NPP Jabs Mahama Over Corruption

Published in Daily Guide on September 26, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

 

 

Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) yesterday dissected President John Dramani Mahama, virtually declaring him unfit to hold the high office of president of the land.
The party mentioned a number of stinky deals it said President Mahama had superintended since 2009, saying he lacked the credibility to lead the country, and warning that “a vote for JDM is a vote for hopelessness for the youth and a vote for corruption.”
The brother of President Mahama was particularly singled out by the NPP who cited him in a transaction that smacked of fraud on the contributors of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) pension fund.
A company owned by Ibrahim Mahama, junior brother of the president, Engineers and Planners, was said to have virtually collapsed the Merchant Bank, owned by SSNIT contributors, through over exposure to non-secured loans.
At a press conference in Accra yesterday, Deputy Communications Director of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Buaben Asamoa raised issues about the circumstances under which Engineers and Planners Limited, owned by Ibrahim Mahama, benefitted from the sale of Merchant Bank Ghana (MBG), a company in which SSNIT contributors owned 98 percent stake, to a South African Bank, FirstRand.
Under the terms of the sale, the FirstRand was required to pay an amount of 746.2 million South African Rand, the equivalent of $91million for a 75 percent stake in Merchant Bank Ghana to expand its presence on the continent in a deal that was approved by the Government of Ghana (GoG).
At the time, Merchant Bank, which was one of the few remaining Ghanaian banks in the country, was said to be reeling under a heavy burden of a GH¢330million debt which was choking the bank to an eventual collapse.
Among the list of companies and individuals that were indebted to the bank was Ibrahim’s Engineers and Planners, owing not less than GH¢57.2m, representing 19.1% of the total debt owed the bank before it was sold out.
Interestingly, much of these loans had been turned into bad debts while the Managing Director of Merchant Bank, who signed off the loans and was sacked for error of judgment, was said to be in the office of President Mahama now as an Advisor, raising eyebrows.
What seemed to baffle the leadership of the NPP was the fact that the transaction excluded some of the loans on the Bank’s balance sheet.
The Issue
Meanwhile, existing shareholders are expected to continue to collect outstanding balances.
For the NPP, what this meant was that “suffering workers of Ghana have been forced to swallow the bad debts incurred by some business people so that those business people can go on enjoying their lives of luxury, including flying around in their private jets.”
This, according to Mr Buaben Asamoa, was because “the pension of Ghanaian workers have been sacrificed to pay off debts that they knew nothing of so that some few people could continue having access to their privileged lives of comfort and opulence.”
Nevertheless, the NPP said they did not wish Ibrahim, the President’s brother, who they described as “the young, very enterprising man” ill, adding, “In fact we celebrate success.”
“When your company falls into bad debt and cannot service its loans and the pension funds of the workers of Ghana are forced by the President, who happens to be your brother, for that pension fund to ring fence and take on your debt, then we have to ask some serious questions.”
In view of this and a host of crucial issues involving the President including his role in the infamous STX Korean housing deal, which ended in a fiasco among others, the NPP as a party believed that President Mahama lacked the integrity to lead the country.
They equally believed a vote for him would be a vote for the sellout of Ghana’s future since “he has nothing to offer to the youth”.

AFAG Calls Off Red Revo Demo

Published in Daily Guide on September 25, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

 

Henry Asante with Ohene Djan addressing the press conference yesterday

Government stands accused of influencing the police to frustrate the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) from carrying out an intended demonstration originally scheduled for today.
The pressure group indicated its readiness to hold a three-day protest march dubbed ‘Red Revolution,’ which was scheduled to start today, to back home their demands for the Electoral Commission (EC) to back down on its intention to create 45 new constituencies for the December 7 general elections.
They intended to demonstrate on some streets of Accra and later converge at the headquarters of the EC, located at Ridge, where they were scheduled to stay for the three-day period of the demonstration.
However, at a press conference in Accra yesterday, Deputy Chairman of AFAG Henry Asante expressed disappointment in the sudden decision of the police to call off the demonstration. He cited the inability of the police to provide adequate security for demonstrators, as one of the reasons given by the police regarding why the demonstration could not come off.
“The Police which had earlier agreed to and approved our routes invited the leadership of AFAG to a meeting only to renege the agreement reached earlier,” he noted with surprise.
Apart from that, he indicated that, “To demonstrate their seriousness and unpreparedness to guard and protect demonstrators, the police promised to secure an interim injunction to halt the demonstration if we insisted on using the same routes the police had approved only few days back.” This, he said was “indeed mind boggling.”
The pressure group have thus been compelled by circumstances to postpone the demonstration to a yet to be announced date, whilst still holding discussions with the police.
AFAG said, “We do not at this stage want to postulate that there are some orders from above dictating the turn of events as far as our demonstration is concerned.”
Though they believe the powers that be could have had their way today, Mr. Asante insisted that “someday, the majority of Ghanaians will also have their say.”
In view of the development, coupled with what leadership of AFAG claimed to be their commitment to the tenets of peaceful protests, deputy chairman of the group said, “AFAG, in the interest of public good, is forced to announce the postponement for the second time, an intended demonstration, due to orchestration by the powers that be and ably supported by institutions of state to make room for further engagements.”
He however assured Ghanaians that “AFAG is still resolute and would never be perturbed by the orchestrations, frustrations and threats of our detractors.”

