Alleged Plot To Oust IGP: Politicization of security agencies under this govt is frightening - Murtala | The Big Stories
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NewsTranscript
00:00 get into other matters. I don't want to wade into the judiciary and all the
00:04 ping-pong, the ping-pong that has been played in recent times. But the tape,
00:09 going back to that tape which was played, I'm sure you saw Samuel Attachia
00:14 also chairing that parliamentary committee probing the leaked tape of the
00:20 IGP. And I just want to set the records straight this morning because it appears,
00:25 unfortunately, both the Daily Guide newspaper and the Daily Graphic
00:28 newspaper, from the headlines, were not exactly legitimate. So there was this bit
00:37 about, I don't know whether it was the Daily Guide, the Daily Graphic for sure,
00:41 the Daily Graphic for sure, let me not fault the Daily Guide yet, let me see
00:46 whether they wrote in that story. There was another paper and the whole bit
00:52 says, you know, suggests that the tape was doctored. Okay, that is what they say. But
01:01 our very own Samuel Mbura, who was, yes, that's the Daily Graphic one, our very
01:06 own Samuel Mbura, who was there, that's not what Samuel Attachia said. He
01:12 suggested that, you know, the second tape was a very long one. It had probably the
01:20 entire length of the discussion. The first one had been edited or truncated,
01:25 so to speak. Truncation does not mean it's been doctored. Doctoring would
01:33 suggest that maybe intentional addition, insertion, removal, and all of
01:41 that. So I feel the way these two, these stories in the paper, some of the papers,
01:46 the Daily Graphic for sure, and I think another paper have been couched, is not
01:51 exactly the best. But for you, what you've seen from this IGP, you know,
01:59 leaked tape, Alex Mensah, COP, Superintendent, you know, George Assare,
02:09 among others, who have spoken the things they've said, suggesting the IGP is a
02:14 tyrant of sorts. Some of the things, though, may not exactly. Yesterday we
02:19 called our own former colleague here, who's at the BBC. He interacted with us
02:25 on what standard practice at Scotland Yard is. My only concern is standard
02:29 practice does not mean that what Scotland Yard does is the yardstick for
02:33 every country. What do you make of happenings so far? Well, I watched the
02:40 appearance of the IGP at the committee, and to be honest, I'm a very strong
02:48 person. For a moment, I nearly shed tears. I felt his pain. I felt his pain because
02:53 I have so much respect for people like that. He rules from the ranks, and he took
03:02 advantage of every opportunity through the channels to upgrade himself.
03:10 Personally, my parents didn't go to school. My father and my mother, none of
03:16 them went to school. My parents were businessmen. My father, who was also an
03:22 Islamic cleric, a businessman and a farmer. So I give so much respect to hard
03:30 work, and from my days as a student leader from University of Ghana to USAC,
03:39 to the All-African Students Union, I have never missed the opportunity to
03:44 upgrade myself, you know, academically. Even when I was in the Chief Parliament,
03:49 I took advantage, and currently you know that I'm still schooling. When I
03:55 listened to the IGP, frankly speaking, I doffed my hat for him. Aside the emotions
04:02 with which he presented his case, when he started by talking about how he rules
04:08 mind you, he was accused to be someone who got everything on a silver platter,
04:12 you know, and when he did that for me, it's an encouragement to any other person,
04:17 particularly young constables, that if he can rise from the ranks and end up being
04:22 the IGP, anybody can do that. I'll tell you, there was an aspect of his statement
04:29 that I wasn't comfortable when they asked him, that he took advantage of the
04:34 policy that was prevailing at the time to upgrade himself academically, for which
04:38 reason he's now the IGP. Whether he would support any move to do that, even though
04:43 he said that, look, he wouldn't prevent it, but I was expecting an emphatic statement
04:47 from him. I go, I am in the same class with a colleague of mine who is a police
04:52 officer, and God's willing, by this month or next month, we should all be done with
04:57 our thesis for the PhD. That gentleman went to the police with
05:02 SHS. He upgraded himself, he did his degree, did his master's and finished his PhD,
05:08 and he told me something that was shocking to me. He said, "Honorable, I still
05:14 take the salary that I took when I was recruited as a constable, and he has
05:20 upgraded to some level, but with all the certificates I have acquired through
05:25 hard work, it does not add up to anything." So I asked him, "So what do you do?" He said, "I
05:31 don't even know, but there are certain information I won't put out there." But I
05:36 shared that to him that after completing, if they do not, he may have to leave the
05:40 police service and look for some opportunities elsewhere. That, for me,
05:44 defeats the opportunities and also the capacity that otherwise would have been
05:50 needed to augment, if you like, the work of the police service. Because if I'm a
05:55 police officer, and I know that if I upgrade myself, there are opportunities
05:59 that have been available, you find a lot of them who want to take advantage of that. So I
06:03 wasn't that pleased about the answer. Now, it is also very clear that there were
06:08 certain allegations made against him, and he debunked them. I haven't heard any of
06:15 them say that, look, his assertion and the statement he made was not accurate.
