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MILLS IS RIGHT ON COTE D’IVOIRE?
Accra, January 30, 2011 - The
attention of the Office of Nana Akufo-Addo has been drawn to a
publication in the Daily Graphic of 27th January, 2011 by Dr.
Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, which purports to be an analysis of the
current Ivorian crisis. After reading the article, it becomes
clear that the use of the word ‘analysis’ is a misnomer. It is
in fact a piece of pure propaganda. Its purpose is obvious. To
establish that on the Ivorian crisis, President Mills is a peace
maker, whilst Nana Akufo-Addo, the NPP presidential candidate,
is a war monger.
Ordinarily, crude propaganda should not be dignified with a
response, but it is now obvious that it forms part of the
general NDC strategy of wholesale misinformation and deliberate
deception on the issues of the day. Hence this rejoinder for the
record.
After much flip-flopping on the crisis, including his
declaration of the “dzi wo fie asem” foreign policy, President
Mills recently told the diplomatic corps that he is, after all,
in support of the ECOWAS position on the recent presidential
election in Cote D’Ivoire. The ECOWAS position is in two parts.
The first is the endorsement of Alassane Ouattara’s victory in
the election. The second is the demand that Laurent Gbagbo hand
over power peacefully to his victorious opponent, who was
elected by a clear majority of the Ivorian people. Failure on
his part to do so would leave ECOWAS with no option than to
pursue all avenues, including the use of legitimate force, to
ensure compliance. Not only does the President support the
position of ECOWAS, he, actually, in Ghana’s name, signed the
communiqués of 7th and 28th December where the ECOWAS position,
including the use of legitimate force, was spelt out.
Nana Akufo-Addo, NPP presidential candidate, has in his two
public utterances indicated consistently his whole-hearted
support of the ECOWAS position. He has further called on the
President to ensure that Ghana behaves, just as she has always
done, as a good citizen of the ECOWAS Community by not doing
anything to undermine ECOWAS’ common position. In the
circumstances, the question is this: how does President Mills’
support of the ECOWAS’ position make him a peacemaker, but Nana
Akufo-Addo’s similar support make him a warmonger? The answer
lies in the warped logic of the NDC propaganda machine. Office
of
No amount of blatant distortions can change the hard fact- “the
Akufo-Addo led NPP’s” position on Cote d’Ivoire is a responsible
one. It is the position of virtually the entire International
community. Indeed, rarely has there been such global consensus
on a matter of international concern- the Economic Community Of
West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU), the
European Union (EU) and the UN Security Council are all speaking
with one voice. Laurent Gbagbo lost the election and he should
yield peacefully the presidency of Cote d’Ivoire to the winner
of the 28th presidential election, Allasane Ouattara.
Indeed, this is the crucial issue in the Ivorian drama. As the
outgoing President of the ECOWAS Commission, Victor Gbeho,
one-time diplomatic advisor to President Mills, put it in one of
his comments on the Ivorian crisis: “the situation represents a
bad scenario: a leader loses an election, then calls on the
military to support him...” (AU SITUATION ROOM, Daily News
Highlights, December 12, 2010). This is the heart of the matter.
The implications of the Gbagbo defiance are extremely dangerous
and unhealthy for the growth of democracy on the African
continent. It is that spectre that should be the focus of public
discussion, not artificial, diversionary issues about troop
commitments. No requisition has been made for any troop
commitment. If the international community’s stance on the issue
remains robust, as it is now, we may never get there. That has
to be the wish of all responsible people.
The attempt to portray Nana Akufo-Addo as a warmonger will
simply not wash. It is a deliberate, crude caricature that flies
in the face of the facts. Nana Akufo-Addo, as Foreign Minister
under President Kufuor, was one of the key figures brokering
peace in Cote d’Ivoire after the 2002 attempted coup. The Accra
III Peace Talks in particular in 2004, where Nana Akufo-Addo was
prominent, saw the first gathering of the leading Ivorian
actors- Laurent Gbagbo, Henri Konan Bedie and Alassane Ouattara-
in one place, here in Accra, to plot the way forward. Many of
the subsequent steps that were taken towards the resolution of
the Ivorian crisis, including the holding of internationally
sanctioned elections, were initiated at the Accra III Peace
Talks. It would truly be strange that a man, who devoted so much
of his time and energy helping broker peace and reconciliation
in Cote d’Ivoire, should turn around to become a so-called
warmonger over Cote d’Ivoire. The allegation is untrue. It is
baseless. Nana Akufo-Addo was prominent during his tenure as
Foreign Minister in attempts to broker peace in Serra Leone,
Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea Bissau. If there is a Ghanaian
public figure who has developed a deserved reputation in the
West Africa region as a peacemaker, Nana Akufo-Addo is one such
figure.
The effort to reduce the Ghanaian discussion on the Ivorian
crisis to a mere case of support for either of the Ivorian
leaders- i.e Mills/NDC for Gbagbo, Akufo-Addo/NPP for Ouattara-
is very unhelpful. It is a complete red herring. President
Kufuor and Foreign Minister Akufo-Addo did not Office of
hesitate to work for peace and the consolidation of Laurent
Gbagbo’s hold on power after the attempted coup because, in the
words of President Kufuor on 21st September 2002, i.e. two days
after the attempted coup of 19th September, Laurent Gbagbo
represented the “legitimate government” of Cote d’Ivoire, having
won the controversial election of 2000. He went on to say that
his government would do whatever it could to support that
legitimate government. It is the same sense of principle that
drives NPP policy in the latest crisis. The peace, unity and
democracy of Cote d’Ivoire and the peace and stability of the
West African region of ECOWAS are the guiding considerations for
NPP, not the partisan support of a given leader, no matter how
friendly. That is what is called statesmanship, not crude
propagandist posturing.
This Office is aware that attacks on Nana Akufo-Addo are the
best way of attracting the attention of President Mills for
those who are seeking to maintain their relevance in NDC affairs
and those who are seeking preferment and jobs in the Mills
government. We can only wish Dr. Spio-Garbrah the best of luck
in his enterprise.
Signed
Mustapha Hamid
Spokesperson
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