I don’t accept recognition in the form of national honours – Fui Tsikata

The senior partner at Reindorf Chambers, the Ghanaian member firm of the DLA Piper Africa Group of law firms, Fui Tsikata, has said that he rejected the national award offered him by the state for the role he played in Ghana’s maritime dispute with Côte d’Ivoire because he personally does not accept recognition in the form of national honours.

Fui Tsikata, together with Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, the former attorney general and minister of justice in the erstwhile John Mahama government, led the process together with others to launch Ghana’s maritime dispute action at the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).

However, after the change of government in January 2017, the successor attorney general and minister of justice, Gloria Akuffo, and her then deputy, Godfred Yeboah Dame (now the Attorney General), picked up the case, argued it and secured Ghana’s victory in 2017.

Following their selection to receive national awards for their immerse contribution to the successful adjudication of the case in favour of Ghana at the ITLOS, both Tsikata and Appiah-Oppong declined the offer.

Fui’s statement

In a statement dated 15 March 2023 and signed by Tsikata, he said: “I understand that my decision to decline the offer of a national award is being interpreted as motivated by partisan political considerations.

“In my letter of 2 November 2022 to the Solicitor General, in response to hers informing me of the offer of an award, I explain that, ‘I have long and deeply held convictions about not accepting recognition in the form of national honours.’

“Those who know me will confirm these convictions as well as my inclination to avoid grand public gestures and the fuss around them,” Tsikata’s statement said.

Selecting recipients 

In his statement, Tsikata further explained: “If anything tarnishes the awards, it is not my rejection of the offer to me, but rather the unfortunate selectivity in deciding those involved in the maritime boundary litigation to whom awards would be given.

“It is impossible to understand the criteria which excluded the names of Nana Asafu-Adjaye, Thomas Manu, Ayaa Armah, Kojo Agbenor-Efunam, Nana Appia Kyei and Nii Adzei Akpor.

“Even Professor Martin Tsamenyi is left out. It was his work that led to the creation of the Maritime Boundary Secretariat, which co-ordinated the litigation,” Tsikata said.

According to Tsikata, Professor Tsamenyi “was an influential member of the team till he fell ill. Nor is it clear why Kwame Mfodwo, the co-ordinator of the Maritime Boundary Secretariat, and Nana Poku, the indefatigable cartographer of the team, were only deserving of ‘Certificates’, in an evidently belated attempt to offer them some acknowledgement,” he said.

“I prefer to celebrate the collective effort of the team and the leadership that promoted collaboration and stifled disruptive elements. The unforgettable images of Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong handing over to Gloria Akuffo symbolise that and remain indelible,” he added.

Initial appreciation

On 20 October 2017, President Akufo-Addo hosted the whole legal team, with members from both sides of the political divide, at Jubilee House in Accra to register the state’s appreciation to them for the collaborative effort they made to secure Ghana’s victory in the ITLOS case.

Speaking at that event, the president recalled all the contributions in the oil sector made by his predecessors under Ghana’s Fourth Republican constitution which resulted in the ITLOS victory of 2017.

The ceremony was attended by the late former president Jerry John Rawlings and his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, former government officials from the John Mahama government who initiated the court process, officials of the new NPP government who argued the case at the ITLOS, as well as some of the international lawyers who represented Ghana at the hearing.

At that gathering, President Akufo-Addo hinted that at the appropriate time, national honours would be conferred on the team that had worked to secure victory for Ghana.

Neither Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong nor Fui Tsikata expressed any misgivings about the national awards then. However, when the time came on Tuesday (14 March 2023), they failed to show up for the awards ceremony at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC).

Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra

Asaase Radio 99.5 broadcasts on radio via 99.5 in Accra, 98.5 in Kumasi, 99.7 in Tamale, 100.3 in Cape Coast and on our affiliates Bawku FM 101.5 in Bawku, Beats FM 99.9 in Bimbilla, Somua FM 89.9 in Gushegu, Stone City 90.7 in Ho, Mining City 89.5 in Tarkwa and Wale FM 106.9 in Walewale
Tune in or log on to broadcasts online: www.asaaseradio.com, Sound Garden and TuneIn
Follow us on Twitter: @asaaseradio995
Live streaming: facebook.com/asaaseradio99.5. Also on YouTube: Asaase Radio Official.
Join the conversation. Call: 020 000 9951 or 059 415 7777. Or WhatsApp: 020 000 0995.
#AsaaseRadio
#TheVoiceofOurLand