NPP Man Stabbed

Published in Daily Guide on December 14, 2012

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

A supporter of the opposition New Patriotic Party who had been stabbed while en routr to an NPP rally protesting election results, is carried by another man to get medical help, in Accra, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. Ghana’s opposition party said they plan to contest the results of the election, ignoring the appeals of the international community, which fears that a protracted political fight could destabilize one of the only established democracies in the Africa. (AP Photo/Christian Thompson)

A supporter of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) was stabbed on Tuesday at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle by a man believed to be an activist of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Media reports including that of Joy FM had rather indicated that the victim was a supporter of the governing NDC.
However, DAILY GUIDE investigations showed that the victim, whose name was not immediately known, was an NPP member attending a rally organized by the opposition party at the Obra Spot at Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Accra.
Accra-based Joy FM claimed “a man said to be wearing a National Democratic Congress T-Shirt was stabbed Tuesday, at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle by some persons said to be irate New Patriotic Party supporters.”
The story was said to have been confirmed by Greater Accra regional Police Commander, Commissioner of Police (COP) Patrick Timbilla.
This was when hordes of NPP supporters poured onto the streets of Accra to protest the Electoral Commission (EC’s) declaration of President John Dramani Mahama as winner of the just-ended Presidential election on Sunday.
The incident happened on the main Nkrumah Circle overhead bridge.
But eyewitnesses at the scene including a photographer with the American wire service, Associated Press (AP), Christian Thompson, indeed confirmed to DAILY GUIDE that it was rather a supporter of the of the main opposition party, the NPP, who was  yet to be identified, that was stabbed allegedly by an NDC faithful.
Though he could not tell what might have prompted the action, he was certain that the one stabbed was an NPP supporter since he was clad in the red, white and blue traditional colours of the party with an NPP flag tied to his wrist, whilst his assailant fled the scene.
This was evident in a picture of the event posted on the website of AP on the link: www.apimages.com/ghana elections2012, which was captioned: “a supporter of the opposition New Patriotic Party who had been stabbed while en route to an NPP rally protesting election results, is carried by another man to get medical help, in Accra, Ghana, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012.”
Though Christopher was said to have personally called into Joy FM to correct the anomaly the very day it posted the story on its website www.myjoyonline.com, because he witnessed the incident himself, his call seemed to have fallen on deaf ears since the story remained the same on the news site till date.
A member of the Young Patriots, Richard Kwasi Nyamah, told DAILY GUIDE yesterday, “This publication is an attempt to tarnish the image of the NPP and portray us as violent”, insisting, “The stabbing incident that took place was on an NPP supporter by an unidentified person who fled after the incident.”
According to him, the blood-stained t-shirt which was worn by the victim was even shown to the crowd and they subsequently informed the police about the incident.
He had since demanded a correction to the said story since according to him, “the NPP is a law abiding party that will not do anything to jeopardize the peace of Ghana.”
He noted, “Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has consistently advised the rank and file of the party to remain patient but resolute” and “has admonished us not to resort to violence and to trust the party leadership to use due process to address our concerns”.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Tony Aidoo Grabs Castle Car For ¢6,200

Published in Daily Guide on November 14, 2012

Sammy Awuku and Tony Aidoo

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

The Head of the Monitoring and Policy Evaluation unit at the Presidency, Dr. Tony Aidoo, is said to be a major beneficiary of a government largesse, having grabbed a state-owned Ford Expedition vehicle for a paltry sum of GH¢6, 200.
The 4×4 vehicle, a 2005 model, was one of the several vehicles used by the previous Kufuor administration as part of the presidential fleet and estimated to cost not less than US$40,000 (GH¢80, 000).
Sammy Awuku described the transaction as ‘evil’ but did not trust that President Mahama would correct the ill.
“This is really evil, this is really criminal, this is very unethical, this is naked robbery and this is very Machiavellian,” Awuku parodied Pastor Mensa Otabil.
He insisted that this incident typified the corruption under the Mahama administration and urged all to be “vigilant across the borders, the DVLA and other agencies of state where these looting brigade and babies with sharp teeth will seek to transfer our stolen assets into their names”.
Tony Aidoo has however defended himself, claiming that he grabbed the car which did not have a gear box after it had been abandoned by the Kufuor government.
At a press conference in Accra yesterday, Deputy Communications Director of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Sammy Awuku, who spoke on the ‘The People Must Know’ platform, provided evidence to support his claim.
These included an official receipt issued by a company (Shargraw Ventures) contracted by the state to auction the vehicle and a letter dated June 1, 2012 which was written and signed by Dr. Tony Aidoo to the Director of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) requesting a change of the vehicle’s registration number to a private one.
A similar acquisition of a state-of-the-art BMW in the year 1999/2000 by Dr. Aidoo triggered a debate over the paltry GH¢200 he paid for it.
Sammy Awuku and his colleagues found it intriguing that Dr. Tony Aidoo, who is often critical of his opponents, would purchase a state car at such a ridiculously low price.
He also cited how vociferous Dr Aidoo was in the year 2009 when appointees of the former NPP administration were said to have purchased their official saloon cars when they were leaving office.
Although the purchase was legitimate within the confines of age-old regulations, Sammy Awuku indicated that “Tony Aidoo was loudest in branding appointees of the NPP as nation wreckers.”
He also noted, “The age-old policy prohibits purchasing 4×4 vehicles.”
Surprised as he was, the NPP kingpin stated, “If a Ford Expedition vehicle with impeccable servicing history and part of President Kufour’s fleet of cars as a President could be sold for a paltry sum of GH¢ 6,200, then only God knows how much they have sold other state assets to themselves for.”
Sammy Awuku could not trust President Mahama’s ability to reprimand Dr Aidoo since “for a vice president whose boss (President Mills) constituted a committee to investigate his (President Mahama’s) involvement in inflating the prices of airplanes for the Ghana Armed Forces, we wonder if President Mahama has the moral high ground to do so.”
In an interview with DAILY GUIDE, Dr Aidoo said, “When you abandon a vehicle for about six years, standing at a private workshop and the vehicle is unserviceable and the vehicle is being sold to members of the public, a boarded vehicle, how many 4x4s do government departments auction?
“This is not a matter of my duty car being sold to me and then you will say it’s a 4×4 so you are not supposed to; people should get their facts right.”
On the issue about the cheap price at which he bought the vehicle, he said, “Well, if it’s peanut, you go and tell the auctioneer, when you have a car without a gear box”, insisting, “I didn’t do the valuation.”
He asked rhetorically, “When you have a car without a functional air condition unit, how much would you sell it, aside body works?
“It was even he (the auctioneer) who got me a mechanic; I had to import the gear box part from the United States of America for which there is also documentary evidence.”

