Mr. Ahenkorah clashed with the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in Parliament, after he felt the MP was besmirching the Akufo-Addo government with corruption allegations.

[contextly_sidebar id=”z7B1kp7O5NPcYJPVZf2GEUbvlfEvR2Yf”]Mr. Ablakwa had previously called on the Trade Ministry to apologize to President Nana Akufo-Addo for tainting the presidency with the alleged dubious dealings.

But Mr. Ahenkorah described Mr. Ablakwa as a “big liar” and accused him of making baseless allegations.

Speaking on Accra-based Peace FM, Mr. Ahenkorah maintained that he did not take the accusations against the President lightly, but he still admitted that his reactions were not justified.

“Ghanaians should forgive me and forgive my failings. When the matter came up and I had issues with it [the Minority’s approach], I should have taken my time and watched my temper.”

Mr. Ablakwa said the Deputy Minister was so furious that his actions bordered on assault.

The deputy Minister initially showed no remorse when he was interviewed on Eyewitness News, claiming that Mr. Ablakwa was out of order when he suggested that he and the NPP government were corrupt.

He however also apologized directly to Mr. Ablakwa, and indicated his willingness move past the conflict.

“My brother, Okudzeto Ablakwa, although younger than me, is still my senior in Parliament. That exchange we had in Parliament should not have happened because we are two gentlemen… None of us acquitted ourselves well, but if he won’t apologize I will so that there will peace and we can move past this.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post I’m sorry for my outburst – Ahenkorah apologizes to Ablakwa appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The President is seeking full disclosure on the matter, and has given the Minister until 5 pm today [Wednesday] to report to him.

Although the matter has  been running for nearly a week, President Akufo-Addo’s summon comes a day after the fall out from allegations culminated in the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah, clashing with the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in Parliament.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has already dissociated itself from these allegations which first came from the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak.

Mr. Mubarak said the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards (GEBA) were not approved by Parliament, adding that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry’s accounts.

The Trade Ministry, in a statement, said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event, and clarified that it only facilitated the implementation of a new initiative by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

It also said the foundation was to take that responsibility for the organisation of the event.

Mr. Ablakwa had previously called on the Trades Ministry to apologize to President Akufo-Addo for embarrassing him, and return the monies to the expatriates.

But Mr. Ahenkorah described Mr. Ablakwa as a “big liar” and accused him of making baseless allegations against the government. He did this by barging into an interview the MP was granting on the matter in Parliament.

He subsequently defended his verbal assault on Ablakwa, saying “we must let these people understand that we are in power”.

The deputy Minister showed no remorse when interviewed on Eyewitness News, claiming that Mr. Ablakwa was out of order when he suggested that he and the NPP government were corrupt.

“…calling me corrupt and describing my person and my activity as corrupt. On the floor of Parliament, it’s a different ball game. I will not allow anybody to denigrate myself or my ministry or my minister and just go scot-free. If you say that, I have to pay it back to you, especially when these people were in government, they just looking down upon everybody and calling our president names, this time we will not allow.”

“A person like Okudzeto Ablakwa can never ever tag me as corrupt when he himself cannot account for some of his practices when he was in government. And I take serious exception to anybody trying to tag me in that manner. What was so unprintable of the language that I used? I did not say anything that was not true. He is a thief. He took money to go and do Campus Connect,” Mr. Ahenkorah fumed.

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By:Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nana Addo writes to Alan over alleged Trade Ministry extortion appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The MP, who had been called on Eyewitness News on Tuesday after a near-fight encounter with the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs in Parliament, showed no remorse for his conduct, claiming that Okudzeto threw the first punch by tagging his government corrupt, following reports that some expatriates were made to pay between $25,000 and $100,000 to sit close to the President at an awards event.

The allegation was first made by Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak, who said it was inappropriate.

The Ministry later issued a statement explaining that, it was only a facilitator of the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards event, and that the Millennium Excellence Foundation, an entity noted for organizing world class events, took the payments.

This was however disputed by the Minority in Parliament, who in a statement issued through Okudzeto Ablakwa, insisted that the Ministry’s own letter dated October 23, 2017, confirmed that it went beyond facilitation, to actually collect monies from the expatriates.

It said that letter also directed that interested expatriates were to direct their cheques to the accounts office of the Trade Ministry, although such monies were not accounted for by the Ministry

Mr. Ablakwa, who was addressing journalists at Parliament on the matter on Tuesday, was interrupted by the Deputy Trades Minister, who angrily rained insults on him, calling him a “liar” and a “thief” among others.

On Eyewitness News, Umaru Sanda first asked the Deputy Minister, if he did not find his choice of words and conduct dishonourable. He repeated his words, and said he stood by them.

He replied by saying“…Calling me corrupt and describing my person and my activity as corrupt. On the floor of parliament, it’s a different ball game. I will not allow anybody to denigrate myself or my ministry or my minister and just go scot-free. If you say that, I have to pay it back to you, especially when these people were in government, they just looking down upon everybody and calling our president names, this time we will not allow” he noted.

“A person like Okudzeto Ablakwa can never ever tag me as corrupt when he himself cannot account for some of his practices when he was in government. And I take serious exception to anybody trying to tag me in that manner. What was so unprintable of the language that I used? I did not say anything that was not true. He is a thief. He took money to go and do Campus Connect” he alleged.

When he was reminded that he could not call someone a thief publicly without evidence, he responded by saying “So calling somebody corrupt without having the basis to call him that is appropriate?”

When he was reminded that two wrongs don’t make a right and that he was not supposed to respond in that manner, the Deputy Minister said “I am not paying sin with sin, but it is high time we let these people understand that we are in power. They are not in power. When they were in power, they were doing anything that they wanted. Now at least we have to let them understand that no more, we will not take that thing from them anymore. Just understand me that anything that I said, I chose my words very carefully, and I think that I can stand by it.”

Asked whether it is his personal position or the position of the Majority side in Parliament to descend into the gutter with minority MPs, he said “I don’t think that’s what we want to do; we rather want to expose them where they are. We rather want to expose them in the gutter where they belong” he stated.

I didn’t insult him – Ablakwa insists

Also speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa said he never used any unprintable language on the MP to warrant the rather harsh reactions that came from him.

“We have put out a statement, and I haven’t said anything different from our statement we issued. I have been saying that, you cannot use the office of the President for profiteering; it is unethical and immoral. I have said as the position of the Minority that the fees and charges Act, has been breached. We have said that the sums that have been extorted should be refunded to the expatriates, and we have said that an apology is owed the people of Ghana, and if the President didn’t know about this scam, he deserves an apology because his name was used, where you pay 100,000 dollars to sit at his table. This is what I said today; and the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, a public official decides to descend on me”.

Carlos wanted to beat me – Ablakwa

According to him “He [Deputy Minister], was so furious and wanted to beat me. He was screaming and using very unprintable language. I mean for an honourable MP and a deputy Minister of state, this is how you think that you can present your side of the story if you think that the facts we are presenting are not right, is that how to go about it? To use insults to denigrate me when we have been engaged in a civil discourse on this matter? He’s seeking to claim provocation that he decided to descend into the gutter with me. Every Ghanaian has heard me, and I have been speaking on this matter, I was in no gutter. If he wants to create his gutter and swim in that gutter, he should do it” he opined.

Mr. Ablakwa expressed shock at the Deputy Minister’s reminder to him that, they [NPP] are in power, admonishing him to know that power is transient, and that he cannot abuse his office, when he is rather supposed to serve the citizenry.

“These are matters that we will leave it to the people of this country to judge. If you listened to him carefully, his mind-set is that, he must show us that they are now in power and we are in opposition. So it is just show of force and abuse of power. He should just remember that power is very transient; you will not be in power forever, so if you think that you are in power so you must denigrate, intimidate, insult and pour venom on your colleague who’s just doing his work as a Member of Parliament. Facts have come to our attention and we are putting it out”.

He reminded that the NPP of their days in opposition, and how critical they were of the then NDC government, saying “You did your work when you were in opposition. Remember when they had concerns about the Ford car scandal, what didn’t they say about Mahama? What didn’t they do? They summoned Parliament from recess, called Mahama incompetent, corrupt, declared the CHRAJ investigation bogus and all of that. Who insulted them? Who set out to beat them? Speak to the journalists in Parliament, he wanted to get physical, he wanted to beat me up. Does it have to come to that? He tried to beat me up, and I just had to walk away from him because of the respect I have for my constituents” he lamented.

God is my Judge – Ablakwa

Asked whether he may take up the matter further to seek redress, Ablakwa said “I am still thinking about it. I am normally someone who leaves matters into the hands of the Almighty. In my upbringing, I don’t believe that you should seek vengeance or try to pay people back or get people to account now. There are always ways by which the Almighty deals with these matters. So don’t be surprised if I don’t make much of it, and I will not also be intimidated” he noted.

I won’t apologize to Ablakwa – Carlos

Asked whether he would apologize to Okudzeto Ablakwa for his comments, Mr. Ahenkorah, who was still fuming after listening to Ablakwa on the other side of the telephone line on the show, insisted that “Ablakwa is a liar. I didn’t touch him. Of course, it’s the case that when I am arguing under pressure I have to shout. That doesn’t mean I am angry. Is he going to apologize to me? He is supposed to apologize to me for calling me corrupt. I was standing there when Okudzeto was raining insults calling us corrupt. If he apologizes to me, I will apologize to him. As I was saying, the Millennium Excellence Foundation has called him [Ablakwa], to tell him that they organized the programme, did the collection, raised the fund and everything, and yet he’s still going around peddling lies.”
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘We must let NDC understand that we’re in power’ – Ahenkorah fumes appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

A visibly incensed Mr. Ahenkorah interrupted the interview that Mr. Ablakwa was granting journalists as the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, on the recent Ghana Expatriate Business Awards event, where the government was accused of charging expatriates between $25,000 and $100,000 to allow them to sit close to the President at the event.

[contextly_sidebar id=”4HG8R9w5nq9tO0CutM8oSiNBA9HVZz2w”]The Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, alleged last week that the Ministry of Trade and Industry charged the expatriates between $25,000 and $100,000 each, to offer them seats close to the President at an awards ceremony.

The Asawase legislator argued that the fees charged at the event were not the kind of fees approved by Parliament, and that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry’s accounts.

The Ministry however in a statement challenging the claims, said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event.

It added that, it only facilitated the implementation of the new initiative [GEBA], by the Millennium Excellence Foundation, an entity noted for organizing world class events.

“As a Government that believes in the private sector as the engine of growth, the Government through the Ministry of Trade and Industry welcomed the initiative to collaborate with the Foundation to see to the birthing of the initiative. The Ministry consequently signed an MoU with the Foundation that spelt out the roles of both parties. Resource mobilization to ensure that the event was organized at no cost to the taxpayer was the sole responsibility of the Foundation”.

“The Ministry only wrote letters to introduce the Millennium Excellence Foundation to sponsors and solicited support whilst the Foundation prepared the sponsorship package kits and presented it to potential sponsors at a later date. It is very worrying for people who are expected to know better (especially if some happen to be leading members of the august House of Parliament) to conveniently join the streets wagon in pursuit of petty partisan parochial interests to churn out deliberate falsehood to perpetuate the fallacy that access to the President has to be secured with financial inducements,” excerpts of the statement said.

But Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in a statement reacting to the Ministry’s response, called on them to apologize to President Akufo-Addo for embarrassing him, insisting that the incident indeed happened and that the government is culpable.

“The least the Ministry of Trade and Industry should be doing at this point instead of seeking to justify their shameful conduct, is to apologize to President Akufo-Addo, that is, if he did not grant his blessings for this desecration of the high office he occupies, apologize to Ghanaians and refund the extorted sums to the expats,” he said.

However, the Deputy Trade Minister who interjected Ablakwa’s interview on the matter claimed that he was churning out baseless information to denigrate his Ministry and the Minister.

In that interview, Mr. Ablakwa said, “Clearly this is corruption, and that is why we demand answers. Access to the President was for the highest bidder, and there was no mention that the money was going to the Agyekum Kufuor Foundation in the 23 October letter that I have”.

Whiles Mr. Ablakwa was speaking further on the matter, the Deputy Minister interjected and shouted on top of his voice, calling him a “liar” and a “thief” at a point.

The Tema West NPP MP said “if we talk about corruption, then we should point directly at Okudzeto Ablakwa”.

He mentioned a 2012 incident in which an amount of 25,000 cedis went missing after Okudzeto, then a Deputy Education Minister, sent his car to a washing bay.

He wondered how he Okudzeto at the time came by that much money in his car, saying he did not have the moral right to accuse them of corruption.

“You lied all your life through politics…You are a big liar. Where are your facts? Show me the documents you have. You don’t have anything because all that you are saying is just coming from your mind… Don’t touch me… Let him know that he is a thief. You have stolen through your life. You have even lied through your education,” Carlos Ahenkorah remarked during the altercation.

His utterances subsequently forced Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa to walk out of the interview, noting that the Deputy Minister was reacting harshly because he was uncomfortable with the revelation.