06:19 One specifically when he said that he awarded, he gave a contract to
06:25 Bugurinabu. I said, "No." I mean, that can easily be verified by the media, whether
06:31 indeed there is a contractual agreement between the Ghana police and Bugurinabu. I
06:36 think that the media can do that, and I believe that there wasn't any contract.
06:41 For the IGP to say there's no inner contract. Again, another question was
06:44 asked whether he has a working relationship with Bugurinabu.
06:48 Even to the point of whether Bugurinabu had come to his office before?
06:51 He said, "No, he has no working relationship." More so, when Bugurinabu himself said that
06:55 he recorded them and even indicated where he bought the gadgets. I thought
06:59 that the media and the committee can easily find out where he said he bought
07:02 the gadget. Did he come to buy the gadgets there, or someone gave him? If
07:07 indeed he bought the gadgets there, perhaps we may be able to... You see, I don't want
07:12 to say that what he said entirely was the absolute truth, and what the others
07:15 said was not true. But culture says, you know, Joseph Hills, that there are three
07:21 sides to every story. Your side, my side, and the truth. And we, those who are rational beings
07:27 and haven't listened to the accounts given by these two, we can only know where
07:31 the truth is. But you see, what was strikingly different from his accounts and
07:36 accounts given by those political police officers, was that...
07:40 Is there anything wrong with being a police officer and being political?
07:43 There is everything wrong with that.
07:44 The Greek philosophers tell us every human being is a political animal.
07:48 I'm saying that there is everything wrong with that.
07:50 What is wrong with it?
07:51 The institution they serve denies them from engaging in active partisanship, and that was what they demonstrated.
07:57 So there's a difference between partisan politics and being political.
08:02 Even the judges are allowed to be... They vote. The police officers vote.
08:07 But I'm saying that partisanship, when they appear, telling us, wanting us to know how they are MPP,
08:12 and how others is not serving the interests of MPP...
08:14 That is problematic.
08:15 Such individuals are not fit to even be police officers, let alone even being
08:19 leaders of the police service. Now when this man appeared...
08:22 You're talking of COP Mensah?
08:23 Yes, all of that. You listen to their accounts.
08:26 I don't know whether they thought that they were at the MPP headquarters,
08:29 giving an account to MPP people. They had forgotten that they were giving accounts
08:33 to the people of this country and the world. And they wanted to demonstrate to the people of this country
08:38 how they were MPP. Now when this man appeared, there's no denying the fact that
08:43 this man is not an NDC person. And if he has any links whatsoever, it may even be with MPP.
08:50 But I saw in him as a professional police officer, who without any fear,
08:55 when they asked him whether he was... He said, "Look, I'm not a politician.
09:01 I don't belong to any political party. I'm a police officer."
09:04 You know the shocking aspect? The fact that he had been ADC to president,
09:08 then vice president Mills. And that is an issue.
09:11 Look, when I was doing my...
09:13 And interestingly, he had served... You know, some of these people,
09:16 both Alex Mensah and Dr Dampari, have served officers in both the MPP and the NDC.
09:23 No, but what is even wrong with that? My grandfather was one of the founding fathers
09:28 of the UP tradition, Twelona Yakubu. I don't belong to MPP,
09:33 and I've never liked anything about UP tradition.
09:36 But it doesn't deny me of that heritage. And I remember when Honorable Habib
09:42 made a statement on the floor celebrating him. And I contributed to that statement.
09:48 Kennedy at Japan and others, they say, "You are an MPP."
09:51 That is my family. That is my blood. But I don't belong to the UP tradition.
09:55 And I've never liked that tradition. I've never despised it.
09:58 But I don't hate those. But I don't like that tradition.
