Government has rubbished claims by Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party that it has released $10 million for the printing of presidential diaries, describing the assertion as complete misinformation that must be discarded.
Nana Akufo-Addo, who is on an European tour, told NPP supporters in Amsterdam that the presidency is spending the huge amount of tax payers’ money for the printing of diaries at a time when Ghanaians are faced with numerous hardships.
“I listen to the disillusionment of the average Ghana with politicians who promise them relief and end up bringing them grief when they get into office. I listen to the journalist who is saddened by the revelation that a government can spend $10 million to print presidential diaries. Yes, you heard me right: $10 million. And yet we are barely able to scrape together $10 million as a down payment on our debt to Nigeria for the supply of a truly
essential product – gas,” he said.
But Deputy Minister of Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has in a Facebook post, condemned what he says is Nana Addo’s penchant for spreading falsehood instead of cross-checking his facts.
According to him, Nana Addo should have produced evidence to back his claim and not put out such unsubstantiated allegations intended to score cheap political points.
“So the flagbearer of the NPP has decided to dabble in a campaign of disinformation by claiming that a whopping US $ 10 million was spent on the printing of Presidential diaries. It would have been expected that the media would hold him to strict proof but alas they won’t. Unless the diaries are draped in gold or diamonds, surely it should have occurred to him that the figure he quoted was spectacularly outrageous.”
Kwakye further wrote “He (Nana Addo) may want to take note of the fact that if given their lavish taste in government between 2001- 2008, it was the practice to spend such huge amounts on diaries; we in the NDC are not given to such ostentation. We have adopted a process that ensures that corporate sponsorship is used to finance
the printing of limited quantities of diaries. This lack of thoroughness and attention to detail which leads him to make unfounded claims against government explains why his party is in tatters at the moment and in its worst shape ever.
Mr. Ofosu later clarified in an interview with Accra-based Kasapa FM, that government was not directly involved in publishing the diaries but only gave permission to individuals who wanted to run that business.
“Because this was not government business, there was no tender. Individuals approached government to seek permission to publish the diaries. They also proceeded to solicit for sponsorship from corporate institutions, so if you check the back pages of the diaries you’ll see the sponsoring companies with the adverts there. Government is committed to spending state funds prudently.”
The Deputy Minister however failed to mention exactly how much it cost for the diaries to be printed.
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana