Apostle Dr. Eric Emefa Agbogedenu, an opinion leader, has called for the cessation of a baseless smear campaign to tarnish the image of Mr Ashai Odamtten.

A statement signed and issued to the Ghana News Agency by Dr Agbogedenu, said Mr Odamtten, the National Democratic Congress(NDC) candidate for Tema East and immediate past Chief Executive of Tema Metropolitan Assembly(TMA), was being vilified by his opponents by poorly crafted lies including an alleged embezzlement of funds just because he was contesting for the seat.

"On the contrary, despite the several unsuccessful attempts by his opponents to suppress the truth to their own advantage, his popularity and honour kept soaring and the fear being haboured by them that he would take the Tema East is now real," he said.

He said" Mr Ashai led the TMA as Chief Executive to almost quadruple the Assembly’s revenue through the services of a revenue mobilization contractor but a strange narrative keep popping up. "

He said in spite of the fact that Mr Odamtten had honoured all invitations to answer the allegations with investigative bodies which held those facts, a section of the media was still publishing falsehood and defaming him.

He said the facts and story of Mr Odamtten could be accessed at TMA and relevant places and the folklore of Tema East, stating that" the man's life story is an open book".

He called for a clean electoral campaign in Tema, stating that "our body politics had been hijacked by self-seeking persons who are tarnishing the hard won reputations of decent, true Christian politicians with servant leadership cast in the mode of Hon. Ashai".

"As an Apostle of the Gospel, my greatest heart desire is to be a voice of conscience and a refuge for the brokenhearted, especially for the likes of good-hearted men like Hon. Isaac Ashai.

" The people of Tema East Constituency will be in a better position to judge and decide for themselves who should represent their true aspirations in Parliament after December 7," he said.