Betty Boys Chase Minister, DCEs

THE INFAMOUS Alfred Woyome saga has taken a new twist in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital, as a group loyal to former Attorney General Madam Betty Mould Iddrisu has waded into the controversial matter in a brutal fashion.

The group, christened 'The Coalition of NDC Youth in Ashanti', has threatened to chase party gurus like the Ashanti Regional Minister Dr. Kwaku Agyeman Mensah and seize undisclosed items that he has benefitted from Madam Betty.

They stated that the minister and some DCEs, NDC executives, NDC Women's Wing and NDC Youth Wings in the region would suffer the shameful incident of having items such as cars, cash and clothes that they benefitted from Madam Betty, seized from them.

The aforementioned persons and NDC groups have consequently been given a one-week ultimatum to openly go to the defence of Madam Betty in the Woyome financial saga to avoid being attacked.

'We give all of these persons including the regional minister, the DCEs, the party executives, the women and youth wings of the region one week to advance their voices to this issue.

'Failure to do that, we will go after them and seize any physical resources given to them by our model,' Samed Akalilu, Spokesperson, Coalition of NDC Youth in Ashanti, threatened at a press conference.

He stated that Madam Betty had in diverse ways assisted the NDC in the region, including the aforementioned groups and persons as well as the two Kwabre Districts where she hailed from.

Akalilu noted that he was therefore utterly surprised that these beneficiaries of the former Education Minister's largesse, which included cars for party work, had decided to keep mute now that she appeared to be in trouble.

The NDC group also gave an additional one-week ultimatum to the NDC national executives to immediately step in by supporting Madam Betty, who is the pillar of the ruling party in the Ashanti region.

They stated that the NDC existed in the Ashanti region, a stronghold of the opposition NPP, because of the assistance of Madam Betty, warning that 'any attempt on Betty Mould is a jinx on the fortunes of this party in the region.'

The group members, wearing red arm bands, disclosed that for the meantime, they were suspending their operations for the NDC in the region, which included going on radio shows and texting to radio programmes to defend the NDC government, until their call was heeded.

The irate NDC members stated that 'we are proud of Betty Mould and we are ready to sacrifice our existence for her because without her our party is out of existence in this region.'

Touching on the Woyome saga, Akalilu stated that Madam Betty was innocent of any wrong doing in the financial saga that had hit the ruling political party.

He said the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) report clearly exonerated Madam Betty of any wrong doing because she, as the then AG, had authorized payment for an amount of GH¢17,094,493.53 to Alfred Woyome by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

Akalilu said, 'Madam Betty made sure Alfred Woyome signed an undertaking to refund plus interest should he (Woyome) lose the case. By this, Ghana can recover the amount paid to Woyome if the case goes against him.'

He stated that Madam Betty had done nothing wrong to be vilified by sections of the media and nation wreckers within the NDC, stressing that any attempt to drag Madam Betty into the financial saga would spell doom for the NDC in the Ashanti region.

The NDC group, after the press conference, marched to the offices of the NDC regional office at Asafo, where they sent a petition about their grievances to the NDC Chairman, Yaw Obimpeh.

The NDC Chairman, according to Akalilu, commended his group for not treating the matter in a violent fashion, assuring them that the Ashanti regional NDC would, in due time, openly support Madam Betty.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi