were not allowed in the meeting by the police and sat at the reception throughout.
Strangely, the invitation was meant for Bernard Mornah, but some of the NDC leaders sat through the meeting.
Post Meeting
When the meeting ended at about 1:30 p.m., Ofosu-Ampofo was seen ‘coaching’ Bernard Mornah on what to tell the teeming NDC supporters outside.
“You are going to brief the supporters what transpired, please come over,” Ofosu-Ampofo told Mornah and pulled him to his side to speak into his ears.
Immediately Mornah came outside the premises, the NDC supporters carried him shoulders high amid chanting NDC slogans.
Mornah Insults
Later, Bernard Mornah said in an interview that “I don’t know who taught those people English. If I start a comment with if you do ABCD and said Z will occasion if ABCD don’t occasion, Z will not occasion. So the EC and those who are assisting must know the difference between a caution and a threat (sic).”
“Since last week Thursday, they invited me to be here, on some frivolous allegation that I cautioned the EC and said there were going to be beatings at registration centres and there were going to be killings if the commission proceeded. If the EC proceeds with the new voters register it will exclude over 10 million Ghanaians from the register (sic).”
He again threatened that “any attempt to attack the Constitution must be resisted. I intend to offer my life in that resistance because I will resist to defend the Constitution of Ghana. Anything that they have said in the letter, I’m fully committed to the words of the letter.”
Amaliba Explanation
Later, Abraham Amaliba explained that “they invited him to appear, so he was here around 11 a.m., what they said was that they were arresting him and the reason for arrest was that he made some statements which were captured on video and so they wanted to play the video for him to ascertain whether it was his voice (sic).”
He added “so they played the video and actually he confirmed that he was the one and so at that point they indicated to him that they were charging him under section 207, which is offensive conduct conducive to the breach of the peace (sic).”
“He was then made to write an investigation caution statement, which he said he wasn’t prepared to say anything beyond what was on the video and that he still stood by his words. So we have been granted bail and to report to the police on June 16 and every two weeks. The bail condition was just one surety.”
Later, DAILY GUIDE gathered that Mornah’s surety was Bala Maikankan, a PNC member.
There was heavy vehicular traffic at the precinct of the police headquarters due to the Bernard Mornah invitation.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey