Dr Hilla Limann – A Biography: A critique
It is unusual for a biography to attract a critical review. But this is more an autobiography of the author than of Dr Limann. Firstly, the personal life of Dr Limann is covered in mere 18 pages. His first wife, daughter and grandchildren from that marriage are not even mentioned. Secondly, Prof. Addae-Mensah accuses President Limann of betrayal, and reproduces (page 457) the President’s letter to his party as evidence in support of that charge. This is preposterous.
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At a meeting held on Sunday, November 15, 1981, between the President and Dr Ayi Kumi at the Castle, with myself and Mr Amuah Awuah in attendance, Dr Ayi Kumi revealed that he was behind the move to take the People’s National Party (PNP) to court.
He claimed that “Dr Addae-Mensah has stolen the party and was using it to advance his ambition to become President; just as Nkrumah, his (Addae-Mensah’s) uncle, had done before him.” The court action was for the soul of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) but
Dr Ayi Kumi’s revelations, which make Machiavelli’s antics look amateurish, may partly explain Dr Limann’s subsequent behaviour towards the Gang of Three - Okutwer Bekoe, Batsa and Dr Addae-Mensah. He realised that the enemy within was not Ofori or Addae-Amaokoh, but the General Secretary he appointed.
After reading chapters two (Back to national politics-1979) and eleven (Attempts to unify the divided Nkrumahist front), one cannot help but ask Legon-style, “What went wrong in 1992?”. Political conditions in 1979 and 1992 were similar. In 1979, no one wasted time in fruitless talks with people who had formed parties solely to negotiate for positions at the high table. Imoru Egala, with the support of the “Unigov campaign” organisers behind him, told the others, “go organise your party, if you succeed and I fail, I shall come and join you. If you fail, you are welcome to join PNP.” And we got on with it.
Among the officers elected were: General Secretary (GS); a Kumasi-based, British-trained barrister from Offinso in the Ashanti Region, Dr Owusu Afriyie, and treasurer, K.N Ofori, from Obomen, Kwahu in the Eastern Region. The GS did not want to move his family to Accra so Mr Ofori offered him accommodation in his (Ofori’s) house. The two men are not related.
Dr Afriyie’s analysis of the political scene persuaded him that if a facade of unity could be maintained in the party, there was a good chance of victory. So he started every working day in Accra, with visits to the homes of Nana Okutwer Bekoe, the party Chairman, Mr Kojo Botsio, Dr Ayi Kumi, Imoru Egala, and later, Dr Limann, in that order, to brief them and receive instructions before going to his office. By humouring them with tact and diplomacy, every one of these people thought he controlled the party.
Effort and resources were concentrated on campaigning and winning the elections within three months of launching the party. He succeeded in putting a PNP President in the Castle. His success attracted people such as Prof. Addae-Mensah to want to be the Party’s General Secretary above everything else.
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Prof. Addae-Mensah sneeringly refers to his predecessor as “having no organisational abilities and only got the position of General Secretary because he was a relative of K.N. Ofori”. Yet, when Prof. Addae–Mensah also had the opportunity in 1992 to “galvanise the formidable CPP organisational machinery” to repeat the 1979 PNP victory, he squandered the chance in acrimony, squabbles, moaning and blaming others. He could not even wait to launch the party, PNC, he formed because he saw no prospect of winning. It takes more than good record/bookkeeping to build a successful political party.
It is easy to take over a success story and claim the credit, a well-known trait of Prof. Addae-Mensah. (“wo ne no ye adwuma bom a, na wafa” colleagues would candidly advise a newcomer to his chemistry department).
The 1979 campaign mostly drew on the supporters of the “General Acheampong’s Unigov” campaigners, even though victory was claimed for non-existent “formidable CPP machinery”. Where was the machinery in 1992? This lie was used to usurp power from Imoru Egala and diminish the role of the unigovists. The effect of this power shift was the demoralisation of the grass-roots unigovists’ supporters of the party. “Yabre agu –we have toiled for nothing” was the refrain one heard embarrassingly too often. These “unigov activists” joined Rawlings’ PNDC.
K. N. Ofori, the treasurer, is described as a “corrupt treasurer”. Mr Ofori’s business associate was Mr T. O. Asare, the founding Managing Director of the Ghana Commercial Bank. Their holdings included Wood Supply Ltd in Kumasi and the BCCI (Ghana) Ltd. Bank in Accra. Wood Supply Ltd sponsored the Kumasi PNP congress that nominated Dr Limann as presidential candidate. His problems with Mr Kofi Batsa, Chairman of Publicity Committee and Board Chairman of GIHOC, over funds raised by Mr Batsa were territorial. He wanted to control fundraising. Mr Ofori hosted Dr Limann any time we were in Kumasi during the campaign. He loved and funded the party and remained loyal to Alhaji Egala.
Dr Addae-Mensah’s tenure as General Secretary of PNP was characterised by “them and us” mentality. In fact, some anti-Ashanti sentiments were discernible. His denial of foreknowledge of the dismissal of Mr Kwaku Kyei, IGP, is a lie.
After the sacking of ministers, Drs Andah and Owusu-Afram and Mr Kyei on the same day, Dr Addae-Mensah remarked with a satisfying smile on his face, “Prempe College fuo anye adie”. During this period, it was impossible for Majors Boakye-Gyan, Mensah-Poku and Capt. Baah-Acheamfuor to communicate any security information to the government. The two Majors resorted to press conferences to air their concerns.
After riding with him at the back seat of a car campaigning for one month round the country to make him President, Dr Limann did not consider me a security risk and gave me unfettered access to his presence. For my part, I resolved not to use the opportunity for personal gain or favours in order to preserve my freedom to speak my mind. I also decided not to visit the homes or offices of the “big men” (Kofi Batsa, Okutwer Bekoe, Ofori and the Vice_President) for fear of being labelled “Limann’s spy”. I kept my resolve scrupulously.
Ahaji Imoru Igala occasionally sent for me when he needed me to deliver messages or documents to Dr Limann after he refused to go to the Castle because he felt slighted by Ivan’s man, Dr Arthur. Yet, Prof. Addae-Mensah in his paranoia, puts me in Mr Ofori’s house regularly attending conspiratorial meetings to plot against Dr Limann.
Regarding the copious notes on “what we could have done, if”…crap; I have this to say. Ghanaians elected PNP to govern the nation. They entrusted their security and safety fully into our hands. Dr Limann, as leader of the party and President, swore to defend and preserve the Constitution. No one told him how or placed any limitations on him. They simply expected him to honour his promise by all means necessary.
I do not accept or offer any excuse for our failure. Why tell Ghanaians that you tried, when all we did was treat Rawlings as an unavoidable natural disaster waiting to happen?
With his long association with the security agencies, Prof. Addae-Mensah should have known that the security institutions Dr Limann inherited did not fit the purpose. Instead of thinking outside the box, we relied on the same consciousness that produced the chaos to provide solutions.