By William
Yaw Owusu
Tuesday July
03, 2018
The wild allegations making rounds that a former
Deputy Minister of Communications under the previous Mahama-led National
Democratic Congress (NDC) administration collected $12 million for the
Electoral Commission (EC), but pocketed half of the amount, do not appear to go
away.
Although Felix Kwakye Ofosu, who is noted for his acerbic
tongue towards his political opponents, has vehemently denied the allegations
that he collected the money on behalf of the EC ahead of the 2016 elections, pressure
is mounting on him to come clean over the matter.
He issued a statement last Saturday accusing some
ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) activists working at the presidency of spreading
the ‘falsehood’ that he pocketed $6 million out of the $12 million package
meant for the EC staff from the previous Mahama administration.
The allegations were contained in a leaked tape
allegedly submitted as a witness statement by a Joy Fm reporter, Kwesi Parker-Wilson, in support of the deposed
EC boss, Charlotte Osei, to the Chief Justice’s committee that investigated complaints
for the removal of the EC Chairperson.
The Joy Fm reporter allegedly
recorded an EC Commissioner, Pauline Adobea Dadzawa, secretly
and submitted it as a witness statement to the CJ’s Committee.
Mr. Ofosu was linked to a recent statement by NDC
founder, Jerry John Rawlings, at a public function that a young minister in the
Mahama administration acquired two mansions at $3 million for himself and his
wife immediately after the NDC lost power.
Denial
“My attention has been drawn to an audio recording
making the rounds in which a commissioner at the Electoral Commission of Ghana,
Mrs. Pauline Dadzawa, is heard saying that I took $6 million out of a supposed
$12 million meant to bribe some members of the Electoral Commission to
influence the outcome of the 2016 elections,” Felix Kwakye Ofosu said in a
statement.
He said “for the avoidance of doubt, the claims made
by Mrs. Dadzawa are false, baseless, malicious and a figment of her obviously
fertile imagination. At no time before, during or after the 2016 elections was
I given money by anyone for the purpose described by her.”
“I find it regrettable that despite her standing as
a high-ranking official of an important constitutional body like the Electoral
Commission of Ghana, she found it necessary to dabble in such petty and
mischievous gossip.”
He added “in the process she threw out complete
fabrications in a manner that does harm to the reputations of innocent persons.”
Immediate
retraction
Felix Kwakye Ofosu said, “I am by this statement
demanding an immediate retraction of the malicious claims by Mrs. Dadzawa,
failing which my lawyers have standing instructions to commence legal action
against her and all others, who spread the falsehood she peddled in the tape.”
NPP
Activists
Felix Kwakye Ofosu said, “I have also noted that
some NPP activists, operating mostly from the Presidency, have splashed posts
and pictures on social media that seek to use Mrs. Dadzawa’s falsehoods to
justify yet another falsehood: that I was the subject of claims by former
President Rawlings at this year’s June 4th event at Madina that an official of
the previous government had purchased two houses in Accra at $3 million."
Felix Kwakye Ofosu said “while acknowledging that
Mr. Rawlings did not mention my name or attribute the said house purchase to me
in his speech, I wish to state that I have not bought any houses of the sort
described by Mr. Rawlings.”
“It is a well-known strategy of the New Patriotic Party
to routinely target critical opponents with calumny and outright untruths. It
is the same strategy that informed their fabrication of NIA cards in the name
of some members of the Minority only for the NIA to issue denials of same.
“He urged the public to completely disregard these
falsehoods and not fall prey to the handiwork of state-sponsored fake news
peddlers.”
Nyantakyi
Case
Interestingly, when Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s piece came out which forced former Ghana Football
Association (GFA) president, Kwesi Nyantakyi to resign, Felix Kwakye Ofosu virtually
found President Akufo-Addo, Vice President Dr. Bawumia and other leading
government officials ‘guilty’ merely because of the alleged comment by the former
FA boss.
Air
of Authority
He posted on social media that “the air of authority
with which Nyantakyi spoke in the Anas video shows that he knew what he was
talking about. He has left the President, Vice President and other officials he
mentioned profoundly damaged!”
Critics say Ms Dadzawa, who recently retired from
the EC, knew what she was saying because on the tape she said she’s a friend of
John Mahama and that sources told her that Mahama administration gave the EC $12
million to share.
Hard Cash
“What did this small
little character do? After we lost the 2016 I said he went and paid cash for
two mansions,” Rawlings fired at the 39th Anniversary of the June 4
Uprising held at the Madina Social Welfare Centre in Accra.
He said “one for
himself and one for his wife and of course the man who was selling properties
that he has built for sale should have been happy isn’t it because he was
making profit.”
Sad Situation
Mr. Rawlings,
however, said that “he (property owner) was very sad and he was very angry. Why
do you think he was angry? Because he has sweated to build these houses to sell
for profit and instead of the money to come into his account or being given a
cheque, he was being given physical cash!
“What that meant was
that he had to spend the whole night counting the $1.5 million each times two,
the $3 million. Do you get me?”
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