The immediate past Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana has been exposed as a bribe taker contrary to his claim of “righteousness” and “piety” and the onus now lies on him to prove his accuser wrong and clear his name, a Deputy General Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Koku Anyidoho has said.

Prof Martey told journalists at a press conference on Tuesday, 30 August that a party he refused to name attempted bribing him with $100,000, a V8 and a mansion at Trassacco Valley. According to him, the party wanted to buy his silence with the goodies but he rejected the temptation.

Following his claim, a former Public Relations Officer of the Presby Church, Dr Emmanuel Osei Acheampong disclosed that: “On July 28, 2013, around 8:15pm, he [Prof Martey] invited me to the office of one of the leading opposition parties, not the party of the government. When I got there he had received the $100,000 and a V8 he claimed to have rejected. And he gave me $50,000. I am speaking on authority that he received the money.”

Speaking to Chief Jerry Forson in an interview on Accra100.5FM’s breakfast show Ghana Yensom on Wednesday, 31 August, Mr Anyidoho said the revelation by Dr Acheampong is a serious one which indicts Prof Martey’s integrity.

“…It is a very strong allegation against Martey and I’m hoping that Martey will come out and come and clear his name quickly because if he doesn’t come out and clear his name, well that’s it! That a leader of the Presby church, this Presby church that is revered, [that] has had very serious and revered moderators in the past, and today you the Presby Moderator are taking bribe from a political party to do propaganda for that party? And that’s precisely what he is doing. We all know the political party that he is doing the propaganda for,” Mr Anyidoho said.

“Martey is now doing NPP politics so it makes it very easy for me to deal with him,” Mr Anyidoho said, adding that it was “infantile” for the clergyman to have said that appointees of the government do not pay taxes but rather steal the taxes he pays as a good citizen. “… First of all, government appointees pay tax so where did Prof Martey get this whole idea that government appointees don’t pay tax. Then he says people are stealing money. Where is the evidence? So when you come out and because of your NPP politics, you begin to talk like some NPP people under some tree somewhere, it just exposes you and like I said, I thank God that he is exposing himself so badly.”

“Meanwhile, do you know the calls that some of us are getting from some people in the Presby church about him (Martey) and his leadership? – His bad leadership as moderator of the Presby church. … Even his domestic issues, things that happened in Manhattan when he was in the USA between him and his wife, does he know the information that we are picking up? So let no human being claim righteousness and piety. The only righteous person is God. …If you stand here on earth and want to claim righteousness and piety, this is what will happen to you because you’ll begin to say things… He is embarrassing himself with NPP politics …” Mr Anyidoho added.