The\u00a0former Finance and Administration Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Opare Hammond, has expressed shock at the financial impropriety accusations leveled against him by the Chairman of the party.<\/p>\n
Paul Afoko at a press briefing on Tuesday disclosed that there is evidence to show that party funds were mismanaged by Mr Hammond.<\/p>\n
He also stated that Mr. Hammond was asked to vacate his post for three major reasons including his outright disobedience to his substantive boss, impropriety in the handling of party finances and his involvement in a case of conflict of interest.<\/p>\n
Mr. Afoko further stated that together with the party\u2019s general secretary, Kwabena Agyapong, they have uncovered a Forex account opened in the name of the NPP and being operated by non-elected or appointed party officials.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News,<\/strong> Mr. Hammond described the allegations as \u201ctotally false\u201d adding that he is in a \u201cstate of shock and disbelief.\u201d<\/p>\n He said it is disappointing for Mr. Afoko and Agyapong to be making such false claims against an officer of the NPP.<\/p>\n He also stressed that he is still the Finance and Administrative Director of the party since the current executives do not have the authority to remove him from office.<\/p>\n According to Mr. Hammond,\u00a0 Afoko and Agyapong have been ordered by the steering committee to reverse their directive.<\/p>\n Mr. Hammond explained that per the party\u2019s constitution, it is the National Executive Committee (NEC) which has the mandate to appoint and dismiss the finance and administrative director and other directors.<\/p>\n He commended himself for handling his attempted removal on the quiet by using the necessary channels in the party to address the matter.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026as somebody who wants to have peace in my party, I made sure that I\u2019d rather use the necessary channels and procedures to get redress and so I have been very quiet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Aggrieved Hammond on Eyewitness News<\/strong> indicated that progress had been made to resolve the matter, therefore the claims made against him at the press conference were uncalled for.<\/p>\n Speaking to the reasons given for his \u201cattempted dismissal\u201d, Hammond said he was \u201cvery far from the finances of the party and that was the way I operated.\u201d<\/p>\n He pointed out that he always sought approval on party expenditure and accounted to the then General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, therefore he never unilaterally dispensed money for party activities.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t make withdrawals, I don\u2019t even have access to cheque books,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n Hammond also vehemently denied making one Ofori Atta a signatory to the NPP\u2019s foreign account saying, \u201cI have no knowledge of that because I don\u2019t handle the party bank accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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