Posted: Daily Guide | Monday, 21 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
A big fight has broken out in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) between the Central Regional Minister, Ama Benyiwa-Doe and the party’s communications director in the region, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, over the award of building contracts.
Ms. Doe, a former National Women’s Organizer, accuses Mr. Jacobs of hatching a plot to get her removed from office because she refused to give him contracts.
Media reports suggested that some individuals and groups have petitioned President Mills to remove Ms. Doe claiming she was the most inefficient government representative of all time in the Central Region.
But Benyiwa Doe, nicknamed ‘Ama Chavez’, believes “Allotey is behind all this”.
“If you read the newspaper story very well, it gives lead to Allotey Jacobs as the source of the story.”
The Central Regional Minister told Peace FM that this could be the result of strained relations between her and Jacobs, a Board member of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
According to her, she believed Allotey, who claims to be a contractor, was behind the negative reports on her “because he wanted a contract that does not exist and I couldn’t get it for him.”
She added, “He has gone to almost everybody who matters from the Central Region to the capital Accra, petitioning them that I should be removed from my position” –a claim Allotey Jacobs has since denied.
Apart from that, she said “he has gone to Mr. Quayson, the Chairman of the Revenue Agencies Board, he has come to Kwesi Ahwoi and Ato Ahwoi with the same allegation; so I have ample evidence that he is behind all this… this is his handiwork. Meanwhile, he was a CPP man and this is a CPP newspaper so the links are there.”
Allotey Jacobs, who calls himself an ‘educated fisherman’ however thinks Benyiwa Doe is only trying to create unnecessary attention for herself because he has done no such thing as she claims.
Though he admitted having a strained relation with the Minister, he denied having anything to do with the newspaper publication since his accuser could have equally planted the story to make it look as though some people including himself wanted her out.
Mr. Jacobs declined to comment on whether or not he had any such discussions about the possible removal or reshuffle of Benyiwa Doe, with the Ahwoi brothers, who are said to be the de facto leaders of this country.
He also declined to comment on whether or not Benyiwa Doe was competent enough to occupy the position of Central Regional Minister.
He rejected suggestions that he was eyeing Benyiwa Doe’s position, hence his alleged interest in seeing her out.
On the issue of the contract, the ‘educated fisherman’ said “it’s so funny that the contract came from the Ministry of Education and not from the region,” noting, “The person who helped me in getting that contract was George Lawson, our Deputy General Secretary who was then the Special Assistant to the Education Minister, who gave me that contract.”
For this reason, he said “it was not her who gave me that contract.”