Asiedu Nketia Takes A Swipe At Critics

General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketia has taken a swipe at his critics who are daring him to confirm or deny whether the controversial ultra-modern building located at Adabraka, which is estimated to cost $20million, is owned by NDC. General Mosquito, as he is popularly called, said questions being raised in respect to the said party headquarters are not sensible enough to warrant an answer from him. The office complex located in Adabraka, a suburb of Accra became a topical issue after the leadership of the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), a civil society organization linked the edifice to the ruling party. AFAG quoted General Secretary of the party, Asiedu Nketia, whom during their July Congress in Sunyani, stated that a building to be used as its headquarters was almost complete. To corroborate their claim, the group at a news conference in Accra produced copies of a special newsletter published by the NDC for its July 2011 congress, which contained the details of the building and other projects being undertaken by the party. The newsletter, �NDC Frontline News� page 2 dated July 2011, under the headline �State of the party�, gave credence to Asiedu Nketia�s statement at the NDC congress. It said, �two sites have been acquired for building a befitting national headquarters. One is at Adabraka in Accra which is being developed into a four-storey edifice that will eventually serve regional uses.� The newsletter also indicated that �a 20-acre plot has been acquired and fenced off at Oyibi on the Accra-Dodowa road. This is the site where a headquarters complex will be constructed to house offices, party school, guest houses, conference centres and all other facilities required to run a modern political party like the NDC.� The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) also waded into the controversy with a call on the ruling party to disclose their source of funding. The NPP, which said it was not against the NDC acquiring a new office complex believes it was prudent for a party in government to clear the doubts in the minds of Ghanaians on whether or not their taxes are being utilized properly. But General Mosquito who showed up at an NDC Youth Forum in Accra Tuesday, asked the crowed �can you all see me; is that the physical Asiedu Nketia? Go and inform those who claim they cannot see me that they cannot go to places where I exist. The NDC scribe who has not addressed the issue that has dominated media discussions said, he decided not to answer any questions on the alleged $20million Adabraka-based-mansion in the interests of those probing for answers. �I don�t know how to answer unintelligent questions without making the questioners feel insulted and we have all agreed that this campaign is going to be very clean devoid of insults. That is why I have decided in their own interest not to answer those questions� he added. On the contrary, General Mosquito said his priority is to ensure the NDC retains power in 2012 and not "the noise about whether there is a building or not. So those who were looking for me, I advise that when I move let them follow me�. "For the past two weeks, when people were on radio stations making noise about whether there is a building or no building; some making noise about whether somebody has urinated somewhere or not, I felt that the most important thing for me to devote my time on, was to go to the length and breath of the country to educate our people about how we can harvest our vote to keep us in power in 2012�.