10:01 So the fact that someone, a professional police officer,
10:06 served a person whose the taxes of the citizens of this country
10:13 ensures his comfort and his security, and as a professional police officer,
10:17 you are asked to be ADC to a vice president. That makes you an MPP person.
10:22 What kind of individuals do we have? You see?
10:24 And the politicization of state agencies, most of the security agencies
10:28 under this government, is shocking. Absolutely shocking.
10:32 And that for me is frightening. It's frightening to the extent
10:35 that what signal are they sending to young constables who are in the police service?
10:40 Now look, I'll give you a name. Ambassador D. K. Osai.
10:44 Ambassador D. K. Osai taught me diplomatic practice at LESIAD,
10:48 Ligon Center for International Relations and Diplomacy,
10:51 when I was doing my master's there. And Ambassador D. K. Osai told us one day,
10:56 that look, I served almost every government under the Fourth Republic.
11:01 He served President Rawlings, served President Kufuo,
11:08 okay, served under President Misa. I mean, he served,
11:11 and he gave us examples of other diplomats.
11:14 But Ambassador D. K. Osai is an MPP person.
11:17 Look, Ambassador D. K. Osai, I was one of the few students he liked so much in the class.
11:22 When I was going to contest for my primaries, he gave me $1,000.
11:27 Wow.
11:28 Yes, he gave me $1,000.
11:29 Ambassador Osai gave you $1,000.
11:30 Yes, he gave me $1,000. And Ambassador D. K. Osai knew that.
11:33 Mutela is an MPC person. Look, lawyer, Kwame Jan, the lawyer to IGP.
11:40 He taught me international law at LESIAD, when I was doing my master's.
11:43 And he knew that I was an MPC person. And we would have interactions.
11:48 And he knew. An outstanding lecturer. I mean, he's somebody I have so much respect for.
11:53 Outstanding personality. So I wasn't surprised when he demonstrated that level of intellect when he appeared with the IGP.
11:59 But, but, but, but, hold it, hold it.
12:00 But you see, he doesn't deny the relationship we should have.
12:03 Right.
12:04 So for someone to serve as MPC to Vice President, and a police officer, you come and sit and say that he's an MPC person.
12:10 In any case, when they asked the IGP whether he had engagement with President Mahama, what is wrong with that?
12:16 Right.
12:17 And IGP people have engagement.
12:18 But I think he made that clear.
12:19 I'm saying that.
12:20 He made that clear that while they hadn't.
12:22 Yes.
12:23 I mean, President Mahama, former President Mahama, is a civilian, you know, a Ghanaian, a citizen.
12:30 Yeah.
12:31 That he has to serve. From the child born today to whomever, he has to serve everybody. That's what he said.
12:36 So another difference that was demonstrated is that whereas those other police officers are these buga buga police officers, this man deals with reasoning.
12:43 Because why?
12:44 That's a bit long.
12:46 You can say that they were bombastic, but if you say he deals with reasoning, are you saying Alex Mensah and others are not reasoned?
12:52 No, it doesn't mean that they are buga buga.
12:55 Because if you think that a political opponent, in maintaining peace and stability in this country, as IGP, I should insulate them, I should not even engage them,
13:05 for the purposes of maintaining the peace and stability in this country, wouldn't you be a buga buga police officer?
13:10 It means that if any of them were the IGP, even if the need to engage a leader of the largest opposition party in this country,
13:19 for the purposes of maintaining peace and stability in this country, they won't do that.
13:23 Right. Let's look at the other angle, the slant of, yes, politics.
13:28 They are allowed to vote and all of that, which is politics.
13:33 But in carrying out their work, they shouldn't put a political tincture, if you like, to it.
13:42 But I remember Alex Mensah making mention of the fact that, and I think we know whom he was referring to,
13:50 when he said that someone retired from the police, you know, within a few weeks, the person was contesting on the ticket of the NDC.
13:59 I'm picking information one of them also want to contest.
14:02 Hold on, hold on, hold on. Let me just make this point. Of the NDC.
14:05 Now, we all know that it takes your being a card bearing member for a certain period, years,
14:12 before you can contest, vie for such positions.
14:16 He made that claim there, which also points to the fact that, whether NDC or MPP,
14:22 there are some who are in there who may even be, well, he didn't practice politics while he was in the service,
14:31 but immediately afterwards.
14:33 So how do you address some of these issues?
