A group of four obese women, led by Ms. Frances Essiam, best known for her hip-hopping from one political party to the other, yesterday, like hired thugs, subjected the Editor-In-Chief of the Enquirer newspaper, Raymond Archer to verbal assault at the vetting of Dr. Richard Anane.

The women cast innuendos at Mr. Archer, particularly when the issue of Dr. Anane’s sexual affair with his American mistress, with whom the nominee has a baby boy came up in the course of the vetting.

Essiam, who was seated behind the Editor-In-Chief, continued her verbal assault against The Enquirer and its boss throughout the vetting. After the vetting, she pursued Mr. Archer with provocative insults, but the editor ignored her and later told reporters that Essiam is a frustrated woman.

“Look at her, No husband; no visible job, no permanent political party, combined with menopausal syndromes. Its pure frustration, I just decided not to mind her because the best response to a fool is silence,” Mr. Archer said. Mr. Archer continued that “I pity her children; its obvious mummy just can’t find her feet.

Even after the process ended, Ms Essiam, who is frequently seen loitering around the ministries area in Accra in recent times, was busily and loudly enquiring about the whereabouts of Mr. Archer. With her friends, Ms Essiam exclaimed in I.C. Quaye-manner: ‘The money is big ooooo!,” in reference to a 5billion libel suit that Dr. Anane said he had filed against the Enquirer’s editor-in-chief. Dr. Anane has failed to pursue that suit. The four women questioned Mr. Archer on what they termed as lies against Dr. Anane and sought to know from him if he would have leveled those charges against the nominee, if he were to be his father.

Ms. Essiam, who now attends almost all NPP functions, directly taunted the Enquirer editor, claiming that although he was sitting directly in front of an air-conditioner, she could see him sweating profusely, when Dr. Anane made reference to the 5 billion cedi suit during the vetting. Frances Essiam, noted for her caustic tongue, was lashed with a horsewhip by some NDC thugs at the party’s December 2005 Koforidua Congress, when she tongue-lashed the party’s founder and former president, Jerry John Rawlings.

She resigned from the NDC days later, alleging a sponsored thuggery against her. Not long after, she joined Dr. Obed Asamoah, the party’s former chairman, who had also resigned after failing to retain his position at the party’s Koforidua congress to form the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), where she became its Women’s Commissioner, but resigned shortly thereafter.

Frances Essiam, Raymond Archer Clash On Air

Frances Essiam and Raymond Archer, Editor-in-Chief of the Enquirer newspaper have clashed on air during the morning show on Radio Gold on Wednesday February 27, 2008. The two traded insults and made allegations and counter allegations against each other. Ms. Frances Essiam a former member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), who was beaten at the party’s congress in Koforidua in the year 2005 as a result of which she resigned from the party and joined Dr. Obed Asamoah’s Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) and became its women’s leader but later resigned and is now reported to be hanging around the New Patriotic Party had hot exchanges with Archer during the radio show.

The exchanges were in an apparent publication in the Enquirer newspaper which claims that Ms. Essiam had taunted and teased Archer at the public gallery of Parliament during the vetting of Dr. Richard Anane on Tuesday. According to the report Ms. Essiam had made constant references to the GH¢500,000 suit filed against him by Dr. Anane, taunting that the money was too huge for Archer to be able to pay up in court if found guilty of libel.

The newspaper report also made references to the fact the Ms. Essiam is jobless and still unmarried. Ms. Essiam on the other hand rained invectives on Mr. Archer and told him she has employees working under her, and said he is only lucky to be working because some one has set up a newspaper for him to work, or else he would be jobless. During the exchanges, she threatened to sue Mr. Archer for saying she has set up a gang that goes about harassing people.