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After a long period of silence, Prof. Kenneth Attafuah, former Executive Secretary of the National Identification (NIA), has finally protested the circumstances surrounding his premature removal from his position only a year after his appointment, by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government. He bemoaned his dismissal yesterday at the 5th Re: Akoto Memorial Lectures, held at the British Council in Accra. He was speaking on the topic; Oaths, Pledges and Promises to Keep; Advancing Human Right in Volatile Political Times. His reference to the issue was prompted by a student who asked a question on what to do when one is trying to serve one�s country but one�s efforts are not being appreciated, in relation to him (Prof Attafuah), saying that as citizens we should ask �what we can do for our country and not what our country can do for us.� Prof. Attafuah had attributed his untimely dismissal to �lack of administrative justice.� Citing the reasons, President Mills had given for �replacing� some public and civil servants with the institution of the new administration; he noted that the reasons were for lack of competence, not able to account for their actions and not sharing the vision of the government in power. He said that, his competence had never been an issue, adding that he was in Canada serving as a Commissioner for Human Rights in the Province of the British Colombia, when he was called to serve in Ghana at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), then become the Executive Secretary for the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) in the position of the Executive Secretary which he had held with the NIA. He added that because none of his appointments was based on people he knew, either in the previous NDC government when he was called from Canada or the immediate past new Patriotic Party (NPP) government. He however, admitted that the running mate for the NPP flagbearer in the 2008 election, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, is his very good friend, but he (Attafuah) was not a member of any political party. As for not being able to account for his action, Prof Attafuah said that he had been audited by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and all problems found were not made under his leadership. As to whether he shared the vision of the NDC administration or not, he said he shares the vision of the NIA, which is to issue identification cards to Ghanaians � �this has nothing to do with politics.� Meanwhile, the President has promised to look into his dismissal but nothing has been done so far about the issue. The event was one of a series of activities lined up for the celebration of the 51st Students� Representatives Council (SRC) Week of the Ghana School of Law under the theme: �Upholding Fundamental Human Rights � The Role of the Law Student.