“You can tell from the Minister’s attitude that he is clearly uncomfortable with this matter and he stands exposed… I think as a public officer he has to behave himself,” he said.

Ablakwa could have been hit

According to eyewitnesses, if Mr. Ablakwa had not been advised to leave the scene, the Deputy Minister who was throwing tantrums, would have assaulted him physically.

Despite the Ministry’s claim it only introduced the event to expatriates to sponsor and attend, a 23rd October letter shows that they went beyond introducing the event to actually collecting monies from the expatriates.

The letter directed that interested expatriates were to direct their cheques to the accounts office of the Trade Ministry.

The Deputy Minister has reportedly explained that this was done to boost the credibility of the event for expatriates who may be uncomfortable parting with cash to fund a program whose organizers are not well known.

The Tema West MP said just as there are different categories of sponsorship like platinum and gold sponsors, the dinner also had a price to sit within the presidential circle and ministerial circle.

Angry MP chases TMA demolition task-force

In September 2017, Mr. Carlos Ahenkorah lost his cool and nearly assaulted the Tema Metropolitan Assembly Works Engineer who was supervising the demolition of unauthorized structures erected on the edges of a road in Tema.

The unauthorized structures, according to the Engineer, Maxwell Adu Boateng were creating a nuisance along the stretch hence the exercise.

TMA suspends Carlos Ahenkorah over demolition exercise

Following that incident, the MP was suspended for six months by the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA).

The ban was however short-lived, following reports that a higher hand forced the MCE to reverse it.

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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Carlos Ahenkorah barges into interview to ‘insult’ Ablakwa appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The two, who are also Members of Parliament, were engaged in a strong exchange of words with Mr. Ahenkorah describing Okudzeto Ablakwa as a “big liar” making baseless allegations against the government.

[contextly_sidebar id=”o5U4DCpC1sL2LFgAE4QVEGcPCPkxZKZc”]The Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, alleged last week that the Ministry of Trade and Industry, charged the expatriates between $25,000 and $100,000 each, to offer them seats close to the President at an awards ceremony.

The Asawase legislator argued that the fees charged at the event were not the kind of fees approved by Parliament, and that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry’s accounts.

The Ministry however in a statement challenging the claims, said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event.

It added that, it only facilitated the implementation of the new initiative [GEBA], by the Millennium Excellence Foundation, an entity noted for organizing world class events.

“As a Government that believes in the private sector as the engine of growth, the Government through the Ministry of Trade and Industry welcomed the initiative to collaborate with the Foundation to see to the birthing of the initiative. The Ministry consequently signed an MoU with the Foundation that spelt out the roles of both parties. Resource mobilization to ensure that the event was organized at no cost to the taxpayer was the sole responsibility of the Foundation”

“The Ministry only wrote letters to introduce the Millennium Excellence Foundation to sponsors and solicited support whilst the Foundation prepared the sponsorship package kits and presented it to potential sponsors at a later date. It is very worrying for people who are expected to know better (especially if some happen to be leading members of the august House of Parliament) to conveniently join the streets wagon in pursuit of petty partisan parochial interests to churn out deliberate falsehood to perpetuate the fallacy that access to the President has to be secured with financial inducements,” excerpts of the statement said.

But Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in a statement reacting to the Ministry’s response, called on them to apologize to President Akufo-Addo for embarrassing him, insisting that the incident indeed happened and that the government is culpable.

“The least the Ministry of Trade and Industry should be doing at this point instead of seeking to justify their shameful conduct, is to apologize to President Akufo-Addo, that is, if he did not grant his blessings for this desecration of the high office he occupies, apologize to Ghanaians and refund the extorted sums to the expats,” he said.

However, when he met with the Deputy Trade Minister in Parliament for a media interview on the matter, the two were almost engaged in fisticuffs as Carlos Ahenkorah claimed Mr. Ablakwa was churning out baseless information to denigrate his Ministry and the Minister.

“You lied all your life through politics…You are a big liar. Where are your facts. Show me the documents you have. You don’t have anything because all that you are saying is just coming from your mind… Don’t touch me… Let him know that he is a thief. You have stolen through your life. You have even lied through your education,” Carlos Ahenkorah remarked during the altercation.

His utterances subsequently forced Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa to walk out of the interview, noting that the Deputy Minister was reacting harshly because he was uncomfortable with the revelation.

“You can tell from the Minister’s attitude that he is clearly uncomfortable with this matter and he stands exposed… I think as a public officer he has to behave himself,” he said.

