THE GENERAL Secretary of the People�s National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah has taken a swipe at the former General Secretary of the Opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John, by asking him to find out why he lost his post rather than challenging him to declare his political affiliation.
Mr. Mornah said he stood on the ticket of the PNC and was also re-elected as the party�s general secretary and therefore he should rather investigate why he lost his re-election bid in the NPP.
Reacting to Mr Owusu-Afriyie�s recent comments made about him a day earlier on Okay FM, Mr Mornah also on Radio XYZ yesterday noted that it was out of place for Sir John to create the impression that he is a sympathizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
�I�ve been PNC General Secretary even before he (Sir John) became the general secretary of the NPP. So, even in terms of general secretary, I can be called his senior. And, I am still the general secretary, because I succeeded in my re-election, he could not succeed. Possibly, he should find out why he could not go through and of course not to sit and conclude that I speak my mind and yet speaking my mind means that I should declare my political affiliation, it is amazing,� he noted.
The PNC scribe said the attitude of the NPP man is why he gets into trouble by opening his mouth: �You see, this is Sir John for you, he speaks and you realized that he runs into trouble because he wants to single out the bar association as the only institution responsible for our returning to democracy.
..And, I am just reminding him that farmers, fishmongers, tomato sellers, every Ghanaian of all professional backgrounds or no professional backgrounds, all contributed to restoring democracy, even the church played a role, so what are you talking about when we want to talk, you want to say that the bar does not make mistakes?�
Mr. Owusu-Afriyie who was reached on phone in connection with his earlier utterance by the host on Radio XYZ morning show directly suggested to Mr. Mornah that it was important for him to declare his stance since he has always been supporting the NDC rather than the PNC.
�I have asked the bar association to let the world know the true colours of what particular party they belong whether or not you are NPP and so and so forth. And I have also challenged that he (Mornah) should let them know which political party he speaks for because, whatever he does is in support of the NDC not even his own party, so he should be prepared to remove that beam in his eyes.�
In a sharp rebuttal, Mr. Mornah directly described his actions as �devastating.�
�I am devastated by your statement to suggest that I am not a member of my party and that I should declare my political stance. I have always been a member of the PNC. I have always spoken my mind. I have spoken that of the PNC. If you have your doubt, you have to keep it.�
Explaining to Sir John why he disagreed with the Ghana Bar Association�s call on the president to start processes for the appointment of a new chairman for the electoral commission, he said the provisions are clear in chapter five of the 1992 Constitution.
�In any case, the Ghana Bar Association is saying that the president should start processes leading to the appointment of a new chairman for the electoral commission, and I said that in chapter 5 of the 1992 Constitution, there are fundamental rights as well as freedom of expression; therefore the bar association can express its views. But, that view particularly coming from the legal fraternity must be situated within the remit of our laws, in particular, the Constitution. The Constitution spells out in black and white what needs to be done in the appointment of a chairman for the electoral commission.
�...If, we have problems with provisions in the Constitution, we can be looking for constitutional amendments, but that cannot be a direct call on the president to start processes when we do know for instance that the chief justice when there was a vacancy, president Kufuor appointed the chief justice in law with the provisions of the constitution.
�...So what is the Ghana Bar Association suggesting? If there is any political undertone the bar association should declare. Now if you are saying that the bar association should declare its political affiliation it means that the bar association is NPP and therefore Bernard Mornah is NDC, it is amazing,� he stated.
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