...JULY IS DEADLINE FOR NPP …BUT PARTY ACTIVISTS SAY HE IS A LIAR

Mr. Tony Ahiable, the 43-year old self-confessed spiritualist who threatened two months ago to quit the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) because of his traditional party's failure to fulfill personal promises made to him prior to the 2000 elections is in the news again.

This time, he has not only refuted claims by callers on radio stations that the earlier publication must have been planted in the Chronicle; but has also given the national executives of the NPP up to July this year to appease him or face dire consequences.

The 'consequences' include a humiliating defeat for the NPP, if he leaves and a surprise victory for any party he joins, claims Ahiable.
Filled with rage the Kpedze-born political activist told our regional correspondent in a follow-up interview that he had just arrived from a journey and that those who doubt his claim to power should wait and see something.
"How can I plant such a story in a paper? Why didn't I do it when we were in opposition? Here is my photograph, maybe the big men in the party will recognize me from it", Tony said.
Speaking like the biblical Jonah who warned the people of Nineveh to repent or perish, Ahiable, who insisted his powers are divine, said the NPP has four more months to decide or face his wrath.
He stressed further "I brought Adu Boahen and Kufuor to Abor in 1992 and 1996 respectively. They know me and all the people of Abor know I am speaking the truth." He said the vehicle he put at the party's disposal for the campaign was Toyota Corolla with registration number ARC 1441.
Tony was so confident that, not only did he willingly submit his photograph but also left his contact address and phone number. He gave a catalogue of names of people he worked with in the party since 1992.
Asked to foretell the effect of his desertion, Tony retorted, "whichever party I join will surely win the 2004 elections because my powers will shift to that side. That was what I did for the NPP".
Readers will recall that in the January 27, 2003 issue of Chronicle was the story of a ward chairman of the NPP at Abor in the Keta constituency who said he used his spiritual powers to help the party win the 2000 elections that brought John Agyekum Kufuor to power.
When contacted for comments on the authenticity of Ahiable's claims, Mr. Kwame Attah, Volta regional secretary of the NPP, said the party is so large that it is impossible for him to know every single member and sympathizer in the region. He said, "I have never met him in my life. Maybe his constituency will identify him and tell more about him."
On his part, Mr. Ken-Wud Nuworsu, the acting regional chairman debunked the claims, saying "for a person to have put his vehicle at the party's disposal all these years means the person is resourceful". He wonders how an accountant can be so jobless that he would have to scream in the media when there are advertisements every now and then looking for accountants.
According to Mr. Nuworsu, he is disturbed by the fact that very few people seem to have known the self-acclaimed activist. "He appears to be faceless" he added. A deeper search in the Keta constituency by Chronicle tells it all.
According to one Eben who is a staff at the district office of NADMO, this Tony is his friend. He is an inconsistent member of the party and had never had a car.
Eben said, to the best of his knowledge, Tony is not a spiritualist and had not helped the party in any spiritual way. "He lost his job at Juapong Textiles Limited under certain bizarre circumstances and has been unemployed since. I can't tell if he is an accountant".
While the paper is making frantic efforts to reach his former employers to tell what actually prompted Ahiable's dismissal after his long years of service there, other aggrieved N.P.P members are calling for a legal action against him. They have, with bruised feelings argued that the party had won four by-elections in a row, despite his dissatisfaction.
As the ding-dong battle goes on, the question on many lips here in Ho is who is telling the truth, the party or the individual? For now, all we gathered about him is that he is an old student of Kpedze Secondary School and is currently married to a community nurse.
Tony may now be trapped between ignorance and arrogance because of the complex nature of the matter. As the moment of truth is fast approaching, observers think it won't be long when we will get beyond the current crossroads.