President John Mills yesterday made jokes out of serious issues to make up for the several questions he failed to satisfactorily answer, to the chagrin of some journalists, at his third media encounter since his assumption of office.
Mills was evasive as he failed to provide convincing answers to most of the questions posed to him.
In what seemed like a sponsored question, Koby Fiagbe of the Ghanaians Lens, owned by Koku Anyidoho, who was directing affairs yesterday, asked the President whether he had any intention to remove Chief Justice, Georgina Wood, as had been speculated in sections of the media.
In response, the President virtually made mockery of his party chairman, Dr Kwabena Adjei, who was present at the function.
President Mills walked up to Kobby Fiagbe, removed his pair of spectacles and said, “Stand here and look in my face. Do I look like a cat hunter?”
Dr Kwabena Adjei and the journalists gathered could not control their laughter at the humour.
The journalists could not hold their jaws together as most of them burst into uncontrollable laughter.
President Mills obviously referred to the infamous statement by Dr Adjei last year when he and his ten regional chairmen held a press conference and accused the judiciary of corruption, after the Attorney-General’s Department lost a series of high-profile cases.
According to Dr Adjei, who is nicknamed ‘Wayoo Wayo,’ they (NDC) had lost confidence in the Chief Justice since they claimed she had compromised the judiciary. Dr Adjei and his cohort therefore asked the Chief Justice to clean up the judiciary or they would be compelled to do so.
Asked how the NDC was going to do this, he stated, “There are several ways in killing a cat.”
On the issue of his health and his darkened palms, a major topic of speculations among Ghanaians, the President said there was nothing wrong with his health.
“If I have had any problem, it is with my sinus. Those who knew me seven years ago and know me now would realise that my tone is a bit nasal and therefore all kinds of illnesses have been cooked down to Atta Mills.
“Here is Atta Mills, anyone who wants to examine me can come, but when you do that, you have to pay a fee for it.” He then asked rhetorically, “How many of us here can say with full authority that come a week he will be alive?”
To prove his human frailty, the President said, “I am susceptible to all illnesses that afflict human flesh”, indicating that he only took solace in God, his physician.
As long as he lived, the President said, “I have hope.”
What caught the attention of the world, as captured on the BBC and other foreign networks, was his answer to the explosive issue about the political deadlock in neighbouring Ivory Coast. He said it was better for Ghana to mind its own business and not to ostensibly interfere in another country’s affairs, drumming the point home with a Fante proverb, ‘di wo fiesem’ meaning ‘mind your own business.’
This answer came as a surprise to most journalists, with majority of them wearing long and grim faces and turning in their seats.
President Mills announced that Ghana would not contribute troops to oust beleaguered Ivorian President, Laurent Gbagbo in the planned military intervention by the sub-regional grouping, ECOWAS.
President Mills said his government was unable to contribute because Ghana had been overstretched troop wise.
This, according to him, was due to the fact that most personnel of the country’s army were currently engaged in many peacekeeping missions around the globe and that he was not about to risk Ghana’s internal peace to remove Mr. Gbagbo.
Though he agreed that he, as well as other countries recognized that ‘President’ Alhassane Ouattara won the Ivorian elections, and supported the ECOWAS position, he would decline plans to forcibly remove Mr. Gbagbo from office.
“It is not for Ghana to choose a leader for Cote d’Ivoire,” he emphasized.
“As Commander in Chief, I consulted with my military high command and they advised that they could not release troops to join any ECOWAS contingent to take military action in Cote d’Ivoire.”
President Mills has been communicating with both Ouattara and Gbagbo but declined to give details of what he has been discussing with them in public since “some of us believe in quiet diplomacy and that is exactly what we are doing.” He also believes the situation needs the intervention of God.
President Mills does not think military intervention would be the best option in the Ivorian crisis since it would not bring peace.
“We will continue to pursue initiatives which will ensure there is peace in Cote d’Ivoire.”
He also denied media reports that he and his government supported Laurent Gbagbo with arms.
Speculations were rife that President Mills benefitted from Gbagbo’s largesse in the run up to the December 8, 2008 elections in Ghana with financial support, disabling Mills from contributing troops to dislodge the embattled Ivorian leader, who is gradually become a pariah in the comity of nations.
ECOWAS and western countries are strategizing on a military option to dislodge Laurent Gbagbo from power to pave the way for Ouattara.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu