The Statesman newspaper can report that the Member of Parliament for Sene, Twumasi Appiah has just bought for himself a brand new top range Jaguar saloon car, which carries a showroom price tag of $135,000.
This information came to light on Monday, January 6, when he accused Minority MPs of taking a $5,000 bribe last year as a condition for approving the controversial Vodafone purchase agreement.
In an angry reaction, some NPP MPs questioned how the Sene MP managed to acquire the most expensive jaguar on the Ghanaian market. Accusing him of hypocrisy, the Minority MPs said the NDC leaders shall be judged by their spending habits and not by their claims of being social democrats. It all started over the debate to approve the $535 million World Bank loan. Dominic Nitiwul, Member for Bimbilla, questioned how the country could trust the government to use the loan funds for their intended purposes. To back his point, he recalled the spending of Gh�130,000 on snacks by the Transition Team.
MP for Sene, Twumasi Appiah, suddenly got up and referred to a publication in the Enquirer newspaper by renegade NPP MP for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, P.C. Appiah-Ofori, who told the ministerial committee investigating the 70% sale of government shares in GT to Vodafone that his colleagues on the then Majority side received $5,000 each. He later on told Peace FM that he received the information from NDC MP for Avenor, Doe Adjaho. The Minority MPs were so incensed by the Sene MP�s action on the floor of the House that they walked out. This meant the House did not have enough numbers to vote on the loan agreement.
They have threatened an indefinite sit-out, an action which if sustained would seriously threaten government work. Due to the slim majority enjoyed by the NDC, such an action has dire consequences for the running of the country, especially regarding financial approvals for government spending. Meanwhile, Minority Leader and Member for Suame, Mr Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, has denied allegations that NPP MPs had to be bribed to vote for the Vodafone deal which their government had struck on Ghana Telecom.
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