NPP chair blows Aliu’s cash

The intra-party hostilities that have besieged the ruling New Patriotic Party in the Greater Accra Region in recent times refuse to cease as party executives in the Ablekuma North Constituency have engaged their Chairman, Mr Kofi Ofori, (aka Bella), in a fierce slugfest over what they claim are "unwarranted malfeasance" being perpetuated by the Constituency.

The battle is over the whereabouts of money given to the constituency by Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, 10 bags of rice donated by PSI Minister Allan Kyerematen, as well as the misallocation of stores allotted the party at the Hawkers Mall at Odawna in Accra.

In three separate petitions addressed to the NPP National Chairman, Mr Peter Mac Manu, the Regional Minister, Sheikh IC Quaye, and Member of Parliament for the area, Hon Kwamina Bartels, the aggrieved executives led by Assistant Secretary Mr Ransford George Mensah, Women Organizer Joyce Acheampong, Constituency Organizer Kwesi Boakye and Youth Organizer Mohammed Ofori, have therefore called for an immediate inquisition into the matter to quell the feud.

"Hon. Allan Kyerematen, a presidential aspirant gave out 10 bags of 25 kilos of rice to the executives as Christmas parcels. As we write to you we the undersigned executives have not yet received our share", they stated in one of the petitions dated 10th January, 2007.

Again the four maintained that Mr. Kofi Ofori has also failed to account for some monies donated to the constituency executives by Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama.

They also cited instances where Bella meets some of the party's presidential aspirants in his own house without informing other executives.

On the recently constructed AMA Shopping Mall at Odawna in Accra, Ransford George Mensah and his men took a swipe at their Chairman on the sharing of the allocated Odawna stalls to the Ablekuma-North constituency, saying that Mr Kofi Ofori has shared the stalls to his favourites without giving any to the "executives and other honourable members in the constituency".

In the third petition dated 27th November, 2006, the group told the party hierarchy that Mr Kofi Ofori has misconducted himself in so many ways, bringing the NPP's name into disrepute in the process and that some of his manipulations and skirmishes would generate nasty confrontations and scenes if the NPP headquarters does not intervene.

They alleged that Mr Ofori has single handedly changed some of the polling station chairpersons without recourse to party procedure since "he is interested in the next parliamentary seat".

"The constituency chairman has instituted a group of people called "coordinators" which he is using to run the affairs of the constituency", the executives maintained, describing the action as not in conformity with the tenets of the NPP constitution.

They insisted that Mr Ofori has deliberately adopted the divide and rule tactics within the executives making it difficult for any meaningful meetings or deliberations to take place.

Mr George Mensah and his group further alleged that their chairman has failed to account for a ¢100 million cash given to them for desilting works within the constituency, in addition to refusing to disclose and account for a fundraising activity organised by the constituency at Yegoala Hotel recently.

"Without the consent of most of the aspiring Assembly Members in the constituency, he deducted ¢5 million from the MP's Common Fund assigned for candidates to do development projects in their electoral areas in order to solicit for massive votes", they added in the petition.

The Gye Nyame Concord newspaper which reported the story said more than a week's effort to get to the man at the centre of the story proved futile.