14:36 That was a very bogus statement to be made, and I'll tell you why. Why?
14:42 Everybody in this country, look, Jim Mensah.
14:45 I think the thrust of what he's saying is this person was a card bearing member throughout, for a long period.
14:50 How did he know? How did he know?
14:53 There are exceptions.
14:55 How did he know he was a card bearing member?
14:58 They are former national chairman. Was he not an MP representing CPP?
15:03 Which, oh, you're talking about Freddie Brees?
15:05 Yes. How did he know he was a card bearing member?
15:07 If he has any information that we do not know, he should come out.
15:10 And in any case, there are exceptions.
15:12 But you see, the difference between anybody who was a card bearing member, assuming without admitting, is even true.
15:17 And the person resigned and contested to become a member of parliament.
15:21 That person never demonstrated his cheap and funny politicking whilst he was wearing the uniform.
15:28 Unlike they, telling us that we, in fact, the tape has exposed the deep seated partisanship within the police service under this government.
15:41 Did we experience this under the NDC?
15:43 But didn't people know or suspect that there were police officers who otherwise belonged to NDC and MP within the police service?
15:49 Look, in student leadership, when were student leaders in this country?
15:52 Look, we didn't know because we knew. We knew those who were NDC and MP.
15:55 My good friend, Honourable John Kumar, when I was contesting Honourable John Kumar's SRC elections in Legon, we knew those.
16:03 I knew he was an MPP person. He knew I was an NDC person.
16:06 Who won though, between the two of you?
16:07 None of us won.
16:08 Oh, neither one of you did?
16:10 Yeah, one guy won. Epo, Epo. He was too passionate.
16:14 Was that person politically aligned?
16:16 In fact, he was not. No, we're not politically aligned, but we knew. You know, within the student leadership.
16:22 Look, I said…
16:23 I only ask because nowadays in SRCs and the rest, it's clear that now there are 10 representatives, TESCON representatives, and people vote according to those laws.
16:32 Your reporter, your journalist and lawyer, Samson was my very good friend. Very, very good friend.
16:42 He was the JCR president of Equal for All, and by the end of that, he was a member of the General Assembly.
16:49 I represented Legon Hall two consecutive times.
16:52 Yamima represented Volta Hall two consecutive times at the General Assembly.
16:57 John Kumar and I, in fact, he represented Legon Hall, General Assembly member, at the end of the month.
17:03 We were all there, but we knew within the student leadership.
17:06 But you could not talk about it because in discharging your responsibilities as student leaders, representing the interests of students, politics was shelved.
17:17 But when we have police officers who engage in outright and shameful partisanship, and they won't even leave this at the barracks.
17:25 They come to sit on national television, appear before a committee, and completely forgot that they were addressing the people of this country and the entire world.
17:33 They thought they were addressing MPP foot soldiers at the MPP headquarters.
17:37 I'm sure they were very much aware of the gravity of what they were saying and where they were.
17:43 They appeared to have forgotten that they were addressing the Ghanaians and the world at large.
17:51 They thought they were addressing MPP foot soldiers at the MPP headquarters because it was shocking to hear them talk about MPP, our party. How?
17:59 So from where you sit, obviously it's clear that you lean more towards believing Dr. Dampari.
18:06 I don't lean more towards believing anybody. I lean more towards believing the truth.
18:11 What do you think is the truth so far?
18:14 All the allegations they levelled against him, first and foremost, they said that he got his promotions just on a silver platter, virtually.
18:22 That he was the worst, the most incompetent IGB.
18:25 And he indicated how he got his promotion very clearly. No one can contest this.
18:32 When he was taking advantage to upgrade himself, what were they doing?
18:36 One of them is a senior.
18:38 Some talk about the speed of promotions and how now things seem not to be going that way.
18:46 But within a seven year period, how he had ascended through the ranks very quickly.
18:50 They blamed the man. And he said, look, there was a policy.
18:56 And when that policy was changed, he was not the IGB in 2012.
19:00 And the impression was created as if after he became IGB, he decided to take the ladder that he used to climb.
19:08 And some of those in there say that nothing really has changed.
19:11 And he said that they even said promotion, he has indicated.
19:14 He doesn't even have the capacity to determine that it is done by the police council.
19:18 I mean, all the allegations they leveled against him, it was embarrassing.
19:21 You remember his lawyer, my lecturer, former lecturer, was insisting that they shouldn't sit in there.
