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24.04.2007 General News

Abuse Of Incumbency Taxpayers’ Money Used To Support NPP’s International Conference

By Mckyntosh Aidoo
Abuse Of Incumbency Taxpayers Money Used To Support NPPs International Conference
24.04.2007 LISTEN

...Ghana High Commission Was Lead Supporter

The Ghanaian Lens can today reveal that the Ghana Embassy in the United Kingdom, which is funded by the Ghanaian taxpayer, was the lead supporter of the ruling New Patriotic Party's three-day International Conference held in London from 16th to 17th March this year.
A list of supporters published in the event brochure, listed the Ghanaian taxpayer-funded mission in the United Kingdom on the very top of the individuals and institutions that supported the NPP's International Conference.
Reproduced elsewhere in this paper is the list as it was published in the event brochure.
Political analysts that this paper spoke with on the subject said that they find it most revealing, that the Ghana High Commission in the United Kingdom, which is funded by the Ghanaian taxpayer was the lead supporter of the ruling New Patriotic Party's purely partisan 1st International Conference.
By this most revealing act, the NPP has not only signalled its preparedness to ride roughshod over all concerns about implementing ROPAA for the 2008 general elections, but, more significantly, by making the Ghana High Commission in the United Kingdom the number one supporter of this purely partisan event, the NPP has also signalled the extent to which it is prepared to use state resources to prosecute its agenda to retain power through means more foul than fair.
But even more worrisome is the question of whether the Ghana High Commission would be one of the places where ballot boxes would be placed for elections if the ROPAA is implemented.
A retired ambassador with whom The Ghanaian Lens discussed this incident remarked that the incident betrays a certain sense of impunity and the Ghanaian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, who is the head of the Embassy, ought to have known that he and his staff are being maintained in their job by the Ghanaian taxpayer, which include supporters of the NDC, NPP, CPP, and all the other political parties in Ghana.
“Although the ambassador is an appointee of the President, his appointment confers on him responsibilities that transcends partisan politics, and he ought not to have involved the High Commission in a wholly partisan event by way of being a supporter of the event,” the retired diplomat stated.
“The ambassador, as an individual, must definitely have his own political preference, and there is nothing wrong with him giving expression to his preference by way of either participating in a partisan event or by personally sponsoring such an event, but he ought not have involved the High Commission. This must be condemned in no uncertain terms,” the retired diplomat averred.
As at the time of going to press, all efforts to get the Foreign Minister, Hon. Nana Addo-Dankwa Akuffo Addo, who was also present at the said event, to comment on the matter proved futile. Several calls to his cell-phone went unanswered and unreturned.

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