Akufo Addo Drugs Saga...Agyenim Boateng Adds His Voice

Deputy Tourism Minister, James Agyenim Boateng has described as flawed, attempts by lawyers of Nana Akufo-Addo to dissociate the NPP flag-bearer from allegations of narcotics use and dealings. Nana Addo�s lawyers have released a letter said to have been issued by US authorities to counter claims making the rounds that the opposition flag-bearer was once arrested at that airport for possessing narcotic drugs. Referring to the letter which was published in the Chronicle newspaper said to have been signed by port authorities in New York and New Jersey, Mr. Agyenim Boateng questioned if authorities at the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority will ever go public with the arrest of a person who was in possession of narcotic drugs. Speaking on the newspaper review segment on Badwam, Adom TV�s morning show on Multi TV, the Deputy Minister said Nana Addo�s lawyers are trying to use different means to �purge� the link drawn between the opposition leader and narcotics but added that so far the channels adopted by his lawyers have proven ineffective. According to him, Ghana�s Narcotics Control Board is the only agency that can vindicate a drug dealer or prove that someone is not into narcotics drugs beyond all doubt. The Deputy Tourism Minister read an extract from an article written by the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, Gabby Asare Otchere Darko titled �getting high on lies and insults by Qanawu Gabby� which he said lent credence to the fact that Nana Akufo-Addo had handled narcotics drugs before. The extract reads, �even if Nana Akufo-Addo, who grew up in the far par liberal age in the 1960�s has experimented with grass, what in modern PR tactics informs the NDC that it can task the man known as �ye nim wo fre tete� as dangerous, reckless drug abuser�� and this according to Mr. Agyenim Boateng, �makes a tacit admission to the extent that even if Nana Addo ever indulged in drugs, why should the NDC grab [it] to score political points.� He noted that such revelations depict the true character of whatever life he might have led. There has been a raging debate on the veracity or otherwise of claims by the NDC that the NPP flag-bearer has ever had dealings in narcotics. Newspapers and other media have over time discussed the issue which came to prominence in the build up to the 2008 general elections. James Agyenim Boateng accepted that they are issues �because and I am talking generally, concerning a parliamentary candidate, there is the likelihood that in the most unforeseen circumstances, the person could become President and if the person becomes President, then the person represents the whole people� he added.