Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu & Daniel Bampoe
Saturday, February 25, 2017
There is seeming tension within the opposition National
Democratic Congress (NDC) over the bribe allegation by the party’s Bawku
Central Member of Parliament (MP), Mahama Ayariga, recently.
Even though the parliamentary ad hoc committee is probing
the allegation, the NDC appears to have thrown its weight behind Mahama Ayariga
against its minority chief whip, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, who has stated
categorically that there was no bribe paid to the minority MPs on the
Appointments Committee, creating division in the party’s ranks.
The party is currently split between Mahama Ayariga and
Muntaka, who was accused by the former of sharing the ‘bribe’ money he claimed
had come from Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko, to approve his appointment after
he had been vetted.
The NDC is said to be contemplating the ousting of Mohammed
Mubarak Muntaka as the minority whip.
First
Salvo
The first salvo appeared to have been fired by Tawiah
Boateng, the NDC Eastern Regional Chairman, when he called for the resignation
of Alhaji Muntaka as the chief whip.
According to him, Alhaji Muntaka’s alleged involvement in
the bribery scandal that has hit the Appointments Committee of Parliament had
brought ‘shame’ to the party and the high position that he occupies.
Tawiah Boateng, speaking on Accra-based Kasapa FM, insisted that Alhaji Muntaka’s continuous stay in office
as minority chief whip has become untenable because he’s not being truthful in
his defence.
“All his other colleagues on the Appointments Committee,
apart from the Minority Leader, assert that the money he brought them is bribe,
how can he turn round and take money from Hon. Agyarko who at his vetting
described President Mahama as a corrupt person?” Tawiah Boateng averred.
He said, “What is worrying is his constant defence that the
allegation is not true. He should give up the Minority Chief Whip position for
another person who can best work to prosecute the agenda of the minority in
Parliament. If there is any truth to be told he should tell our party General
Secretary, Asiedu Nketia, so we know how to handle the matter.”
Ashanti
Rebuttal
However, in a sharp rebuttal, Tawiah Boateng’s counterpart
in the Ashanti Region, Yaw Owusu Obimpeh, is alleged to have said in a
statement that Alhaji Muntaka is not going anywhere.
“The Ashanti Regional Chapter of the National Democratic
Congress expresses its displeasure at calls by some leading members of the NDC
for the Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka’s resignation in
respect of his position on the alleged Agyarko bribery scandal.
“The Regional Chapter of the NDC finds these calls premature,
particularly when the alleged scandal is under investigation by the special ad
hoc committee of parliament for which the Hon. Minority Chief Whip avails
himself without hesitation,” he pointed out.
The statement further claimed, “In our urgent pursuit of
party cohesion and re-organisation, we urge members to be circumspect in their
public pronouncements on this sensitive subject matter. Also, we humbly
encourage members to temporarily shelf or defer their public opinions until the
committee’s findings are made public. This is to avoid possible irreparable
damage that our less informed positions might cause one of our own.”
The NDC chairman urged the committee “to expeditiously and
comprehensively weather the storm to end the continuing public anxiety that has
characterised the alleged scandal.
“Let’s not allow temporary challenges to rock our re-organisation
boat.”
Background
Mahama Ayariga sparked public outrage on January 27 when he
told a pro-NDC private network - Radio
Gold - that the minority chief whip had distributed GH¢3,000 to some NDC
MPs and claimed that Alhaji Muntaka had told him the money was coming from the Chairman
of the Appointments Committee, Joseph Osei-Owusu aka Joe Wise, at the instance
of Mr. Agyarko.
As a result, the speaker of parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye,
set up a five-member Special/Ad-hoc Committee chaired by MP for Essikado and
Minister of Railways Development Joe Ghartey, to investigate the allegation.
The committee is specifically looking into the allegation
against Mr. Osei-Owusu, whom Mahama Ayariga had cited as the conduit for
bribing the MPs; and Alhaji Muntaka, whom Mahama Ayariga claimed had brought
the money.
Boakye Agyarko has vehemently denied paying any bribe to be
approved by parliament while both Mr Osei-Owusu and Alhaji Muntaka have also
dismissed Mahama Ayariga’s claim.
Mahama Ayariga himself has already told the committee that
he had no direct evidence to prove his allegation against both Mr. Agyarko and
Mr. Osie-Owusu, but insisted that Muntaka had told him that the money came from
Mr. Osei-Owusu on the instructions of Mr. Agyarko.
Among all the people who have appeared before the Joe
Ghartey committee, it is Ayariga who is standing alone, with others flatly
denying that any bribe had come from Boakye Agyarko or any individual.
Another NDC kingpin, Allotey Jacobs, Central Regional
chairman of the party, has also ruled out Boakye Agyarko giving out bribe to
the vetting committee members.
He proclaimed that the bribery probe would end nowhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment