Ken Agyapong Exposes More NDC Corruption

The Member of Parliament for Assin North in the Central Region, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, became an instant hero at a forum organized by civil society pressure group, Alliance For Accountable Governance (AFAG) at Koforidua in the Eastern Region on Tuesday evening, for exposing more �gargantuan� corruption going on in the Atta Mills government. Mr Agyapong exposed the Alfred Woyome gargantuan scandal which has become an albatross around the neck of the ruling government. Mr Agyapong, who was one of the main speakers at the forum dubbed �Gargantuan Forum�, was mobbed by persons who had thronged the Appenteng Hall where the forum took place, while everyone tried to shake hands with him after revealing other corrupt practices going in the government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), led by Prof John Atta Mills. He said the NDC had tried unsuccessfully to use some influential persons in the country to gag him or stop him from his mission to �expose� the government as one which had touted itself as the �caring government� but only came to power to loot the resources of the country and leave the nation poorer. He said he could never be intimidated or distracted from his commitment to expose the crime that had been committed against Ghanaians by the NDC under the guise of payment of judgment debts. He said since he came into politics, he had never seen a Ghanaian president as corrupt and insensitive as President Atta Mills who was happily supervising over �gargantuan� looting by his own ministers and cronies. He said the judgment debt of over GH�200million paid to Construction Pioneers (CP), the GH�52million paid to Woyome and some being paid to some self-styled chiefs were all fraudulent payments. �In 2009, the government paid GH�675million as judgment debts while in 2010, it paid GH�276million judgment debts, most of which were fraudulent,� he said. According to him, President Mills had come to parliament on February 19, 2009 and February 25, 2010 to say that his government was going to pay all judgment and crippling debts that were stifling the country�s growth and for him (Mills) to say that he did not know anything about the fraudulent payment of the judgment debt to Woyome was really hypocritical. �If it were to be in the developed world, President Mills would have long resigned over these scandalous payments to these individuals or companies who did not have any contracts or business with the state,� he said, adding that �because the president does not have any shame, he is asking Ghanaians to renew his mandate again or give him another four-year term�. �If it were to be in the US or UK, the president would have resigned or would have been impeached but he thinks Ghanaians are ignorant and fools to be fooled again after failing to fulfill all the promises of reducing fuel prices, creating jobs and giving hope to the youth.� He indicated that a fruit-processing company employing about 345 permanent workers had been set up at the cost of GH�16million in his constituency and that about 50 or more of such companies could be set up with these monies fraudulently paid to individuals, to create employment. According to Hon Agyapong, a six-unit classroom block which was built at the cost of GH�76,000 in 2008 was now being built at the cost of GH�150,000, adding that a similar six-unit classroom to be built at Bawku in the Upper East Region had been estimated to cost GH�325,000. �I am building a three-unit classroom block at Assin Fosu in my constituency at the cost of GH�55,000 and the same classroom block is being built at the cost of GH�245,000 by the government,� he said, stressing that the Atta Mills government had woefully disappointed Ghanaians and should therefore be shown the exit in December. The Assin North MP however sounded a note of caution to the President to ensure free and fair general elections. Samuel Atta Akyea, the MP for Abuakwa South in the Eastern Region, who also spoke at the forum, said some NDC MPs even thought their own government had disappointed Ghanaians with regard to the payment of the judgment debt and therefore did not deserve another term. �I can tell you that some of the NDC MPs continue to confide in us the embarrassment the judgment debt had brought to them and the fact that it would surely affect their chances of winning the December elections.� Hon Atta Akyea however said there was the need for foot-soldiers and members of the NPP to move from community to community and house to house to tell Ghanaians the �bad� story of the NDC and also encourage them to register to enable them to vote the NDC out and bring the NPP into power to change things for the better. The MP for Kade, Ofosu Asamoah, said it was strange for the government to set up a committee to seize �pirated� wax print Safter customs officials selfishly allowed them to be imported onto the Ghanaian market. The forum was massively patronized with the venue being filled to capacity, with a curious audience standing outside the hall to listen from the loud speakers. Some radio stations also carried it live. Present at the forum were all leading members of AFAG including the chairman Dr Nana Ayew Afriyie, Abu Ramadan, Samuel Awuku, Davis Opoku and members of other political parties who were invited. The ruling NDC declined the invitation even though it was invited. According to the AFAG chairman, the group would try to organize more of such forums in all the regions to help sensitise Ghanaians on some of the bad decisions taken by the government which were having a negative impact on the development of the nation.