Politics of Thursday, 10 September 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Farouk Aliu Mahama’s claims on TV criticised as false

Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahama emerged victorious for the Yendi constituency Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahama emerged victorious for the Yendi constituency

Recent comments by New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Yendi, Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahama, on a TV programme have been criticised as false.

Alhaji Aliu Mahama reportedly touted his achievements in communities in Yendi on a programme on TV3 last week, claiming that many communities in the constituency have been receiving aid from his two NGOs and his person since 2012.

However, according to a report on 233newsonline.com, the claims are false because the two NGOs, Aliu Mahama Foundation and the Partnership For Poverty Reduction (PPR) were non-existent in 2012.

“According to the viewers, the statement made by Farouk Aliu Mahama about the NGOs are untrue since his father (the late Alhaji Aliu Mahama) passed on in the same year, 2012, when both Foundations were non-existent and he, as an employee of COCOBOD, is not resourceful enough to undertake philanthropic activities,” the report indicated.

It further said sample comments from the viewers of the programme on which the aspiring MP made the comments stated that the Constituency neither received any assistance from the NGOs nor the Candidate in 2012.

“As an aspirant, Mr Mahama started visiting Yendi in 2017 when he declared his intention to run for office. His interventions were not as significant to warrant funding from personalities like Aliko Dangote, Mo Ibrahim and the numerous non-existent relationships that he fabricates.

“Can Mr Mahama be honest with Ghanaians and give true sources of his finances? Additionally, can he and the trustees give an account and statement of funding and expenditure on projects from inception to date? It is not safe for him to start throwing out names of non-existent persons as his funding sources, branding them as his late father’s friends and associates,” the report questioned the source of Alhaji Aliu Mahama’s source of funding.

As mentioned in the report, the viewers further stressed that the people of Yendi cannot trace the aspirant’s claim of 1,000 jobs he claims to have brought to the constituency.

It read: “Independent checks by these viewers do not support his claim. 1,000 jobs can stimulate the economy of Yendi and the viewers would not have seen the need to find who benefited from the jobs if it were true. On the issue of 1,000 jobs, he must give names of the institutions and which industries or economic sectors did he provide the jobs. It is a blatant falsehood and the Host should have held Mr Mahama to account for those statements."

Watch the interview in which the aspiring MP is alleged to have made the claims below.