Diaspora News of Wednesday, 16 November 2011

Source: Hayford Atta-Krufi

Allotey Jacob insults Ghanaian Community in UK as Homosexuals

The Central Regional Communications Director of the NDC, Bernard Allotey Jacobs has stated on record that the large Ghanaian Community that met Akufo-Addo on his recent visit to UK are homosexuals. According to him, he was reliable informed from diplomatic quarters that the NPP flagbearer rather met a homosexual group as part of his UK trip.

Akufo-Addo in his recent visit to UK where he attended the International Democrats Union Conference met a large Ghanaian community in North London for a fundraising event on Friday 11th November and another group of Ghanaian Community in South London for a town Hall Meeting on the 12th of November. According to Allotey Jacobs his source of information that the group that met with Akufo-Addo are homosexual came from a “diplomatic quarters”. This can only mean that the Ghana High Commission would have passed that information to him as part of their security briefings about the NPP flagbearer’s visit. We are therefore calling on the Ghana High Commission to come out to defend this claim or distance itself from it.

According to Allotey Jacobs, his diplomatic briefings Akufo-Addo met "to lobby this “powerful” group in order to solicit money to help them run their 2012 campaign”.

The Ghanaian group that met with Akufo-Addo are well meaning Ghanaians who support Nana Akufo Addo and are supporting him to win the 2012 election. It is therefore an insult to the community to describe them as lesbians and gay. NPP UK and Ireland is extremely saddened by this statement from Mr. Allotey Jacob and even more shocked by the revelation that this allegation was made from a diplomatic source. Will the Ghana High Commission betray its own Ghanaian people as gays and lesbians, just because they have met to help raise funds for Nana Akufo-Addo?

NPP UK and Ireland would like to state on record that it organised for Nana Akufo-Addo to meet Ghanaians for a fundraising event in support of his listening tour in North London. This event was attended by over 600 Ghanaians including majority of our young hardworking businessmen and women across the political divide, some of whom own businesses and intend to create jobs for our people in Ghana if given the chance. The following day he met Ghanaians in the south of London to share ideas with them and encourage them to support his campaign and continue to contribute to support their families and loved ones in Ghana. Earlier this year in June Nana Akufo-Addo met Ghanaians in a similar town hall meeting at the Dominion Centre in North London. We would like to state that Ghanaians in UK are neither gays nor lesbians and we support as well as endorse the stance of our Party and the Ghana government against the recent comment made by the British Prime Minister.

We are calling for an unqualified apology from Mr. Allotey Jacob and the NDC for the insult to Ghanaian in UK who met with Akufo-Addo. We are also calling on the Ghana High Commission to confirm or deny if the “diplomatic quarters”, mentioned in Allotey Jacob’s unfortunate statement, referred to them.

Hayford Atta-Krufi Chairman, NPP UK and Ireland