Appiah-Ofori Fires Mills
Maverick politician and New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa Constituency, Hon. , has turned his guns on President John Evans Atta Mills, saying he is unfit to continue as President of the Republic of Ghana.
The anti-corruption campaigner, who had until recently been the darling of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), following attacks at the NPP, now says President Mills has been unfaithful to the constitution.
According to him, President Mills swore ahead of the 2008 elections that he would abrogate the sale of the country's shares in the then Ghana Telecom to Vodafone, but was shocked at his behavior today.
Speaking on Citi FM, the loud-mouthed politician added that President Mills, who promised to fight corruption once he won the elections, had failed to respond to the many petitions on corrupt practices he sent to the presidency.
The MP said for failing to defend the constitution, the President must pay the price thereof by resigning.
But in a sharp response, the Presidential Spokesperson, Mahama Ayariga, said the MP should direct his petition to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) instead. He said even though the presidency is one of the avenues, Appiah-Ofori could have gone elsewhere.
“The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice is there; you can submit your list of complaints to them, and they can initiate an investigation. You can also go to the police and you can also write to the Office of the President. And if you write to the presidency, you should be patient for the response. The Human Rights Commission is not too far from Parliament House, he could submit the list there. The fitness or unfitness of the president is neither here nor there,” he said.
Ayariga, who said he was not aware of any petition from the MP to the Office of the President, said he would have forwarded it to CHRAJ if had knowledge of it.
“When the Mabey and Johnson issue came up, and the President did his own investigation by collecting information from the UK court, he also referred the matter to CHRAJ. So if Appiah-Ofori has a list, he doesn't need to give it to the President. I am giving him free legal advice”.
Hon. Appiah-Ofori had been a thorn in the flesh of the NPP when the party was in power, and accused the Kufuor Administration of some corrupt deals, citing the $900 million Vodafone deal as one of them.
He also accused the last Parliament of enjoying some $5,000 bribe each from the deal, but later backtracked on the allegation he made to the then Chief of Staff, when it appeared he was could not defend it.
He denied ever making any such allegation, arguing that as an MP, roping in Parliament would mean he too was a beneficiary of the bribery scandal.
Even though he had won a number of awards as an anti-corruption crusader, his reputation began to wane when some of his utterances smacked of a series of inconsistencies.
Appiah-Ofori's moral life also came to the spotlight when he allegedly accused his wife of infecting him with a sexually-transmitted disease, for which reason he reportedly went for a young girl.
Many of his NPP colleague-MPs have alleged that his award from a Nigerian organization was sponsored by the NDC to smear the NPP. It is not clear what his latest attacks on the President will have on his suspected romance with the ruling NDC.
By Bennett Akuaku