President John Evans Atta Mills yesterday shocked Ghanaians in his State of the Nation address in Parliament, when he failed to acknowledge the presence of Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood and other august visitors like former President John Agyekum Kufuor at the auspicious occasion, as he launched investigations into the controversial MV Benjamin missing cocaine saga.
President Mills, who appears to have an axe to grind with the Chief Justice, virtually snubbed her, tore into shreds the report of the Georgina Wood Committee into the missing cocaine saga which she presided over, and declared a fresh probe into the matter.
Even though he acknowledged that administrative enquiries were conducted into some cases of cocaine chaired by the CJ, he was not enthused about the outcome of the inquiry because the missing cocaine was not found and the culprits were not identified.
“I have decided that a full-scale investigation into the disappearance of cocaine from the Police vault as well as the 77 parcels of cocaine which entered Ghana’s territorial waters aboard the MV Benjamin vessel and mysteriously got missing should be re-opened,” President Mills ordered.
According to him, with a Presidential Commission of Enquiry, the issues would be unraveled.
However, MP for Akim Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta Akyea, said the President was only making propaganda statements because he had years to deal with the cocaine issue.
“He thinks by smearing NPP with cocaine, he will be popular with the people”, Mr. Akyea said.
President Mills acknowledged the presence of the Vice President, Speaker of Parliament and MPs, but strangely left out Chief Justice Georgina Wood who was sitting by him, in a manner that has set tongues wagging.
Not even the loud shouts of ‘Chief Justice! Chief Justice!!’ by the Minority side in Parliament, would encourage President Mills to acknowledge the presence of the head of the judiciary who incidentally sat close to him.
After waiting briefly to listen to the shouts of ‘Chief Justice! Chief Justice!!,’ all present in the House’s Chamber expected the President to, at least, redeem himself if he had inadvertently omitted the name of the CJ.
However, the President continued with his presentation without acknowledging the first female Chief Justice of the land, to the chagrin of the revered members of the Bench, lawmakers and members of the diplomatic corps.
Equally snubbed by President Mills, was former President John Agyekum who was in the Chamber with his spokesperson, Frank Agyekum, to grace the occasion.
President Mills’s blatant slighting of Chief Justice Georgina Wood immediately set tongues wagging about the relationship between his National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration and the judiciary.
Belatedly however, Mills at the point of departure from Parliament apologized for what he described as an oversight during an interaction with journalists.
“There is a certain protocol about the State of the Nation Address. When you go to Parliament, the person you address is the Speaker. And this has been done over the years.
Today, I just wanted to veer off a little and therefore I acknowledged those who were around including the Speaker, Honorable members and distinguished ladies and gentlemen. In fact, I forgot to mention the Chief Justice.
“It wasn’t intentional at all. I am told that President Kufuor was also there and I missed him. The diplomatic corps were there, Honorable Ministers were there, Justices of the Supreme Court were all there but it was not that I wanted to slight anybody but that was the protocol so if I left anybody out it was not intentional.
“It was just because I wanted to make a point and I did. So I want to apologize to all of them. But next time, I have to follow protocol to address only the Speaker when I go to Parliament,” Mills explained.
Asked how he felt about the refusal of the Minority Leader to escort him out of Parliament as protocol demands, President Mills said, “Well, it is his choice.
But I believe that we have certain protocols in this country and there are certain things that you need to do irrespective of your position. I think that we must all stick to the rules”.
In response to the Minority Leader’s claim that his address was a political message rather than an address in the national interest, Professor Mills said, “That is his own judgment. I think that the people of Ghana will decide what kind of message it is.
“There was a message that I wanted to send to the people of Ghana that there is hope for the future and I think I succeeded in doing that. I also drew attention to what we have been able to do so far and what is in store for Ghanaians, and I believe that I was able to get the message across.
“I was not surprised about the heckling because I am used to it and therefore it did not throw me off in anyway,” the President said.
K. T. Hammond, MP for Adansi-Asokwa and a former Deputy Minister for the Interior as well as Energy, said by failing to acknowledge the presence of the Chief Justice, President Mills and his administration had again proved that they had a lot against her, especially when government had declared its intention to overturn all probes presided over by the eminent lady.
By Awudu Mahama