In downtown Washington DC, two luxurious black Cadillacs, belonging to the Ghana Embassy in Washington DC, pulled up in front of Hotel Hyatt & Resorts, located on 24 M Streets, Nw, Washington, DC 20037 on Wednesday, June 4, 2008. In the first car, three well-dressed men in suit, namely Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ghana’s Ambassador to the USA and Alan Kyeremanten, an ex-Ghana’s Ambassador to the USA, who was also an NPP Flagbearer-aspirant, popped out of the vehicles.
Moments later, another Embassy car pulled up in-front of Hotel Hyatt. This time NPP General Secretary, Nana Ohene Ntow, Ex-Finance Minister and later Education Youth and Sports Minister, Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, and Dr. Konadu Apraku arrived in tow.
The occasion was a fund-raising luncheon hosted by The Whitaker Group, a company owned by Rosa Whitaker, the new wife of Bishop Duncan Williams of Action Chapel International, who was recently introduced to church members in Accra. Rosa Whitaker, who served as a Deputy Trade Secretary for Africa under both President Bill Clinton and Bush administrations respectively is a registered lobbyist for the Ghana government.
When lady Rosa arrived at the occasion, she spotted a blue African dress and set the ball rolling with an introduction of Nana Addo, explaining to the gathering that the reason why they had been invited was to help elect Nana Addo by helping him with financial contributions.
A scan through the room revealed that about ninety percent of the guests at the fundraising event were foreigners, mostly white Americans and some African Americans.
Under Ghanaian Law, foreign sponsorship of political parties is not allowed. It is therefore illegal for a Presidential Candidate to seek and receive financial or material support from foreigners to fund local political activity. The whole event lasted for almost two hours, with lunch served at the cost of $45 dollars per plate to invitees.
The Enquirer’s intelligence sources noticed that the Director of Country Relations, of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Jerry Dutkewych was there.
The role of the Whitaker Group in Nana Addo’s fund-raising is coming at a time when the United States itself is trying very hard to neutralize the influence of interest groups, under the guise of lobbyists, who have invaded American Politics.