Opinions of Monday, 30 January 2023

Columnist: Isaac Adaebsah

RE: Bono East Regional Secretary vouch to make John Mahama unpopular

Former President, John Dramani Mahama Former President, John Dramani Mahama

My attention has been drawn to a publication by www.nkonenews.com on 12th January 2023 with the above caption. Same publication I have noticed was also carried by www.ghanaweb.co on the 19th of January 2023.

Initially, I thought I did not have to glorify such scrap with a response, because I am the type of person who hardly would want to discuss internal party issues in the public.

I would rather prefer to suffer in innocence than exonerate myself to the detriment of my party. But upon second thought and judging from the fact that innocent people might be swayed into believing in the lies peddled against me in the publication, I have decided to set the records straight. I will, however, be guided in this short piece.

To set the records straight, it is public knowledge within the Bono East Region that some people within the regional executives then, including the former regional secretary, did everything humanly possible to disqualify me from the contesting. As a team player and a unifier, I decided to let go of everything after winning the elections. I saw it as an internal contest and also as an occupational hazard.

Unfortunately to them, they were not going to let go of everything but would rather undermine my office and frustrate me.

I'm well aware of the plot by a certain group of people whom I'm reliably informed some former regional executives are spearheading, have wowed to frustrate me and make sure I lose popularity in the party.

I understand their modus operandi inter alia, is to sponsor all kinds of fake publications against me ostensibly to portray me as a bad person in the eyes of the party's top hierarchy. I'm therefore not surprised that such a fictitious and malicious publication has been authored against my good self.

They alleged in the publication that I'm against the candidature of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama. They alleged further that I am pursuing Dr. Kwabena Duffour's agenda and have wowed to frustrate JM. In fact, they went on to indicate that, my campaign was funded by Dr. Kwabena Duffour and that Kwabena Dufour has established an NGO for me to own and operate.

Even before I proceed to address the specific issues, I want to state emphatically that none of the allegations levelled against me in the publication is true. I don't have any form of personal relationship with Dr. Kwabena Duffour except to know him as an NDC member.

Never have I had any form of association with him apart from the fact that we are both NDC members. The desperate attempt by such persons to destroy me after winning the elections has transcended human comprehension. It is only a devil-minded person who will conjure such blatant lies against his own party member! Now let me address the specifics:

The writer alleges that Dr. Kwabena Duffour has established an NGO for me. I dare the writer to publish the name and address of such NGO! Where is the NGO located, and what do they do as NGO? This is a complete lie. The truth is that I have worked with several NGOs and established my own NGO by name Rural Care Frontiers, in 2008 and operated to date.

So, how can an NGO that has existed for about fifteen years suddenly trace ownership to Dr. Kwabena Duffour?

The fact is that in the build-up to the regional elections, I was frustrated by this same gang to the point that they concluded I could not raise resources to be able to campaign. So since I managed to win, to them it must be someone who sponsored my campaign.

I want to state without fear or favour that No one sponsored my campaign. I single handily sponsored my campaign.

I dare the writer to produce evidence of Dr. Kwabena Duffour's sponsorship.

Again, they alleged that I'm working against JM. How? In what way and for what reason? It's only an imbecile who will conceive this in his mind despite the evidence available to prove my loyalty to JM and the party.

For the record, I'm supporting JM and no amount of someone forcefully trying to align me with a different candidate will hold. You see, in their desperate attempt to execute their evilly conceived agenda against me, they forgot that I stopped Dr. Kwabena Duffour's AHOTOR PROJECT from seeing the light of day in the Bono East region.

I ordered the constituency executives not to receive the items that the AHOTOR PROJECT team brought to them when some of the constituencies had arranged to receive them. I ensured that the items were sent back since they did not follow the party's acceptable protocols.

So if I were supporting Dr. Kwabena Duffour, then why will I be the one preventing him from executing his AHOTOR PROJECT in the region? Usually, the person who lies doesn't know that the listener is discerning. It is one of those things!

To sum it all up, while I'm still discussing with my lawyers the legal options available to me to redeem my name, I want to entreat all my supporters, family members, friends and the entire NDC party in the region and beyond to disregard the publication and treat it with the contempt that it deserves. All the things that were said in the publication are nothing but a figment of the writer's imagination.

They appear to be too bitter about my winning.

I, however, want to send this message to them that, No amount of their evil plans against me will work. I'm determined to deliver on my mandate as Regional Secretary for the Bono East region and that is exactly what I'm poised to do.

They should come to terms that, NDC will be the ultimate winner if we come together and work towards a common goal.

Long live NDC party!
Long live Bono East region!
Long live Ghana!