Be bold and defend your bribery allegation as the man you’re — Annoh Dompreh to Oliver Barker

Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has told social media activist Oliver Barker Vormawor to be bold as he claims and substantiates his bribery allegation against the Appointments Committee of Parliament.

According to him, the apology the Democracy Hub organizer is trying to give is only an afterthought and an indication that his post was without any basis.

“I find it strange. I find it very strange that all of a sudden you want to make an apology. Well, this apology is coming on the back of our invitation to you, and I put it to you that if we had not invited you, you would not have come out to apologize,” he said on Wednesday, January 29.

“Even after the invitation, you went on to make further posts. I am putting it to you that you have disrespected an arm of government. Your apologies are afterthoughts; you have no evidence of the allegation you brought to Parliament and the committee. You should be as bold as you were when you put out the statement. You should be bold to defend your statement today, not to come here and give us a lame apology. Be bold and defend what you put out as a man. That is what you should be doing,” he added.

Meanwhile, Lawyer Dadzie, the counsel defending Barker Vormawor amid the bribery allegations related to the ministerial vetting process, says the intent was to highlight wrongdoing surrounding the process.

He further emphasized that his client’s post was not intended to denigrate the Committee.

“It was not directed at the Appointments Committee in any way. It was completely not aimed at the Committee. It was only intended to expose certain matters that had come to his notice, allegedly involving people on the back of the Appointments Committee engaging in actions that may not align with proper conduct,” the lawyer explained.

“Our point is, who is asking them to pay money to the Appointments Committee? He is not accusing the Committee directly. No, he said some people are doing that just to get approved. It was never his intention to make disparaging statements about the Committee,” he added. “Indeed, if anything, it is a whistle-blower’s statement, highlighting some things that are happening. We have the Whistleblower Act in this country, encouraging people to report what they see and hear.”