Capt Effah-Dartey challenges composition of board(Centre Spread) February 13, 2009

Story: Michael Donkor
CAPTAIN Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (retd) has raised objections to the composition of the Board of Inquiry (BOI) set up to investigate the alleged malfeasance characterising the recruitment of the first batch of 420 would-be soldiers in March 2008.
Capt Effah-Dartey, who is the lead counsel for the Director of Manpower and Personnel Administration (DMP) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), Col Kojo Damoah, one of the witnesses in the case, raised the objection at the first sitting of the board at Burma Camp in Accra yesterday.
Consequently, he tendered in a 17-point petition on behalf of his client to the Chief of Staff of the GAF, Brig-Gen R. Winful, who set up the BOI, through the president of the board and called for the board’s recomposition.
Sitting was, therefore, suspended for the petition to be carefully studied.
The objection centred on the membership of Lt Col R. S. Nyaka of the Army Headquarters on the grounds that he was a member of the subcommittee charged with the recruitment of Army sports personnel.
Col Damoah, in his submission to the board, said Lt Col Nyaka had demonstrated special interest in his (Damoah’s) appointment as DMP and shown malicious bias against him in advance before the convening of the board.
He said Lt Col Nyaka was a member of the subcommittee set up by the Director-General of Training at the General Headquarters to co-ordinate the recruitment of quality sportsmen and women for the GAF.
Col Damoah said by that position, Lt Col Nyaka became part of the recruitment process and had been deeply involved in the 2008 recruitment exercise.
He explained that it was the subcommittee on sports that had been charged with the responsibility of recruiting the best 30 sports persons for each of the three arms of the GAF, which comprised the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.
He said Lt Col Nyaka was reported to have told Lt Col J. H. K. Buntuguh of the GAF some time in January, 2009 to stop forwarding the names of recommended sportsmen and women to the DMP for consideration in the selection of the 2008 first batch of potential recruits for training at the Armed Forces Recruits Training School (AFRTS).
He told the board that Lt Col Nyaka was alleged to have intimated to Lt Col Buntuguh that the training of the 2008 first batch of potential Army recruits would be suspended, as a BOI would be instituted against Col Damoah for recruitment malpractice to pave the way for his eventual removal from the appointment.
He said the fact that Lt Col Nyaka made those statements to Lt Col Buntuguh and predicted that there would be a BOI as a prelude to his (Col Damoah’s) removal to pave the way for his (Lt Col Nyaka’s) appointment as DMP made him an interested party in the case.
On the other related matters, Col Damoah stated that Paragraph 1 (B) of the convening order of the BOI contained very serious factual errors which would be of material relevance to some of the proceedings and findings of the board.
He said that paragraph contained an erroneous impression that the 2008 general recruitment exercise had been conducted in July 2008 when the general screening had actually been conducted in March 2008.
He said 2008 was the only year that the general recruitment exercise had not been conducted in July.
Col Damoah said additionally, paragraph one of the convening order indicated that 420 potential Army recruits were to commence training at the AFRTS, instead of the Army Recruits Training School (ARTS).
He added that the same paragraph stated that the training of the potential Army recruits was to commence on January 15, 2009 when in fact the letter was dated January 23, 2009, eight clear days after the purported training had commenced.
He said it was not for nothing that January 15, 2009 was featured in the Convening Order of the BOI and added that it held one of the keys to the conspiracy to use a BOI, whose outcome was already predetermined, to achieve political and ethnic objectives.
He said the date for the commencement of the training on the letters given to the potential Army recruits was January 31, 2009 and not January 15, 2009.
Col Damoah quoted Article 33(5) of the 1992 Constitution which provided that the rights, duties, declarations and guarantees relating to the fundamental human rights and freedoms specifically mentioned in Chapter Five shall not be regarded as excluding others not specifically mentioned which are considered inherent in a democracy and intended to secure the freedom and dignity of man.
He said consequently, the composition of a BOI could adversely affect the fundamental human rights of a witness or a person under investigation if, on the balance of probabilities, a reasonable mind could conclude that there was the likelihood of prejudice or bias against or in favour of a witness or a person under investigation.