Letters
Lord Tony Gifford And Public Tribunals
I recently read an article in which Lord Gifford Q.C., member of the British House of Lords, and a socialist lawyer has praised the work of public tribunals in Ghana.Lord Gifford said that he sat through a trial and saw that the accused were given a fair opportunity to defend themselves, and that the tribunals were doing a good job. We in this part of the world, Ghana, were trained by the British, and most of us have a good deal of respect for the British and their traditions. But we must wonder at the conscience of men like Lord Gifford who will have us go through ordeals they would never dream of for their own people.
A man of Lord Gifford's stature ought to be able to appreciate the issue raised by the Ghana Bar Association, NUGS and TUC, that it is against natural justice to try a man in a court that has no respect for any legal procedures. He ought to see the complaints about the excessive powers of the tribunal whose decision, until quite recently, could not be challenged in a higher court, even though they can, and in fact do, impose the death sentence.
If the apostle of the PNDC regime in the U.K. Lord Gifford had taken his time to investigate, he would have found out that in some cases the tribunal's chairman with experience of two years at the Bar is believed to have said that the courts as operated in Ghana before the advent of the PNDC did not suit the needs of the country. If Lord Gifford was really so impressed by the conduct of the tribunal I would suggest that he introduce a bill in the British House of Lords to set up similar public tribunals in Britain on the lines he saw in Ghana.
Why has the public tribunal's chairman refused to grant visas to Amnesty International requested through both a Ghanaian Embassy abroad and foreign ministry in Accra? On March 11th, 1983 Amnesty International repeated its request which is believed to have been rejected. Are they trying to hide something which the Honourable Lord did not see?
Kwasi Adu Pakohene, Dusseldorf.
Who is Bernard Cord of Ghana?
More grease to your elbow. Your gagged fellow citizens pat you. This letter will be posted to you from abroad because our thievish postal staffs will do their masters' bidding and burn it if they get hold of it as they are wickedly doing against international law.My question is: Who is the Bernard Cord of Ghana? This was raised in my mind by the editorial in the Ghanaian Times of 14th April 1982 with the headline "Lessons of Grenada". According to the newspaper's editor, "the forces of imperialism used Bernard Cord to subvert his country Grenada's revolutionary process." Lessons must be learnt from this "especially by those Ghanaians who think they are ideologically more knowledgeable than others as to the manner in which our revolutionary process should be conducted." But characteristically it did not identify who this Bernard Cord of Ghana is.
It is lucky for some of the people who started the "process" that they are no longer on the scene, like Sergeant Akata-Pore, otherwise they will be accused of Bernard Cordism. This will be done by the very people who the cap fits better than everyone else. That is their game.
But who described his "master" Rawlings as naive politically when he was interviewed on Ghana TV and repeated many times? Who "Bernard Corded" Rawlings spiritually by publishing in newspapers and the radio, both in Ghana and overseas that concocted letter from the West Germans which said Rawlings smoked marijuana?
The Ghanaian Times thinks all Ghanaians are fools and so we will not be able to put two and two together. But the arrest of genuine people who want to contribute their quota by speaking out with their ideas shows ideological "I know better", like the arrest of poor Sam Okudzeto for telling the PNDC its wrongs. Who caused that arrest and thousands of others? He is the Bernard Cord of Ghana.
Lawrence Adi-Wusu, Nkwanta VR.
Universities Pick Up The Pieces
I read the article about the resumption of academic life in Ghana's three universities published in the Talking Drums of May 21st, 1984, with interest, notwithstanding the fact that the devastation left in the wake of the totally unwarranted occupation of the university premises by the revolutionary cadres would take a very long time indeed to repair.One lesson I hope has been learnt in this rather unfortunate affair - governments which attempt to use education as a stick to beat any opposition to their policies always run the risk of retarding the progress of their countries because, whether they like it or not, they cannot turn every individual in a society into a revolutionary overnight.
While the lack of equipment, teachers and other infra-structural developments are bound to affect the overall efforts of university authorities, they should spare no efforts to rekindle the flagging academic spirit.
Owusu Prempeh, Brixton.
The Military Problem
I would like to congratulate Colonel Annor Odjidja, the former director of Military Intelligence of the Ghana Army for his brutally frank assessment of the military in West Africa with particular reference to Ghana. The three-part article published in your highly esteemed magazine has achieved two main objectives as far as I can determine. First, the mere fact that a former soldier who held a very important position has been bold enough to expose the rot which, for all these years had been swept under the military carpet would go a long way to force a re-appraisal of the army institution. Secondly, I hope the subsequent debate this is bound to generate would help to challenge some of the assumptions, socio-economic basis and the down-right hypocritical foundation upon which the army stands today.Doubtless, some people would go for the Colonel's jugular for daring to do what he has done but no one can hide the fact that from today people would look at the army in a different light.
Alfred Newton, Stuttgart, West Germany.
