....* Accused of using police to intimidate people
BRONG AHAFO Regional Minister, Nana Kojo Seinti, has been accused of using police to intimidate and harass a group calling itself "Patriotic Citizens" of Jaman as a means of gagging them over their persistent demand that the activities of the District Chief Executive, Mr. Ofori Asubonteng should be probed.

A report reaching The Chronicle indicates that following a press conference held by the group calling for an investigation into the activities of the DCE, the Regional Minister dispatched policemen to bring the group's spokesman, Mr. Joseph Kwadwo Agyeman to his office.

The report said the police made futile attempts to reach Mr. Agyeman, at the Jinijini Secondary School where he teaches, to clarify some issues the group raised in their petition to the President, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor.

But Mr. Agyeman said in a press statement that upon persistent requests from the Regional Minister, he decided to honour the invitation and went to Nana Seinti's office in the company of some of his colleagues.

On arrival at the minister's office, his colleagues were asked to leave. He was left with the minister and four Regional Security Council members.

Mr. Agyeman said Nana Seinti repudiated all the allegations, saying it was an orchestrated attempt to bring his image into ill repute and to drag the region into the mud.

Speaking to The Chronicle in reaction to the assertions, Nana Seinti admitted inviting the spokesman to substantiate his claim against the DCE to enable him take the appropriate action.

"I only invited him to come and substantiate his allegations so that I can take action on the matter. When the police went to him, he was not there and a message was left. On his own volition after the message had been given to him, he came to my office and in the presence of my deputy and regional Security Council members. He was not under any police harassment or intimidation as he is claiming.

The regional minister said when Mr. Agyeman told them at the meeting that he had no evidence and that he gathered his allegations from media reports he let him go because he did not take him as a serious-minded person.

"The police have not arrested him and it is unfortunate for him to say that we have intimidated and harassed them."

According to Nana Seinti he advised Mr. Agyeman to desist from making defamatory remarks without having a proof.

"After he said this and I even analyzed his petition against his school headmaster, I advised him not to depend on newspaper publications and again urged him to render an apology to his boss. I told him that it would not auger well for him, as a young man, to be maligning people. If he says this, then he may be saying this to justify himself and for me as a regional minister, there is no way that I will engage in any acts of intimidation and harassment."

As to why he asked the police to invite him instead of using the normal administrative channel, the minister indicated that after the demonstration and press conference by the group, the matter was discussed at the regional security level at which he directed the BNI to invite him. It was the BNI that relayed the invitation to the police.

He said Mr. Agyeman came to him accompanied by five boys and he asked the boys to wait outside because he needed only their spokesman but denied ever asking him of his political affiliation. It was he who stated that he was a member of the NPP.

But Mr. Agyeman alleged that after the minister "furiously sacked" his colleagues, he asked him about his political affiliation, and he told him he was a member of the ruling party "and above all a freedom fighter".

He said his organization (Patriotic Citizens) has nothing to do with any political party because "it draws its membership from patriotic citizens of Jaman to fight for a common goal."

He said because the Minister constantly dispatched police to invite him he thought that he might have committed a crime. "I brought them (colleagues) to be my witness so that they could report whatever would happen to me to my family and the people of Jaman, " he said.

In a reaction to their demonstration, the minister pointed out that the petition by the group was an orchestrated attempt masterminded by some sections of the people to thwart the development moves by the DCE and accused the spokesman of writing the petition alone.

In the petition the patriotic citizens vowed to continue to expose any fishy deal in the district in order that "our politicians will not lead a corruptible life and that tax payers money would be used judiciously to better the living conditions of our people."

"Our action was well intentioned. It did not aim at destroying the credibility of the government. We were exercising our civic rights and keeping microscopic lens on the activity of the politicians in our district so that they live in accordance with the principles of good governance and the president's policy of zero tolerance for corruption."