NDC Ministers Culpable

Posted: The Daily Guide |Wednesday, 10 March 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The Chief Prosecutor in the Mabey & Johnson (M&J) case in which some senior members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, including Ministers of State, have been indicted, has indicated that there is documentary evidence to support their prosecution.

He said the documents point to their culpability.

John Hardy noted that the prosecution cited bank accounts extract cheques and the like, which supported the bribery allegation against the Ghanaian officials.

In an interview with DAILY GUIDE yesterday, Mr Hardy, who is in the country on the invitation of the Danquah Institute (DI), noted that the information was not uncovered by an investigation but revealed to the investigation team by M&J officials.

Unlike the directors and managers of the company who were and are still under investigation in their individual capacities, he noted that the Ghanaian officials were not going to be the subject of prosecution in the United Kingdom (UK).

On the issue of why the prosecution failed to disclose the names and identities of the officials of M&J but chose to code-name them, Mr Hardy, who is an international criminal law specialist, noted that it would have prejudiced any future trial of the individuals involved since they were and are still under investigation.

“For that reason, it was decided not to name them,” he noted.

That notwithstanding, the Chief Prosecutor noted that by the same thinking in explaining the guilt of the company, “it is necessary to know whether they were corrupting officials very much low down at the local level or national figures.”

For this reason, he emphasised that a decision was taken for the case against the company to proceed, irrespective of the stage of development of any investigation against the directors.

Meanwhile, Mr Hardy is scheduled to meet the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to provide it with some basic information which he believes would assist the government and people of Ghana in their investigation of the officials involved.

Considering the fact that he is not in the country on the ticket of the British government, Mr Hardy indicated that he can only share his experience with the Ghanaian authorities and not, as it were, exchange information.

Yesterday, Mr. Hardy delivered a lecture at the British Council Hall in Accra under the theme, ‘Protecting Ghana and Ghana’s Emerging Financial Offshore Centre from Money Laundering.’
He is scheduled to deliver another such lecture on corruption at the K.A. Busia Hall of the University of Ghana, Legon, under the theme, ‘International Corruption - How Ghana Can Collaborate with the UK and Others to Beat It.’

NDC Lies Exposed

Posted: Daily Guide |Friday, 05 March 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu

THE OPPOSITION New Patriotic Party (NPP) has provided just enough evidence to disprove the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its leadership’s claims that they were not invited to the former’s national delegates conference in Kumasi.

The party has been compelled by the raving and ranting of the likes of Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the General Secretary of the NDC, and Richard Quashigah, the Propaganda Secretary, to provide substantial evidence of the invitations extended to the party.

The evidence included a receipt voucher which accompanied the invitation letters sent to the national chairman of the NDC, Dr. Kwabena Adjei, the NDC as a party and various political parties and their national chairmen, twenty-two clears days before the main event; February 5, 2010.

A copy of the receipt voucher, which is in the possession of DAILY GUIDE, indicates that not only the NDC, but the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), Peoples National Convention (PNC) and the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) indeed acknowledged receipt of the invitations extended to them.

In the case of the NDC, and for that matter its national chairman, Dr. Kwabena Adjei, the voucher indicated that one Bonney at the party headquarters duly signed and received the invitation on his behalf.

For this reason the NPP believes that if for one reason or the other Dr. Kwabena Adjei and the NDC failed to respond and honour the invitation, they should not create the impression that they were not invited.
The NPP believes that the NDC deliberately did not show up at its national delegates conference and for that matter their claims are false.

The opposition party thus demands that the ruling party retract statements suggesting they were not invited.

Communications Director of the party, Kwaku Kwarteng yesterday said they were making the documents public in order to stop the NDC from misinforming Ghanaians.

“We think it is healthy for our democracy that relationships be clean; political parties be cordial”, was how he put it, stressing that “this will conclude the matter and that the NDC retract their denial and apologise to the people of this country”.

As of yesterday, Asiedu Nketiah, popularly known as General Mosquito, was still insisting on Citi FM that the party that did not receive the invitation.

His argument was that it was not brought by a senior member of the NPP, and that accounted for the confusion.

In a related development, the International Democrat Union (IDU) has congratulated the NPP for a successful national delegates conference.

A statement signed by its General Secretary, Eirik Moen recognised the invaluable contribution of the party’s former chairman, Peter Mac Manu.

As party chairman and chairman of the Democratic Union of Africa (DUA), the statement said “Peter Mac Manu has been an excellent global ambassador for the NPP, as well as a superb DUA chairman”.

It thus expressed hope and optimism that the DUA will be able to benefit from his experience and good council for many years to come.

Exposed

How NALAG Prez `fooled` NPP
Posted: Friday, February 26, 2010

By Charles Takyi - Boadu

Extensive investigations conducted by The Chronicle have uncovered how the former President of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG), George Kyei Baffour, ‘fooled’ the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) into believing that he was one of their kind, and subsequently gave him an appointment.

Documents in the possession of the paper indicate that at the time he was serving under the Kufuor-led NPP administration, Mr. Kyei Baffour was not just a card-bearing member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), but was indeed a paid-up member of the Ahenbronum branch in the Asante Akim South constituency of the party.

He was therefore funding the NDC as a party in diverse ways, through his special monetary contributions, for organising the party.

Though he is believed to have joined the NPP as a registered member in the year 2004, he was still holding on to his membership of the NDC, as of the year 2009, when he was serving in the NPP government.

This gives a clear indication that Mr. Kyei Baffour did not either resign or retire his membership of the NDC, and still owed allegiance to both parties. The situation compelled some members of the Asante Akim North constituency of the NPP, who realised his game plan, to send a petition to the national headquarters of the party.

This was the time he declared his intention to contest for the constituency secretary of the Asante Akim North constituency of the NPP.

The petition, which was signed by one Stephen Boampong, and sent to the national executives of the party through party Chairman, Peter Mac Manu, was meant to block Mr. Kyei Baffuor’s bid to contest for the position.

Mr. Boampong stated that he and his colleagues had gathered information from members of the NDC in Konongo, that Kyei Baffuor’s name still existed as a founding member of the NDC, and that he had never written any letter of resignation to the party.

For this reason, the petitioners said Kyei Baffuor was still a member of the NDC.

However, the leadership of the party did not pay heed to the petitioner, and Kyei Baffuor eventually became the Asante Akim North constituency secretary of the NPP.

Strenuous efforts to reach Kyei Baffuor on his cell phone to get his input into this story has proven futile, since the network operator kept saying the phone was either switched off, or out of coverage area.