Konadu Quits NDC?

Published in Daily Guide on September 25, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

 

Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings is expected to renounce her membership of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) any moment from today.
This would enable her to respond to calls for her to contest for the flagbearership position of the newly formed National Democratic Party (NDP), most of whose supporters are disgruntled members of the NDC.
Dr Nii Armah Josiah Aryeh, interim National Chairman of the NDP, dropped the hint when he announced the extension of the filing of nominations for the party’s presidential candidature.
Dr Aryeh told Joy FM yesterday that even though NDP members were calling on the former First Lady to contest for the party’s flagbearership, she could not do so because she was still a member of the NDC, expressing the hope that she might quit the ruling party by the close of the week.
Sources close to Mrs. Rawlings, whose husband, former President Jerry John Rawlings, is the founder of the ruling party, told DAILY GUIDE that the only thing left was for her was to communicate her decision to the leadership of the NDC.
That, according to sources, was part of reasons the interim national executive of the NDP had to postpone its congress and launch to enable Nana Konadu and other potential aspirants to file their nominations.
She is said to have already received the blessings of her husband who is equally not happy with developments in the party he founded and also fought tooth and nail to return it to power after eight years in opposition.
The Interim National Chairman of NDP, a former General Secretary of the ruling NDC, Dr. Aryeh, who spoke on the issue, said, “The former First Lady now remains a member of the NDC. She has not and I stand to be corrected; she has not publicly resigned her position but if she resigns, then of course like anybody else, she could join us.”
According to Dr Aryeh, who spoke on Accra-based Citi FM, the party initially planned to close nominations tomorrow and hold congress on Saturday, September 29.
“We have taken a second look and decided that congress should be on the 6th of October,” he stated, indicating that the rescheduling of the congress was due to the flagbearership contest.
For this reason, he said the closure of nominations had been extended.
$5m Handshake
Nana Konadu dismissed media reports claiming she had demanded $5million from the NDC to abandon plans to lead the NDP into the 2012 general elections.
Mrs Rawlings insisted she had not had any discussion with anybody from the NDC about rumours circulating that she was set to lead the NDP against the party her husband founded, let alone haggling over how much would be enough to change her mind.
The pro NDC Al-Hajj newspaper edited by Alhaji Bature Iddrisu reported last Thursday that the former First Lady had demanded $5million from the NDC if she was to be persuaded to step down as a possible flagbearer for the NDP.
The newspaper claimed Nana Konadu made those demands when mediators from the NDC impressed upon her to drop her ambition of contesting the crucial elections, a scenario which could split NDC votes.
Nana Konadu, who was the special guest of honour at the 6th anniversary celebration of the Women Encounter Fellowship International in Tema, said the speculations would not deter her from achieving the purpose for which God created her.
“Before coming here, I had to go and meet a certain gentleman who is writing some articles for me. And then he asked me ‘Oh, there’s this about you going to collect $5m so that you keep your mouth shut. I said what are you talking about? Then he said ‘let me get the paper from my car.’ He went and picked the paper from his car.
“It was sad for me. They write things that I do not even recognise myself in the papers.
Nobody has spoken to me about anything like that. I haven’t told anybody about anything like that. But the man (author of the story) was emphatic. He wants to destroy the purpose for which God has brought me onto this earth, and I will not agree to it,” she declared to a loud applause. Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Nana Konadu to respond to the overtures of her Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings (FONKAR) and become the flag bearer of the NDP.
In an interview yesterday, FONKAR Operations Director Owusu Bempah was optimistic the lady would be so overwhelmed by both the internal and external overtures that she would have no option than to succumb to the popular wish of her admirers.
The silence of the former First Lady has been a source of concern to political pundits who are unable to decrypt the conundrum surrounding her future, a situation worsened by her husband’s presence at the NDC conference in Kumasi.
The NDC last week dared the former First Lady to declare her position without further ado, as to whether she was going to maintain her membership of the party or change her status and join the party she is rumoured as being behind.
Owusu Bempah told DAILY GUIDE, “We shall be there and the country, we are optimistic, would be treated to a major political development when the former First Lady would break ranks with the NDC and take up the leadership of the NDP. We are still entreating her to consider our demand.”
She has of late been active in Kumasi in what political observers think has to do with her political future and the country’s.