Listen to what happened below:

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By: Joans Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ablakwa, Ahenkorah in near-fight over alleged Trade Ministry extortion appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the Assembly, it was going to give an opportunity to Mr. Ahenkorah to explain the alleged actions that led to his initial 6-month suspension, since the decision was taken without his presence.

[contextly_sidebar id=”2kmOP4FrYSglTqPweaozJBUcGesLc9KE”] The MP was expected to appear before the Assembly to apologize before the suspension could be lifted, but he blatantly ignored the Assembly, and yet his suspension was lifted.

Citi News sources say the MCE was pushed by unseen hands to take the decision or lose his job.

The reversal of his suspension came after an appeal against the ban by the Municipal Chief Executive to the Assembly members on behalf of the MP.

The decision to suspend Mr. Ahenkorah was taken by the Public Relations and Complaints Committee (PRCC) of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly chaired by the presiding member of the Assembly, Richard Fiadomor earlier this week.

The committee’s decision to punish Mr. Ahenkorah occurred after he was alleged to have attacked the TMA Works Engineer who was supervising the demolition of unauthorized structures erected on the edges of a road in the area.

The unauthorized structures, according to the Engineer, Maxwell Adu Boateng, were obstructing movement and traffic along the stretch hence the exercise.

Carlos Ahenkorah, who got wind of the exercise rushed to the site, allegedly attacked the TMA task-force and prevented them from demolishing the properties at the Cocoa village.

According to Mr. Fiadomor, the PRCC found the conduct of Mr. Ahenkorah unfortunate hence the suspension.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Carlos Ahenkorah snubs TMA; but gets suspension lifted appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This comes after an appeal against the ban by the Municipal Chief Executive. The MP was expected to appear before the Assembly to apologize before any such decision should have been taken, but he blatantly refused to attend.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ooDiS9BV1qN5NVBz2v4i2aOjvoHAOIS7″]The MCE, who according to Citi News sources appears to be under pressure from top government officials, eventually appealed to the Assembly members on behalf of the MP to lift the ban.

The decision to suspended Mr. Ahenkorah was taken by the Public Relations and Complaints Committee (PRCC) of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly chaired by the presiding member of the Assembly, Richard Fiadomor earlier this week.

The committee’s decision to punish Carlos Ahenkorah occurred after he lost his cool and attacked the Tema Metropolitan Assembly Works Engineer who was supervising the demolition of unauthorized structures erected on the edges of a road in the area.

The unauthorized structures, according to the Engineer, Maxwell Adu Boateng, were obstructing movement and traffic along the stretch hence the exercise.

Carlos Ahenkorah, who got wind of the exercise rushed to the site, allegedly attacked the TMA task-force and prevented them from demolishing the properties at the Cocoa village.

According to Mr. Fiadomor, the PRCC found the conduct of Mr. Ahenkorah unfortunate hence the suspension.

–

By: Elvis Washington/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post TMA lifts suspension on Carlos Ahenkorah appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the Assembly, it will give an opportunity to Mr. Ahenkorah to explain the alleged actions that led to the initial suspension, since the decision on the ban was taken without him being present.

[contextly_sidebar id=”X9wXkUVN19agqHq72GRCUlp6nYj7ASPE”]This development follows the six-month suspension handed him by the Assembly on Wednesday, after he allegedly disrupted a recent demolition exercise being conducted by the Assembly.

In a statement sighted by Citi News, the members of the Assembly said their decision is aimed at fostering peace and development within the area.

“…the leadership of the Assembly convened an emergency meeting at which it agreed to request for another emergency General Assembly meeting to reconsider their earlier decision as soon as possible,” the release said.

The release added: “We believe that in the spirit of unity and development, the General Assembly will review their earlier decision.”

Mr. Ahenkorah as part of the suspension, is to forfeit his allowances and other benefits due him as a member of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly.

The suspension was taken by the Public Relations and Complaints Committee (PRCC) of the Assembly chaired by the presiding member of the Assembly, Richard Fiadomor.

He was invited for that meeting which suspended him, but he blatantly failed to turn up without an explanation.

Mr. Ahenkorah was said to have allegedly attacked the Tema Metropolitan Assembly Works Engineer who was supervising the demolition of unauthorized structures erected on the edges of a road in the area.

The unauthorized structures, according to the Engineer, Maxwell Adu Boateng, were obstructing movement and traffic along the stretch hence the exercise.

The MP, who got wind of the exercise, rushed to the site to confront the TMA task-force and allegedly prevented them from demolishing the properties at the Cocoa village.

