One of the spokespersons of the now-popular youth movement called #FixTheCountry, Oliver Barker-Vormawor has filed a petition with the Ghanaian Parliament, the Attorney General and the Police CID to investigate and prosecute the President, his Vice, the Chief Justice and other government officials who he argued have, ‘blatantly’ breached the legislated COVID-19 restrictions.
In what he described as “Executive Covid-19 lawbreakers”, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, one of the #FixTheCountry spokespersons wrote to express the “disgust and concern” by millions of Ghanaians over the recent breach of restrictions on mass gathering when the President and his entourage converged with about 1000 mourners and party loyalists to mark the funeral rites of Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, alias “Sir John”, the former General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“The crime, which was broadcasted with impunity by the perpetrators of the crime, was organized and attended by several thousand people, many of whom are well-known public figures, and others have been captured by several hours of footage in the public domain. Several of these people appeared at the venue of the funeral, wearing funeral attire, suggesting that they were privy to the fact that the crime was afoot; agreed to participate in the commission of the crime; and did, in fact, participate in it, despite and in contravention of the restrictive measures adopted under the Imposition of Restrictions Act,” wrote Barker-Vormawor in the petition.
“Some of the notable persons who reportedly conspired to and acted in concert to commit the crime were: Mr. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (The President of Ghana) and his entourage; all of whom the President is capable of identifying when interrogated.”
According to the petitioner, these prominent people were invited to a “criminal gathering” and they accepted the invitation knowing well that t was against the Restriction Act.
The petition is calling for a criminal investigation of President Akufo Addo and his entourage because “Our laws do not exempt anybody or person from criminal liability for offences committed against the Republic. In fact, our entire democracy is premised on the idea that no single individual is above the law or perpetually immune from criminal liability for offences committed against the Republic.”
Mr. Barker- Vormawor used a Supreme Court’s pronouncement to insist that President Akufo Addo was liable for criminal investigation.
“We recognise that an executive President being the most powerful person in the state is the one who has the greatest capacity for wrong-doing. We do not need a petition of right or a notional defendant like the Attorney-General before we can exercise our democratic right of calling an erring President to order under article 2 of the Constitution, 1992 which only commands him to obey any order or direction this court may give, but also makes his failure to obey any order or direction a ground for his removal from office.”