19:27 And they insisted. For a moment, I had problems with honorable attachment.
19:31 But when they sat, and the embarrassment, you could see it in their faces.
19:35 They were shocked. The man exposed them the more.
19:39 My worry is the shameful partisanship within the security forces.
19:46 And that is just unacceptable. Look, see, civil servants and public servants will remain.
19:51 Politicians will come and go. Today is NDC, tomorrow is MPP.
19:55 And let me remind those who think that the MPP is going to be in power forever.
19:59 There were people in NDC who thought the same in 2016.
20:03 There is a popular proverb in the band, "Nibun yen lo habi nyi rotaba."
20:07 That if you are going to be landed by the donkey, you don't see the ears.
20:11 You only realize that the donkey has ears after you are on the ground.
20:15 So they can sit down, secure themselves, and think that they will be in power,
20:20 and engage in partisanship within the security services.
20:23 Power, inshallah, will change in 2024. It will change.
20:27 Let's veer into the terrain of the EC.
20:31 But before we do that, with all of this happening, and some of the comments that have been passed by COP,
20:36 Alex Mensah, among others, whether or not the IGP is changed, okay?
20:43 Does that make you in the NDC fear for election 2024?
20:48 First and foremost, we...
20:49 Very briefly, because we have limited time.
20:51 First and foremost, our position is very clear.
20:53 The 2024 elections are not going to be determined by any court in this country.
20:57 And if anybody sits down and thinks that people can rig the election, then we'll come to court.
21:02 It is not going to be determined by any court in this country.
21:06 But it will be determined by the votes of people, and if it comes to the point where
21:12 a court resolution is needed, we will have to go to court.
21:15 We will not get there. We will not get to that point.
21:19 Why?
21:20 Because we allowed them to rob us in 2020, and we went to the court, and we all saw what happened.
21:28 So you don't trust the courts?
21:29 Well, I'm not going to sit here to say whether I trust the courts or I don't trust the courts.
21:33 What I can only say is that we will not get to that level. Let everybody be reminded.
21:40 Because you see, in 2024, we all witnessed what happened.
21:44 Now, when you have characters such as Alex Mensah, who was the Nda police officer,
21:48 when you have such people...
21:50 I think you should, whatever you may feel against him, support him with such respect.
21:54 When you have such individuals as police officers, who demonstrate how partisanship they are,
22:04 why wouldn't you experience the experience we had in Tama'is, in Zafzugu, in Tehchimansout,
22:10 in other places? When you have such individuals within the security services,
22:14 and you think that we can rely on such partisan policing and security forces,
22:19 we are not going to do that. Look, this can't...
22:21 But you can't take the law into your own hands.
22:23 Have I said we are going to take the law into our own hands?
22:25 What I'm simply saying...
22:26 And vigilante activity has been prescribed.
22:29 No, what I'm simply saying is that we are not going to get to the stage where we would have to go to court
22:34 to determine who wins.
22:35 Alright, thank you. Thank you for those comments.
22:37 Let's talk about the EC's limited voter registration exercise.
22:40 It started on Tuesday, ends on October 2nd.
22:42 We've seen a paucity of numbers getting registered, comparatively.
22:46 I mean, compared to the numbers that we are expecting.
22:49 This morning I was interacting with Maxwell Nkutoy, our representative for the South Toll seat.
22:55 And just over 200 people registered in two days, when you're looking at over 12,000.
23:01 So if you look at the trend, if it continues that way, you would have just about 4,000 people registered.
23:07 How much of a worry is that for you?
23:09 And barring the injunctions that have been brought forth by the five political parties, including your party,
23:15 what do you see to be the way forward on that?
23:17 First and foremost, the hypocrisy of the MPP is legendary.
23:22 On the very day the EC held the press conference and announced that they were going to have this exercise
23:29 take place at the various district offices of the EC, your station interviewed one of the leaders of the opposition parties
23:40 who expressed shock about the conduct of the Electoral Commission
23:44 and the fact that when this issue was raised at IPAC,
23:48 all the political parties who were there, including the MPP, kicked against that proposal.
23:54 And your station interviewed another person from MPP, if I'm not mistaken, I guess it was the deputy secretary,
24:02 or one of the deputy secretaries, who confirmed that yes, at IPAC, they all told the EC chair and the EC
24:10 that having this exercise take place at the various district offices was not something they were going to support
24:17 and that a lot of people were going to be disenfranchised.
