Aggudey Explodes Again

Operatives of the presidential aspirant of the Convention People's Party in the 2004 elections, George Oposika Aggudey, stormed the party's headquarters yesterday to retrieve some items which he had donated to the party.

The action appeared to be a fallout of Mr Aggudey's botched attempt last month to lead the party once again into this year's general election.

By noon yesterday, about 12 security men reported to have been drawn from Mr Aggudey's own security firm, and believed to be acting on his instructions, were busily packing the items into two pick-up vehicles, with registration numbers GT 1212 Y and GR 5050 X.

Party officials at the headquarters at the time of the packing included the Greater Accra Regional Chairperson, Mrs Susan Adu-Amankwah and the National Youth Organiser, Mr David Bomfeh, alias Kabila.

Daily Graphic investigations indicated that items collected from the CPP headquarters included furniture in the various offices, fridges and a television set, all of which Mr Aggudey had donated to the party.

Workers at the party headquarters confirmed that Mr Aggudey had donated the items to the party and said since there had been no formal handing over to the party, they felt the items still belonged to the donor.

When contacted, the party's former General Secretary, Professor Nii Noi Dowuona, who was also at the headquarters, refused to comment on the matter.

“I am not aware of anything. You would have to speak to Mr Aggudey himself,” Prof Dowuona said tersely and refused to comment any further.

When reached on phone, the Chairman of the CPP's Publicity Committee, Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr, said he was aware that Mr Aggudey had donated those items to the party and had heard that he (Aggudey) had threatened to go for them.

Mr Pratt could, however, not confirm whether the former presidential candidate had carried out the threat.
Mr Aggudey was reached on his phone but his line went dead after he had been made aware that he was speaking to a journalist. Subsequent calls failed to go through and/or went unanswered.

Mr Aggudey was, however, reported by a radio station in Accra as having said that he did not sanction any such action, which he believed was taken by some supporters of his, aggrieved by the treatment he had received from the party.

Mr Aggudey contested the party's flag-bearer race last month but placed third, losing to Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom by a heavy margin.

During the congress, the CPP flag bearer for the 2004 election had petitioned the chairman for the congress, Mr Riley Poku, over an alleged irregularity in the selection of delegates from the Northern Region but the authorities found no merit in the petition.

Mr Aggudey, prior to the election, had had a fierce confrontation with journalists during a press conference, an incident that was believed to have affected his popularity.

Days after that encounter, the National Organiser of the CPP, Mr Kwesi Akoto, had called on the party's executives to disqualify Mr Aggudey, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Gocrest Security Limited, from running for the CPP flagbearership, as he was facing trial at an Accra Circuit Court on two counts of failing to pay the social security contributions of his employees between July 2006 and August 2007.

Meanwhile, the handing-over ceremony and inauguration of the newly-elected executives of the CPP takes place at the party's headquarters today.

Story by Daniel Nkrumah