NPP responds to “The Bongo Scandal ” documentary by Manasseh Azure Awuni

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Bongo Constituency of the Upper East Region has responded to an investigative documentary by the Fourth Estate’s Manasseh Azure Awuni dubbed “The Bongo Scandal”.

The documentary focused on exposing an “illegal” award of boreholes contract by the Assembly to itself among other allegations.

But in a statement signed by the Bongo Constituency Secretary, Johnson Anaane, the NPP described the documentary as a one-sided report that seeks to the drag the name of the Acting District Chief Executive (DCE), Peter Ayinbisa Ayamga, into disrepute.

The party is therefore calling on the public to disregard the allegations in the documentary.

Below is the full statement by the NPP in Bongo

PRESS RELEASE IN RESPONSE TO THE FOURTH ESTATE SENSATIONAL PUBLICATION DUBBED ‘’THE BONGO SCANDAL’’ BY MANASSEH AZURE

To: All Media Houses, Upper East Region.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has noticed with grave concern of a seeming apprehension from its rank and file about a rather sensational story with little substance involving the Bongo District Assembly. Naturally members are worried about the widely publicised story which seeks to suggest criminality on the part of leadership of the Assembly. Indeed, many of our members have called to inquire whether the venerable Ayinbisa Peter, District Chief Executive (DCE) is in any way involved in the so called scandal. The Constituency Secretariat has gone into the matter and wish to assure her teaming loyalists and sympathisers that, the honourable DCE and the 2020 Parliamentary Candidate is NOT in any way involved in any scandalous deal. His long held reputable integrity of honesty and accountability is not in doubt at all.

What has occasioned in Manasseh’s almost empty story is a callous and shameful attempt by vicious individuals within the party who have in the past and continue todrag the good image of Honourable Ayinbisa Peter into disrepute. These viciousness predates this Manasseh’s write-up of a so called scandal in the District Assembly. Members will recall in 2017, when applications were submitted for the DCEship position, a petition was sent to His Excellency the President of the Republic not to consider Ayinbisa Peter as his representative in the District. The accusations levelled against him then, were among others the ridiculous claim that he is not a member of the NPP when he was at the time the Constituency Chairman. These malicious attacks against him continue from then through to the 2019 Parliamentary primaries and the 2020 general election to date where he is seeking to be retained as the DCE. It has become abundantly clear that, any time Ayinbisa Peter is seeking to occupy a position either in government or within the party there is always something that will be cooked up against him. Obviously, this latest episode is an elevated attempt to try and smear the Honourable DCE with mud aimed at making him look bad in the eyes of the appointing authority after several years failed attacks. This man has suffered several attacksphysically and one would not be surprise if the fight might have involved spirituality. In all these, he finds solace in God’s armsand has always being victorious.

Suffice to mention that, these vile attacks, born out of shear jealousy and hatred have been given a new face lift where unfortunately our brother Manasseh who most extol have being involved to try and elevate a long term malicious ploy against Ayinbisa Peter and the party to the national level. A careful read of the story points to the fact that, crooks from within, carefully planned this thing and brought in Manasseh to do their bidding. The caption of the story, ‘’the Bongo Scandal’’ is totally ad variant to the facts on the ground and what these vicious individuals did, using Manasseh’s platform is rather scandalous on the good people of Bongo.

What is all about this brouhaha? The facts are that;

1. Bongo District Assembly had approval to award twenty boreholes to be drilled at various communities in the District.
2. The Assembly then, in the interest of speeding up the drilling process, decides to divide the twenty boreholes into two lots

• The two lots were duly advertised in accordance with the Public Procurement Act (Act 663, 2003, Act 2016, 914 as amended) and subsequently awarded to Madam Diana Aburiya and Mr. Nsobila Thomas.

1. Both used the business certificate belonging to oneAsumbekereKarim Anagbilaof which the Assembly subsequently paid money into his account at Maltaaba Community Bank, Bongo.
2. The awardees then proceeded to withdraw the money from the account. Karim claimed that one of them did not have his consent for using his certificate.
3. Thomas executed his side of the lot and the boreholes are currently in use by the beneficiary communities whilst Diana is yet to complete same.

• Karim then alleges fraud on the part of the Assembly on the basis that his certificate was used to transact business of which money were withdrawnon two occasions from his account without his consent.

