A young Ghanaian, with the hope of going into large-scale farming, is currently in tears seeking the whereabouts of a Deputy Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party, Kamal-Deen Abdulai, who he had accused of swindling him.
Mr Kamal-Deen Abdulai, collected a fresh Toyota Camry SE, 2014 model from the innocent young man under the pretext of giving him a Valtra Tractor, under the ‘Planting For Food and Job’ initiative as an exchange, within a period of one month.
Strangely, the NPP kingpin, who is also a board member of state-owned Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST), dishonorably failed to honor his words, for over two years now without any indication of settling the victim.
The young man, Edward Issifu Sumaila, who is an Actuarial and Insurance Specialist, and presently a permanent resident of the United States, is now licking his wounds, virtually weeping every day and begging the NPP man to refund his money.
Having failed to produce the tractor within the stipulated period as agreed per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by both parties, Kamal-Deen, does not answer phone calls from his victim, let alone reply his text and WhatsApp messages.
Narrating his ordeal to The Herald, the victim said, soon after Kamal-Deen, fully took custody of the saloon car and registered it in his name, he then started acting in a very funny way, and tossing him with excuses upon excuses till now.
Documents cited by The Herald, revealed the car with registration number, GS -530-17 and Chassis Number 4T18F1FR1EU346155, was transferred and registered in the name of Kamal-Deen Abdulai on July 25, 2017.
The embarrassing situation, came as a surprise to many, especially people who often listen to the NPP firebrand, who always appears on radio and TV stations, castigating his political opponents over issues of corruption.
According to the frustrated man, the price of the car at the time was GH¢80, 000, and the agreement between the two parties was that the NPP man fulfils his part of the agreement by providing him the tractor within a period of one month.
However, several attempts to get the vociferous politician to refund the money after he reneged on the agreement, proved futile. Rather, Kamal –Deen, remained adamant, despite interventions by his close associates, Ministers, Members of Parliament (MPs), as well as families.
Mr Edward Sumaila, as a result of frustration, wrote on his Facebook page, “This guy [Kamal-Deen Abdulai] had an agreement with me to buy me the discounted Valtra Tractor (GH 80,000) under MOFA Planting for Food and Jobs program in exchange for my 2014 Toyota Camry SE since July 2017”.
According to him, “Up to date, I have neither received the Valtra Tractor, nor any form of payment. All efforts to fulfill his side of the agreement, have since proved futile. You won’t believe the number of ministers, MPs, dignitaries, his friends and family members, I requested to talk to him to fulfill his part of the agreement.”
Sounding very furious and frustrated, the young man said, “As a notorious and congenital liar, Kamal-Deen Abdulai, keeps lying to these personalities that he has made me whole. If indeed he has settled me, he should show proof in that regard”.
He added that, “The most annoying part of it all is that, Kamal –Deen Abdulai neither answers my calls nor reply my texts. If my friends and family members call him about this issue, he blocks them. Well! If he has no skeleton in the cupboard, why would he be avoiding me?”
“Alhaji indeed! Our Islamic clerics can explain better, a man of his caliber performing Hajj is questionable. Allah knows best but my little knowledge tells me that you don’t have to owe or borrow to embark on the spiritual journey.
“I gave him the option to pay me cash if he can’t get the tractor. Only Allah knows when he would. Can somebody closer to him tell him to fear Allah for once in his life and honour his part of the agreement?” the victim wondered.
Meanwhile, when The Herald reached Kamal –Deen, on phone, he confirmed the story but pleaded profusely with this reporter to hold on insisting on a one-on-one meeting with this reporter to explain the issue properly.
“I wish we could meet and talk about it very well, I beg you, so that I could explain to you properly. With the greatest of respect, you see, there is more to the whole thing. And honestly, first of all, there is an agreement between us, I don’t have a problem with it and this is a personal agreement”, Mr Kamal -Deen stated, adding “…it is not fraudulent and I’ve never defrauded anybody”.
Mr Kamal–Deen, also confirmed that indeed, his victim, Edward Sumaila, has actually “wanted something in return” which is the tractor but“right now, he went to Facebook and wrote all manner of things and all that and I was like.”
Interestingly, in what could be described as a sign of disrespect to this paper, Mr Kamal-Deen, never showed up as promised, let alone place a phone call, for more than ten days, despite his plea with the paper.