24:20 Only for the MPP to turn 360 degrees, have become the spokespersons for the EC in such reckless conduct of the Electoral Commission.
24:32 Now when your station interviewed the MPP, I said look, Jean Maesa is an activist of the MPP.
24:39 She's an active MPP person.
24:41 The Electoral Commission?
24:42 Oh, she is. She's an MPP activist. You remember I said…
24:45 When she was with the IEA…
24:47 I'm saying…
24:48 When she headed that institution, did you think she was MPP?
24:51 She has always been an MPP person. Look, I sat on your program, I remember, and said she was a family member to the first lady.
24:57 Kwaku Baku sat on Gubno Ngana and came on his file and said that was not true.
25:01 It turned out to be true in court.
25:03 And you people, because Kwaku Baku said he told them the truth, which was the gospel truth, when he knew he was lying,
25:08 he knew that he was a family member.
25:10 But he sat on your program and lied that I was not speaking the truth.
25:13 In any case, in any case, just a quick point, in any case,
25:18 will we ever elect anyone to that office who will have no political coloration?
25:24 Is there anything wrong with it?
25:26 I'm saying an activist…
25:27 Once the person is free…
25:29 I'm saying an activist, but if you allow me to land, I'll tell you, using the words of Dr Bosman Asare.
25:38 Dr Bosman Asare was my two-year senior at the University of Ghana.
25:42 I was in the psychology department.
25:43 He was in political science.
25:44 You know Ligon.
25:45 The departments are on the same compound.
25:47 When I went to Ligon to do my PhD, he was the head of the department,
25:51 the same department of political science.
25:54 He was an MPP member, TESCON member, when we were all students there.
25:57 He became a patron for TESCON.
26:00 Now, he himself, on a sister TV station, when I said that Gene Mansour was an MPP activist,
26:07 he called into the program, and his first statement was that Gene Mansour was not an MPP activist.
26:14 So he knew in the heart of his heart that an activist of a political party ought not be the EC chair.
26:23 So I asked him, "Now, if you quickly call onto the program to say that Gene Mansour was not an activist of MPP
26:29 and therefore an activist of a political party should not be heading the EC, how about you?"
26:35 So he knew that being an activist of a political party, you should not be heading the EC
26:41 because that partisanship will come to play.
26:44 So the point I'm just making is that when the MPP 360 detained and they are now defending Gene Mansour,
26:51 look, the constitution is very clear in Article 42 of the 1992 constitution.
26:56 It says, among others, that everybody has the right to vote and everybody is entitled to be registered
27:05 for the purposes of participating in any electoral process in this country.
27:09 The only body close with the authority to determine how the registration is done is the electoral commission.
27:15 The electoral commission, aside this constitutional obligation, comes with their own law to parliament
27:21 in the name of a CI. The CI 91 and 24 as amended have all indicated how the registration is done
27:30 for the purposes of having it done at places where it would be convenient for elections to be conducted.
27:37 Do we do elections? Do we vote at the EC district offices?
27:41 Now, on the same program, you have the EC. Dr. Bosman Asari said that,
27:47 "Oh, majority, that over 80% of the EC offices wouldn't require that people should move from distances
27:57 to come to register." And I told him that was a lie.
28:00 You know we have rural consensuses than city or if you like, urban consensuses in Ghana.
28:05 Is that not a fact? And you know how our rural consensuses or communities are displaced.
28:11 In greater Accra, take someone who is in Madina district, the last end of Madina, Boko B.
28:18 If the person would have to come to the district office to register, that person would have to pay
28:25 for transportation and the least he can pay should not be less than 20 or 30 Ghana citizens.
28:31 Now, a person who doesn't even have food to eat, how does the person come to participate in an electoral process
28:36 and registration where the electoral commission is enjoined to do so by the constitution of Ghana
28:41 and the CIE or they themselves have taken to parliament to be made into law?
28:45 How can a person do that?
28:47 Tamale Central and Tamale South all falls under Tamale Metropolitan Assembly.
28:52 The first day, only five people registered. Five people, the first day. Five.
28:58 In both constituencies?
28:59 In both constituencies. Four Tamale Central, one Tamale South.
29:03 And hundreds, if not thousands of young men and women went there to register.
29:07 Only five people registered the first day.
29:10 Yesterday, I'm here to get the figures of the number that registered because the machines are not functioning well.