In all of this, one would have expected that Karim being mindful of protecting his business and preventing the occurrence of fraud would have made a formal complain to the police. On the contrary he contacted David Aruk who’s name popped up in his bank alert and proceeded to have a meeting with him and some members of the Assembly. In the said meeting,details of which are not known to the public, Karim issued a signed cheque to them. Not only did he issue a cheque but wrote receipts acknowledging payments covering the first withdrawal and the second one.How on earth will an individual who claimed to be acting and protecting public interest will have agreed to this arrangement and issued a signed cheque to a third party (who in the first instance took money from the very account in the same bank without your knowledge) to withdraw money from your account. Thisis mind boggling. What is more bizarre is his claim from Manasseh’s story that he had instructed that heshould be notified before the said third party can make further withdrawal. What is missing in this conversation that;

1. WhyKarim issued a cheque and a receipt and at the same time says he did not consent to the transaction?
2. What is materially different from his claim of demanding notification and personally withdrawing themoney for the Assembly staff since he had some agreements with them and considering the fact that., a third party withdrawals does not exceed Ghc5,000.00?

• Why he issued a cheque and his official receipts acknowledging payment of two instances when he was yet to verify whether the actual drilling of the boreholes had started?

Theseare questions every positively minded individual would have demanded from Karim. How these kind of questions would escape an investigative journalist seeking to uncover and prevent corruption in the public space leaves much to be desired. From the above, is there a possibility that, Karim had played along and was actually in tandem with such an arrangement only to turnaround from it, just to paint a bad picture against someone in furtherance of a certain course. Again, what is substantially missing in Manasseh’s work which suggested criminality on the part of the Assembly is the fact that, he deliberately and for convenience sake ignored to inform the general public whether;

1. The ten boreholes in reference were drilled according to the specification contained in the contract.
2. The cost per borehole was overpriced to the disadvantage of value for money.

• The execution of the contract was unduly delayed to the disadvantage of the beneficiary communities

1. The DCE and the Bank Manager who he callously wished had lost their jobs, benefitted financially and materially from the contract. Indeed, he has admitted in a subsequent interview that, he could not establish that the DCE had personally gained from the contract.

If the aforementioned questions were not relevant in an investigative journalist work who touts himself of fighting public corruption, then I wonder what he was actually into. Or is it the case that, he skewed his investigative reportage in favour of a certain agenda?Does this go to confirm the allegation in the public domain that, Karim had boasted of bringing his brother Manasseh to run down the Bank and the DCE down? What is even more intriguing and perhaps confirms our perception of bias toward a certain course is the deliberate overemphasis on one lot of the contract awarded to Thomas Nsobila to the neglect of the other lot awarded to Diana Aburiya to extend that Diana’s full name was conveniently not mentioned in the whole report. Let us not forget the fact that, Manasseh is fully aware that the circumstances surrounding the two contracts are the same. Mischievously as the report is, seek to impugned wrong doing on the part of the bank with miscellaneousdebit in respect to Thomas Nsobila withdrawal but seems not to worry about the same miscellaneous debit in respect to Diana Aburiya’ one.

Whilst the NPP in the Constituency will refrain from categorically stating that this whole Manasseh’s work as captioned as the ‘’Bongo Scandal’’ is a paid job to do one’s bidding, events as they occasioned in his report leaves no room for one to think otherwise. Indeed, our rank and file and to a large extend, every objective minded individualis finding it difficult to accept the report as a genuine course.It is an undeniable fact that, the DCE’s job and that of the Bank Managers’, are the most highly sought after in the District. Thus, covert and overt dealings are certainly at play to undo the DCE/2020 Parliamentary Candidate chances of retaining his position and that of the Bank Manager. No wonder Manasseh himself had wished that, the Bank Manager who our checks show was on leave at the time the transaction had occurred, had lost his job.

The New Patriotic Party is deeply concerned that, Manasseh Azure, a native of Bongo who is a highly celebrated investigative journalist in the country seems to be lowering standards to accommodate one’s fabrications in furtherance of one’s selfish agenda. Whilst I will not arrogate to myself, and adviser to Manasseh, I would want to urged him to kindly reconsider his style of investigation and be open-minded,devoid of subjectivity to urgently repair his fast deteriorating image. The people of Bongo would like to relish his image and name in the media landscape.

In conclusion, we wish to once again entreat all members and sympathisers of our great Party within and without the District who have since the publication of this story expressed worried to remain resolute behind the Partyand that nobody had been involved in any scandal. We graciously admit that, this is challenging moment for the Party in the Constituency and that the NDC seems to be profiting from our internal mishaps. However, leadership of the Party is currently looking into the unfolding events and would find an amicable solution to enable the party emerge much stronger. As the old age adage says ‘’success is never achieved by never falling but by rising anytime we fall. The NPP in the Constituency may have fallen in both our presidential and parliamentary ambition in 2020 but will surely rise and to victorious in 2024.

Thank you all for your attention.

Signed

Anaane Johnson Ayikene

Constituency Secretary.

Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Ghana