I will come out! Victoria Hammah

• Posted on November 14, 2013
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The embattled former Deputy Minister of Communications, Victoria Hammah has broken her silence almost a week after she was sacked by the Mahama Administration, promising to come out with her story.

President John Mahama, through a terse statement last Friday, relieved Ms Hammah of her post over a leaked tape on which she was heard making some revelations about the workings inside government.

Vicky was not given prior information before her public dismissal; but rather, an email was sent to her from the presidency after the announcement relieving her of her duties.
However, in her first public interview with Osu-based Radio XYZ yesterday, Victoria Hammah said she respected the decision of the President to fire her, but lamented that she was not given a chance to defend herself in the leaked tape saga otherwise known as ‘VikiLeaks’.

The former deputy minister told the radio station she could only be grateful to President Mahama for the opportunity given her to serve in his administration, adding that she would come out with her side of the story at the right time.

She stated that she had learnt her lessons and promised to be more discreet if another opportunity was offered her in future.

Ms. Hammah, on the leaked tape which was recorded by her cousin-driver Lawrence Kwadwo Quayson, was heard saying that the Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister, Nana Oye Lithur met with the Justices that sat on the election petition which ruled in favour of President Mahama, a day before the judgment.

She also claimed that she would want to make $1million, before getting out of politics.

The 32-year-old Deputy Minister was also heard denigrating her colleague Deputy Minister, Rachel Florence Appoh, as an “ugly, unintelligent and egoistic” person who needlessly fought her boss, Nana Oye Lithur, at the Gender, Children and Social Protection Ministry.

WiLDAF Defence

Meanwhile, an advocacy group, Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF Ghana) has jumped to the defence of Ms Hammah, saying that she deserved to be heard before being fired.

In a statement issued in Accra yesterday and signed by Frank Wilson Bodza, Programme Manager for Governance, the group expressed concern about her dismissal, calling for a full-scale investigation into the ‘VikiLeaks’ to ascertain the implications of the issues raised in the purported tape with regard to governance, democracy, constitutionality and legality.

Apart from that, the statement also charged “the security agencies to also look at the issues of privacy and recording of private conversations without prior consent, which seems to be gaining acceptance in the country.”

It therefore charged President Mahama to explain to Ghanaians the reasons for sacking the Deputy Minister.

“This will help dispel the rumours surrounding her dismissal. Again, the Government should inform the public about whether Ms. Victoria Hammah was given a fair hearing prior to being dismissed, as this will enhance transparency in government decision-making processes. “Recently, the President called on women’s rights civil society groups to come to the defence of women in leadership who may come under attack, but we have no records or reports on whether Ms Victoria Hammah was defended by the President or given any platform to explain herself,” it said.

Minority

The Minority caucus in Parliament also asked the House to institute an enquiry into claims by Ms Hammah that the verdict of the election petition was politically motivated.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) petitioned the Chief Justice to investigate the matter of Nana Oye Lithur influencing the Justices who sat on the case, with the Judicial Secretary, Justice Alex Poku-Acheampong confirming receipt of the petition.

But the Minority said it would push to get Parliament to institute its own probe into the matter.

Deputy Minority leader, Dominic Nitiwul told Joy FM yesterday that the “serious and grievous” matters raised by Ms Hammah were of grave concern to them.

“We are not interested in a partisan push for any investigation into this tape, but because of the nature of this particular one and the person involved—a minister of state—that is why we think we should attach some importance to it.”

According to Dominic Nitiwul, if a minister of state makes such “damning and explosive” allegations, which affects the integrity of the Judiciary, it is worth investigating.

“In any democracy, Parliament is the root so it is up to Parliament to hold our democracy together. Anything that will threaten one arm of government, Parliament must act,” he indicated.

The Member of Parliament for Bimbilla indicated that the Minority was only acting in the interest of Ghanaians and not pushing any political agenda.

Dominic Nitiwul said they had already consulted some of their colleague MPs and would soon lay the matter on the floor of Parliament.

Majority Rejection

However, the Majority declared that it would not allow the Minority to have its way.

Majority Leader and Head of Government Business, Dr. Benjamin Kunbuor said if information on a leaked tape was of such importance to warrant a probe, then it must cut across.

“There have been serious revelations on other tapes [but] once you narrow it down to a-Victoria-Hammah-situation, you have polarized the situation; you have made it political,” he stressed.

Dr. Kunbuor feared should Parliament give credence to the VikiLeaks and institute a probe, it would be legitimizing what he described as a “mafia industry” with those in possession of secret tapes blackmailing other people.

Meanwhile, Head of the Political Science Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Professor Amoako Baah has stated that the call by the Minority is in the right direction.

He noted that Parliament had the prerogative to conduct any investigations in the country and thus the leadership must set up a committee to look into the matter.

Conceding that the action would be an exercise in futility, Prof Amoako Baah said for the sake of transparency, Parliament should go ahead with its investigations into the secret tape.

 By Charles Takyi-Boadu