I HAVE NOT TAKEN ANY $3000 FROM BRIGHT BOTWE AS HE IS CLAIMING Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Ampratwum

The Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Member of Parliament for Mampong, Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong, has refuted claims made by one Bright Botwe, aka, Nana Oteatuoso, on Lawson TV, a media house in Kumasi.

In a video that has gone viral, Bright Botwe alleged that he was charged $3000 by the Deputy Minister with the promise of getting him a cover letter which would enable him to travel to Germany for medical attention.

Reacting to the contents of the video, Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong categorically denied the allegations, saying the issues have been misrepresented and the facts twisted. The MP also said that at no point did he demand or take any money ($3000) from Bright Botwe.

He explained that what brought Bright Botwe to his office was not related to his ill-health and an intent to travel to Germany for medical treatment but rather a visa he needed to pursue a business interest in the European country. He stated that Bright needed a visa to visit a business partner who deals in used tyres, a business Bright was in already.

The Legislator gave a detailed account of what actually happened which was completely worlds apart from the spurious allegations Bright Botwe made on the television show. Below is the full statement of Hon. Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong clarifying and setting the records straight.

He has, consequently, urged the Ghanaian public to disregard the specious statements made against him by Bright Botwe as they depart sharply from the true facts of the situation.

DISCLAIMER: IGNORE THE MALICIOUS LIES AND MISREPRESENTATIONS AGAINST ME BY BRIGHT BOTWE (NANA OTEATUOSO).

My attention has been drawn to viral videos against me by one Bright Botwe, otherwise known as Nana Oteatuoso. The malicious nature of the videos, the half truths told, outright lies and fabrications, deliberate misinformation and disinformation, have made it highly important that I set the records straight.

Bright Botwe, on Lawson TV, claimed that he contacted me to get him a cover letter from the Foreign Affairs Ministry where I am a Deputy Minister. The letter, he claimed in the video, was to enable him to travel to Germany for medical treatment on his leg.

He went further to claim that I demanded $3000 before the said letter would be given to him. It is for this reason and many others that I have decided to disclaim the malicious lies he has peddled against me.

First of all, Bright Botwe never came to me to discuss anything related to his ill-health and an intention to travel to Germany for medical treatment. There was no mention of any cover letter to enable him to make a trip to Germany for treatment as he claimed in his videos.

Instead, the discussion was about his planned visit to Germany to see a business partner to discuss further business deals with him. He is into used tyre business, and that was why he wanted to travel to Germany. In fact, during our discussion, I even offered to get him a tyre agency I used to have from an Indian tyre manufacturing company (Michigan Tyres of Nagpur, India).

He asked me to help him secure a visa for the trip. I made him aware that I would not be able to assist in that. As a deputy minister, visa acquisition is not part of my mandates. I explained this to him. Notwithstanding this, Bright insisted that I should find ways and means to assist him.

Considering the relationship between us, I invited an intermediary at the ministry and asked him if he knew of anyone at any of the European country’s embassy who could be of help to Bright. He informed me of some people at the Spanish Embassy who may be able to facilitate a Schengen visa for him. I asked the two of them to go and sort things out. The sorting out of things between the two included the payment of $3000 as fees charged by the gentleman at the Embassy.

About ten days later, Bright sent me a video in which he was threatening to report me to the President and Vice President demanding $3000 at my office. He demanded a refund of the money. I had no idea the money had been paid and how far things had gone because I never heard from both of them after they left my office.

I subsequently asked him to come to Asante Mampong where I had travelled to since he was 30 minutes drive away from my place. He came and I gave him GHC51000, but he rejected the money on the grounds that he paid the intermediary $3000 so he wants the refund in dollars.

I called the intermediary to make sure that he arranged to get him his $3000 which he did a day later.

When I offered to pay him the money, he said he had paid through the intermediary and invited him to Mampong, it was through a WhatsApp message. I made him aware that I was refunding and later retrieve it from the intermediary NOT because he gave me any money or the $3000, but simply because I introduced the intermediary to him, and I didn't want any trouble for the intermediary.

Much to my surprise, this same Bright Botwe, aka, Nana Oteatuoso, who had gotten back his money from the gentleman at the Spanish Embassy through the facilitation of the intermediary, went on Lawson TV, a month later, to spew these lies against my person.

I am, through this statement, emphatically stating that Bright Botwe has twisted the issues and peddled naked lies about me. While my lawyers are dealing with the matter as captured in his videos, I am also entreating the public, media outlets and all those who might have come across Bright Botwe’s malicious and slanderous claims about me to disregard them and same ought to be treated with utmost contempt.

In sum, Bright Botwe did not come to me to assist him with any cover letter to enable him travel to Germany to seek medical attention for a leg injury. I also did not take any $3000 from him for the said latter or any other thing. The intermediary who received the money to enable him travel refunded same to him.

My office has CCTV managed from a different location. How could I have demanded and taken $3000 from him for anything? He is lying against me and seeking to impugn my reputation over something I have not done. I am seeking a redress in court. Thank you.

Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong
Member of Parliament, Asante Mampong

(Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs)