Perhaps the nobility of Dr. Sipa Yankey is that which irks some people so much that they want to criminalize him at all cost. It reminds one of the man who was approached by others to go and testify against Aristides the Just when he was on trial in Rome. When the man asked why he should go and testify falsely against the accused, the men told him they were tired of hearing people referring to Aristides as a just man!

Obviously, in the same vein, some people can no longer stand the high esteem in which Ghanaians hold Dr. Sipa Yankey and thus want to criminalize him though he has not committed any crime.

So, yet another article surfaced last Thursday, January 3 2012 on ghananweb aimed at criminalizing him. Under the heading “Sipa Yankey lied to Ghanaians!- He must be investigated”, the writers of the article gave their names as Asmah Arthur, Secretary of the Nzema Youth Association, Mariam Yaba from Media Watch and Kaku Andrews who claims to be a Research Consultant at the University of Aberdeen.

In summary, the authors of the article claimed that Dr. Yankey must be dismissed as CEO of the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) for saying that the gas project will be completed in the last quarter of 2012. They further levelled allegations of financial impropriety against him. However, even before the article could see the light of day, the fact that it is fictitious and was written by NPP activists with fictitious names began to emerge.

One Kofi Ata of Cambridge, UK, a prolific writer on ghanaweb, (a privately owned Ghanaians website which has become popular among Ghanaians) commenting on the name of one of the authors of the story said he “ did a search on Kaku Andrews on the website of University of Aberdeen and nothing came up. I expected that as a Research Consultant his name will appear. I did a Google search and the only one that came up is this article. So the authors used fictitious names.”

Then came a press statement released by the Nzema Youth Association, otherwise known as the Youth for Nzema Maanley & Western Development which dissociated itself from the publication, and denied knowledge of the said Asmah Arthur, who claims to be the Secretary of the Nzema Youth Association. The full text of the association reads;

“Our attention has been drawn to a publication which has been posted on ghanaweb in order to blemish the hard won reputation of Dr. George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, the gentleman who has brought enviable development to Nzemaland and the Western Region in general.

“This is a year that the good Lord has bestowed on us all, and typical of us, we would have wished to stay calm and enjoy the goodness of the Lord. Unfortunately, we are forced to cut short our break in order to straighten the irresponsible invectives that have been spilled by three persons who claim to be associates of the Nzema Youth Association and Media Watch.

“In the ordinary, we would not have reacted to such uncultured press release, most especially when the persons involved, Asmah Arthur – alleged Secretary of the Nzema Youth Association, Mariam Yaba- Media Watch and Kaku Andrews – Research Consultant, University of Aberdeen (he claims) are unable to provide any shroud of evidence to support their claims which are baseless and false. However, after careful reading of their claims, it is important to let Ghanaians in general and the good people of the Western Region in particular know the truth.

“We the citizens of Ghana who dwell in the environs where the Ghana Gas project is situated can bear unequivocal testimony to the progress of work which has brought various degree of employment to the Nzema people and people in other areas where the Gas Project is being implemented. If for nothing at all, this project, as at our last checks in November 2012, has provided more than 250 direct jobs for our people.

“Asemda, Anorkyi, Atuabo and many other towns, which before the commencement of the Ghana Gas Project had less active economic activities, have seen significant amounts of economic engagement which is inuring to the people’s benefits.

“To the best of our knowledge, Dr. Sipa Yankey did not lobby or sweet talked anybody to be appointed as the CEO of GNGC. As a matter of fact, his appointment was based on his pedigree as a hard working gentleman which he exhibited when he was the Minister for Health.

“Everybody in Ghana knows that Dr. Yankey and other NDC senior officials’ incarceration by former President J. A. Kufuor of the NPP was purely political. In the matter of the M&J allegations in which they were mentioned, a high level investigations into the matter by the Ghana Police Service cleared him and others from any wrong doing. Our investigations have also revealed that Dr Yankey neither owns a truck doing business for the Gas Project nor has he rented any property for the Project

“We the members of the Youth for Nzema Maanle and Western Development believe that this attempt made by the three persons is not only shameful, wrong, awful and distasteful but it also defamatory and evil. We do not understand why some people in this country like to destroy good people like Dr. Yankey who continue to work for the development our dear country

“We therefore urge that legal action be taken in order to stop these persons from further issuing such malicious statements. THIS WE ARE PREPARED TO DO.

“We also urge the Ghana National Gas Company to come out as a matter of urgency to respond to the void claims being made by this group.

“The use of the ghanaweb platform to constantly attack Dr. Sipa Yankey and prominent Nzemas is mostly worrying and unfortunate. The question is why is that ghanaweb platform is always used to spill these lies?

“We do not share in the view that ghanaweb is against prominent Nzemas. However, we urge it to live up to it professional etiquettes as per well-established journalistic and media standards.

“The interest of the common good of Nzemaland transcends all other individual interests, be it political, economic or even social. We therefore urge the fictitious Nzema Youth Association and their cohorts not to dent that interest for their parochial political interests.

“Finally, it is instructive to note that per our investigations, these three people - Asmah Arthur, Mariam Yaba and Kaku Andrews are active NPP members in the Jomoro constituency who are still hurting from the massive defeat their party, the NPP, suffered in the constituency in the just ended general elections. Knowing fully well that Dr. Yankey was among the prominent NDC members who master-minded the Nzema and Western Region Revolution which swallowed up the NPP in the Region, these three NPP activists seek to avenge their defeat in this disgusting manner.

“We urge Dr. Yankey to continue with his commitment to the development of Nzema, the Western Region and Ghana as a whole and to spur him on to deepen his dedication and contribution to the development of our dear country and the welfare of all Ghanaians.

Signed

Evans Baffour

Media Coordinator

Youth for Nzema Maanle and Western Development

Further evidence that the article in queston is fictitious just as the name of the authors is the claim (by one of the authors), Mariam Yaba, that she works with Media Watch. Media Watch is the same shadowy NPP entity that has maligned several NDC officials with false allegations. Personalities within the NDC who decided to take them on found to their chagrin that Media Watch, does not exist. Neither does any of the names put up by it exists. Some websites and radio stations which used the fictitious stories emanating from Media Watch have had to withdraw the stories and apologize to the aggrieved person after they realized Media Watch does not exist.