–

By: citifmonline.com/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post TMA to ‘reconsider’ Ahenkorah suspension appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The decision was taken by the Public Relations and Complaints Committee (PRCC) of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly chaired by the presiding member of the Assembly, Richard Fiadomor.

Carlos Ahenkorah lost his cool last week when he attacked the Tema Metropolitan Assembly Works Engineer who was supervising the demolition of unauthorized structures erected on the edges of a road in the area.

The unauthorized structures, according to the Engineer, Maxwell Adu Boateng, were obstructing movement and traffic along the stretch hence the exercise.

Carlos Ahenkorah, who got wind of the exercise rushed to the site, allegedly attacked the TMA task-force and prevented them from demolishing the properties at the Cocoa village.

According to Mr. Fiadomor, the PRCC found the conduct of Mr. Ahenkorah unfortunate hence the suspension.

The MP, who was invited to defend his actions failed to turn up at the General Assembly meeting which is presently underway.

Two other Assembly members accused of also raining insults on the Metropolitan Chief Executive of TMA during a similar exercise in the Tema East constituency, have also been slapped with a total of 5 months suspension.

One was slapped with two months and the other, three months.

–

By: Elvis Washington/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post TMA suspends Carlos Ahenkorah over demolition exercise appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Arhin Young made the assertion at a press conference held on Monday to protest against the demolishing of some containers that had been sited in front of the Cocoa Village in Tema.

“We are gathered here today to reveal to Ghanaians an evil and diabolic act against the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Danquah Akufu-Addo and the Member of Parliament (MP) of Tema West, Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah. This action is being perpetrated by some Assembly Members of the TMA headed by the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) and the Metro Engineer,” he added.

[contextly_sidebar id=”h2oaCU7MFzfoEQSpTAmOk8Ik4fW3sd2h”]He said the MP for the constituency appealed to the MCE to halt the process so they could find a lasting solution to the problem, but “with total disrespect to Ahenkorah, TMA came with fifty armed Navy Officers, twenty armed Policemen and some Macho men and turned the Kasajan Electoral Area into a war zone, smashing shops with impunity and forgetting that the shops were the sources of livelihood of the people.”

“We know that this is an orchestrated move to make the MP and the President of Ghana unpopular, because the Engineer kept saying he was under strict instructions from the Flagstaff House and the backing of the Ghana Navy.”

Mr. Young accused the two Assembly members of the area for telling the affected owners that two letters for the demolition had come from the COCOBOD at the time the MP was a member of the Board.

“This is an absolute lie because the said letter was dated 19th October, 2016, and the MP was not even appointed as a Minister nor a Member of the COCOBOD.”

The Assembly woman for the Kasajan Elecotral Area, Mrs. Mary Enu, said she told everyone who came to her that there was a Sewer Line through the area, and so COCOBOD would break the wall when they finished with the construction of the Cocoa village and reconstruct the gutter and the Sewage Line.

She also informed them of the security threat the containers posed to the village because it could serve as a launching ground for criminals to enter the village.

The Assembly man for the BBC Electoral Area and Works Committee Chairman for the TMA, Mr. Kwesi Poku, said “My problem is, the MP is a Board Member of the COCOBOD so he should call his CEO to order; that is my argument.”

He asked the electorate to be patient and not allow themselves to be used to achieve somebody’s political ends.

“I know the mind of the MCE is not bad, and we need to sit down to see what we could do for our people to be comfortable,” he said.

The Sub-Metro Chairman for Tema West and Assembly member of the Batsona Electoral Area, Mr. Joe Boaben Twumasi, condemned what he called a campaign to replace the MCE.

He said, “You can see that his policy direction is perfect. It is jealousy on the part of some people. We the Assembly Members are behind him because he can do the work. This short time he has been around you could see he is doing well.”

Mr. Boaben observed that, it was the MP who wanted to score political points with the issue, because the containers involved were just five, adding that “he is escalating a trivial issue so it would seem as if he was fighting for his people.”

He said the MP was a member of the Assembly, and the decision to clear the containers was taken at the General Assembly meeting.

He said Ahenkorah was fighting against the Local Government Act, Section 222/223 which talked about obstructing the work of a Local Government Officer and could be in trouble.

He pleaded with the MP to meet the MCE and reason with him adding “I will advise him to get closer to the Assembly so we could work together to make Tema a place to be.”

–

Source: GNA

The post Tema MCE making gov’t unpopular – Tema NPP organizer  appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.