NDC Dashes Cars, Cash To Imams, Chiefs, Students

Published in Daily Guide on November 14, 2012

One of the Landcruisers given to the Imams and NDC branded Hyundai i10, popularly called Atta Cambu, given to the students

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) is determined to retain power in the next general elections as it splurges on a number of voters to influence the polls.
The party (and government) has allegedly resorted to various means of winning votes. It has started giving out money and cars to woo potential voters aside the massive outdoor and media advertisement.
Prior to yesterday’s presentation of 12 brand new Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles to the presidents of the National and Regional Houses of Chiefs by President John Mahama, tongues have been wagging about the several brand new cars including 4×4 cross country and pick-up vans being given to other chiefs.
Doling out of the freebies has caught the attention of influential members of the public including former president John Kufuor. “They are giving chiefs four-wheel drives and giving motorbikes to young men in return for their votes,” he told a gathering of Muslim chiefs last Friday in Kumasi.
Most of the beneficial chiefs are in the northern part of the country where the president has been campaigning for votes.
The vehicles for chiefs are estimated to cost not less than $80,000 (GH¢160, 000, the equivalent of ¢1.6 billion) each.
Leading members of the party and their agents, including some journalists, have been going round the country giving free cars and cash to opinion leaders to enable them to influence their followers to vote for the party.
Some top pastors of the Christian faith and Muslim clerics have also benefitted from the NDC vote-buying largesse.
Leading Imams were recently given brand new Toyota Land Cruisers to their amazement, with one of them refusing to use the car because he considered it as a form of bribery.
Pastors Fly To Jerusalem
Some high-profile pastors were sent on an all expenses-paid pilgrimage to Jerusalem, with as much as $10,000 paid to them as pocket money to pray for the NDC’s victory.
It started when some of these pastors, whose names are being withheld for now, were given brand new Toyota Land Cruisers as birthday gifts under the late President Atta Mills.
In the recent Muslim Hajj to Mecca, over half of the 6000 pilgrims were paid for by the state under the guise of ‘protocol’ allocation.
Not too long ago, the party rolled out a new vote-buying strategy with an invasion of the campuses of tertiary institutions, especially universities and polytechnics, baiting students with what is termed ‘Atta Camboo,’ brand new Hyundai i10 saloon cars. with some branded in NDC colours, with the University of Ghana, Legon becoming the school with the largest group of beneficiaries.
Adjoining hostels to the university are also donning the Atta Camboo cars from which some journalists have also benefitted.
A similar activity is going at the Dansoman campus of the Methodist University where executives of the students’ wing of the NDC, Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN), have allegedly received some of these brand new cars.
DAILY GUIDE learnt that all universities across the country have been invaded with the Atta Camboo cars.
Another intensive campaign has also started in various senior high schools with the sharing of GH¢50.00 concealed in neatly designed white envelopes, with a brochure of President John Mahama included.
The brochure, which bears the portrait of John in a red Lacoste shirt with the inscription ‘working for you’, is added to the GH¢50 and a message “dear student, compliments from President John Mahama. Thanks for making your parents and the nation proud. President Mahama asks for your vote. Vote Mahama 2012”, with a monogrammed pen included.
The party is also giving out vehicles and cash including 4×4 and Toyata Hilux pick-ups to a selected number of chiefs, mostly in the Northern regions.
This nearly resulted in confusion not too long ago when some of the chiefs protested against the kind of cars they were given in view of the fact that whilst some of the chiefs were seen driving brand new vehicles, others received used confiscated vehicles.
They therefore felt looked-down upon and raised issues with it.
Some have also been given houses at prime areas including East Legon and within other gated communities.
Opinion leaders therefore raised eyebrows about the source of funding for these profligate and opulent cars and money-sharing enterprise among potential voters, coupled with the mounting of gigantic billboards of President John Mahama across the length and breadth of the country, one of which is estimated to cost not less than GH¢10,000.
Members of the ruling party are said to be going to villages with brochures of President Mahama, with the claim that President Mahama was the one promising free education when voted for, despite the party’s open opposition to the free SHS policy.