29:17 Silboa, on your station, when I was coming.
29:19 Dr. Silboa said that the reason why the machines have been slow was that it hasn't been used for two years.
29:26 How irresponsible and reckless this individual is.
29:29 But we've been told they are now allowing offline registration, not necessarily online.
29:32 In Tamale, when they attempted to do and they got five, the offline they couldn't. It was so difficult.
29:38 So I'm saying that if you tell me that because the machines were not used for two years,
29:44 how does the responsible heads or managers of electoral commissions do?
29:48 Before you started, you would have tested them. They haven't done that.
29:51 Because if they did so, they would have realized that because the machines were sitting for two years,
29:56 the speed was going to be affected.
29:58 We have to go. Do you feel that this has the likelihood of affecting election 2024?
30:05 And are you hoping that if things continue this way, there could be some extension?
30:10 I take solace in a verse in the Quran that,
30:14 "They plan and Allah plans, but Allah is the master of all plans."
30:23 Whatever Jean Manson, Serebua, and Dr. Bosman Ansari are doing with MPP at the Flagstaff House,
30:29 Nanado and the MPP will go.
30:32 They will lose the 2024 elections, inshallah.
30:35 And this attitude they put up, there will be a day for accountability.
30:39 You've been quoting proverbs a lot over the last few months,
30:42 and ABA Husseini is no longer in a pole position.
30:47 Are you taking over from ABA Husseini?
30:49 My senior brother is still engaged actively in politics.
30:52 You don't necessarily need to be in Parliament to be an active participant in our political discourse.
30:59 And maybe if you care to know, in many typical northern homes,
31:04 the way we each are brought up, we are brought up,
31:08 the communication vanishes with proverbs.
31:12 That is how we are brought up.
31:14 And in any case, some are outstandingly good when it comes to proverbs.
31:18 I don't dispute that. I am fully aware of that.
31:20 And my senior brother, Honourable Abe,
31:22 My senior brother, Honourable Abe,
31:24 will always be the fountain from which we get some of this.
31:30 We have to go. Our time is up. I think I've eaten some seconds into it.
31:34 Francis Esyam, so what's the way forward?
31:37 And IPAC, will the NDC go back?
31:39 20 seconds.
31:41 If you ask me my opinion, initially I had a view that the NDC should go back to IPAC.
31:46 That was my personal opinion as Muthala.
31:48 Dr Farid Jan says go back.
31:50 I'm saying that that was my opinion.
31:52 But with this conduct, the disrespect to IPAC,
31:54 where IPAC itself says we will not agree this position,
31:58 Jim Mensa will come out and do something that they want to do.
32:01 So you will not go back. That's the point.
32:03 I'm saying that, I've just told you that personally,
32:05 my opinion was that NDC should go back.
32:07 Has it changed?
32:08 It has changed somewhat.
32:10 And it has changed because of the conduct, the belligerence,
32:13 the arrogant posture of Jim Mensa.
32:15 You've answered my question.
32:16 They've made a decision and they refuse to respect that.
32:18 You've answered the question.
32:19 The NDC.
32:20 Francis Esyam, what next?
32:22 Francis Esyam and others who, according to PAC,
32:26 have infringed on the law.
32:29 What next?
32:30 We just sit with our hands tied.
32:32 The committee of parliament recommended their prosecution.
32:35 The entire house recommended their prosecution.
32:38 The report then submitted to the Minister for Justice and Attorney General.
32:41 And my good friend, maybe perhaps you should be putting this question
32:45 to Honorable Ghafreud Udami, with whom I was in Ligon.
32:49 Ask him why they are not prosecuting those who have been cited
32:53 for infraction and violations of the financial laws.
32:56 Thank you very much for joining us in the studio, Mutala Mohamed.
33:00 Sometimes he'll be fighting me.
33:02 Sometimes he'll be...
33:03 I don't fight.
33:04 He'll be...
33:05 [laughter]
33:07 Anyway, so Mutala Mohamed, a member of parliament for Tamale Central,
33:11 joining me to share thoughts on recent happenings in the country.
33:16 And of course he hit us with that one from the PAC
33:20 and what it had brought to bear on some people,
33:25 in which instance we should see the Attorney General doing some work,
33:29 which is not happening.
33:31 The question is why.
33:32 Thank you for staying with us.
33:33 We'll be back with more on The AM Show.
33:36 [music]