A Case for Adamu Dramani Sakande and our Diasporans

I first met him one early evening at Abossey Okai, in 2008. He had this sweet smile on and approached me from his car after having my attention. He introduced himself as the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Bawku Central, and said he knew I was also a parliamentary candidate since I had branded my pickup with party colours, and Nana Addo’s and my pictures as well.

We exchanged pleasantries and kept in touch on and off. I got dumped out of the race for my seat while Adamu won his. I cannot remember whether we got into contact during his short tenure as Member of Parliament (MP), but what I remember was that he was accused of violating electoral laws, was put on trial, found guilty, and jailed. It was the National Democratic Congress (NDC) which was in government then, and it was this party which filed the complaint against Sakande through a farmer which eventually landed him in jail.

Sakande was then hospitalised and I had the opportunity of visiting him, at least once, at Korle Bu. He shared his sad story with me and I felt so down and depressed looking at this sweet and handsome fellow, whose only crime was that he wanted to serve the country of his birth, the country of his ancestors.

But the law says no Ghanaian with dual citizenship is entitled to hold certain offices in the land. And so are we being told that if any such fellow did, it meant he could be used to spy on the country? I just don’t get it. If a Ghanaian will spy on this country, he could do so even if he did not hold dual citizenship. We had seven Ghanaians who were arrested for spying on Ghana and had to be traded with a half Ghanaian arrested in the USA.

We even had top senior ministers of state getting into amorous relationships with top diplomats of first world countries, and we think secret information about this country were not traded beneath the sheets?

What is even surprising is that these our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora, collectively, annually remit this country more money than we contract as loans, and the monies help balance the household economy, lifting some burden off the government’s shoulders.

Adamu Dramani Sakande’s death should be a great shame to the whole country, after we criminalised him using a constitution which has actually outlived its relevance a few years after it was propagated.

A Constitution made to protect the interest of Jerry John Rawlings rather than the interest of the people, and we are now only pretending to realise this and have started making noises after other presidents down the line have also come benefiting from it. A Constitution that could be amended before it was even four years old, because the president felt uncomfortable with a section of it.

In my opinion, I strongly believe this Diaspora thing was chipped in to make sure that the New Patriotic Party, wrongly assumed to be an Akan party, does not bring down the sharp brains from the Diaspora to worry the NDC. Our laws against dual citizenship must be changed to allow those in the Diaspora to fully partake in our governance system. We must not use them when we need them, but throw them to jail when we do not, after all, they are also Ghanaians.

Adamu Dramani Sakande’s health started deteriorating when he was spending time in jail. And today, Ghana has lost a fine gentleman who could have carried the nation’s torch up high and brought glory to our homeland, and especially, to his Bawku people. He died like a war hero and must be honoured as such in the hearts and minds of the people, especially the Bawku people.

Talking of MPs and one will never forget what happened to Hon George Isaac Amo in 1996. He won the parliamentary elections for the seat in Ayawaso West Wuogon, but either by mistake or by design, the electoral officers collating the results turned the numbers. The NDC’s Rebecca Adotey was then proclaimed Member of Parliament-elect.

The case went to court, and on December 15, 1997, with the court satisfied that Amo won the elections after evidence from the Electoral Commission indicated so, Justice Agnes Dodzie ruled in favour of the plaintiff, George Isaac Amo.

The NDC, then in power, frustrated Parliament for the rest of the term and made sure Mr Amo did not replace Rebecca Adotey. For the whole of the second Parliament, from 1997 to 2001, the NDC made sure that an unqualified person sat in the Chamber and received full salaries and all entitlements, while the one the people voted for was ignored.

Come the fifth Parliament, and one fine gentleman was the undisputed choice of his people in Bawku; he won the elections and sat in the Chambers. He was later thrown out, not because his votes did not add up, but because he was treated as an alien. He was hauled before a judge and thrown into jail, where his health deteriorated. He got released on compassionate grounds by the then president, but the harm had already been done, and his failed health made him depart this world.

The NDC, which sponsored an illegality to take root in Parliament in 1997, this time, in 2009, turned hard on another member and made sure this innocent fellow was punished until he died.

Meanwhile, George Isaac Amo needs to be fully compensated in today’s real value of what he lost from 1997 to 2001. Parliament must be penalised for not bringing in Mr Amo after the court ruled that he was the actual winner of the 1996 Parliamentary Elections in Ayawaso West Wuogon. And both the Electoral Commission (EC) and NDC be made to account as well for their roles in all this.

Adamu Dramani Sakande, my Brother, may your departure from this life be remembered as an event that will lead to the implementation of good laws to fully engage all Ghanaians with dual citizenship in governance and in all sectors of this nation. Rest in Peace.

Hon Daniel Dugan

 

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