Politics of Monday, 16 March 2015

Source: The Informer

Following party betrayal; Osafo Marfo to quit politics?

Credible intelligence picked up by The Informer hints that Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo is contemplating saying good-bye to party politics over what he is reported to have dubbed, “Judas betrayal” on the part of his party, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The retired banker and engineer turned politician, was made to taste the other side of politics when he was disowned by his party in a statement considered to be tribally divisive he allegedly made in a meeting with party members at Koforidua in the Eastern Region, some weeks ago.

A voice, resembling that of the former Finance/Youth and Sports Minister under the erstwhile John Kufuor Administration, during the said meeting, was heard saying “…You have all the resources, but you have no say in the management of your resources, and that is what is happening. Your development depends on the one who has no resources.”

“You can’t say this openly,” he cautioned the Council members of the party’s Eastern regional branch, when he met them: But added that they are at liberty to talk about it among Asantes.

“We should protect ourselves, we should protect our income. No one, who is the source of income, the source of revenue, the source of resources, allows another person without those resources the chance [to rule over them].

“It’s never done anywhere in the world. In the world over, it is the group with the most resources that rules and not the other way around.”

In the estimation of the voice, “86.5 percent of resources in Ghana come from five regions: Brong-Ahafo, Ashanti, Eastern, Western and Central. This is where 86 percent of the resources of Ghana come from… And the oil was also discovered in the West. It will change the formula to about 90 percent. We cannot ignore these five regions. We should not,” the voice added.

According to this paper’s insider sources, Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo did not only express sadness about the purported audio tape recording which he believed was targeted at his political career and to soil his hard-earned reputation; but the speed at which some communicators of his party were on air condemning him.

One source told The Informer that “Mr. Osafo Marfo is not a happy man and he is contemplating seriously to quit politics, having been dumped by the party in this difficult time. In fact, he feels betrayed that the NPP that he had worked for all these years could do this to him.

Though the party has not in any official statement distanced itself from comments coming from very senior members like Dr. Nyaho-Nyaho Tamakloe and Dr. Kobina Arthur Kennedy, some party communicators have shocked him.”

The source added, “the personalities mentioned above, decided to pass judgment on him just as many others in the party have done without listening to his side of the story. To him, assuming that he made those comments (which he has denied), it was not for his personal gain, but in the supreme interest of the party, since he was in a meeting with party members”.

“To be honest, it will not come as a surprise to some of us if he decides to quit politics and say bye-bye to NPP following the level of the betrayal,” the source concludes.

It would be recalled that, even before the above sterling revelations, the Assin North NPP MP, Kennedy Agyepong, publicly confessed that the NPP was a “stupid and foolish” one (party) and full of “idiots”, over comments by some party members which seems to distance the party from Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo, also revealed how he (Osafo Marfo) is “weeping”, having felt 3betrayed which he visited him in the wake of the alleged audiotape recording.

The Informer, will not be surprised at all, if the former Finance and Youth and Sports Minister, decides to quit politics per intelligence picked up and upon the revelations by the Assin-North MP; and we wish Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo well in his next endeavour if he confirms our story. Morn anon!