Okudzeto Ablakwa Ripostes Accuser

The Deputy Minister of Education in charge of tertiary institutions, who is also the Member of Parliament for the North Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region, Hon Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has fired back at his accuser in a response that would cause pause to people hitherto pointing accusing fingers at him over allegations that he is politically haunting Christopher Kofi Eleblu, one of the contenders of the seat in his constituency. His immediate response when this paper called him over the weekend to react to his contender�s allegation that the deputy minister was behind his woes with the Economic and Organise Crime Office (EOCO) and the subsequent splashing of his name on the front page of the state media was that �it�s totally unfounded, baseless, and preposterous� He seems to be fighting his own ghost. I do not have the power to do what he is accusing me of�. According to Okudzeto Ablakwa, he is keeping his focus on the work in his Ministry and Constituency, and also working towards the effectiveness of his campaign for the 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, adding that he is not interested in such worthless accusations. He indicated that he had no hand and interest in any of the charges that had been preferred against Kofi Eleblu by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO). The Deputy Minister noted that claims by Kofi Eleblu that he (Okudzeto Ablakwa) wants him jailed before the polls to boost his chances of winning the North Tongu seat in the 2016 Parliamentary elections were untenable. �The last time we contested, I defeated him and I am going to defeat him again times without number. I don�t have time to tarnish his image before I win him in an election,� he asserted. Okudzeto Ablakwa however, stated that his checks at the Attorney General`s office revealed that the AG had filed at the court, on the 19th of August, for Kofi Eleblu and two others to be prosecuted yet only the two were being prosecuted and therefore wondered why the rest were not being dragged to the dock. �I am in no position to instruct the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the Attorney General to undertake any duties to suit my political ambitions. These are very bigger state offices who know their work very well,� he said. He averred that the Ghanaian Times publication on Kofi Eleblu had nothing to do with him and that �the Ghanaian Times is a responsible newspaper and, I have no authority to instruct them in any way on how to discharge their duties as a media house�. Hon. Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa more so, quizzed whether it is not a fact that the Attorney General had filed a case against him(Eleblu), whether he had not been dragged to court with others, whether the three of them were not accused of procurement fraud and dishonesty and, also whether there had been an EOCO report or not. He pointed out that he has very needful duties to discharge and a people to serve with regards to the positions he holds as a Deputy Minister of Education and MP for the North Tongu constituency and would not worry himself with any unprofitable venture.