Re: Statement Of Hon. Frederick W. A. Blay To The NEC Sub-Committee

The Chairman,

We act for Hon. Frederick W. A. Blay, First National Vice-Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

We are instructed that on or about 18th August, 2015, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NPP caused to be set up a sub-committee to investigate, among others, the facts and circumstances surrounding the operation of an Ecobank account in the name of the NPP, into which was paid an amount of Five Million, Fifty Four Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC5, 054,000) per bank drafts.

On the instructions of Hon. F. W. A. Blay, we hereby present to you this statement relating to the issues being investigated by the NEC sub-committee. We would respectfully advert the attention of the sub-committee to the following irrefutable facts:

Article 9 (G) – page 48 of the NPP Constitution is the only provision in the NPP Constitution stipulating how funds of the NPP shall be handled and disbursed. This provision vests the Treasurer with being “responsible for handling the funds of the Party” and seeing to “their proper disbursement in accordance with applicable laws.” The Treasurer is only responsible to the Finance Committee of the Party to the extent of providing reports to that committee.

The account in question the Ecobank Account, is an old account of the Party opened over twelve (12) years ago. The signatories to most NPP accounts had always been four persons – the Chairman, 1st Vice-Chairman, General-Secretary and Treasurer. Indeed, it was only during the term of the current National Officers that, the Chairman and General Secretary issued instructions to some banks to the effect that, they were to be the sole signatories to some accounts. Our client was not, and is still not, aggrieved by the decision of the Chairman and General-Secretary to exclude him from being a signatory to some of the accounts.

Our client is aware that even in respect of other Party accounts, particularly the Ghana Commercial Bank account, the Chairman and General-Secretary have written letters to the banks stating that the Treasurer (who the NPP Constitution has authorized to handle Party funds), should not be issued with bank statements.

Consequent upon the election of new National Officers, the Treasurer, who is responsible for handling the funds of the Party in accordance with the NPP Constitution, delivered to our client a mandate card from Ecobank for an indication of new signatories to the account. This card contained provision for the appointment of four (4) signatories to that account. After the Treasurer had indicated that our client should sign the portion reserved for him, our client proceeded to sign same. It is noteworthy that the decision to make the 1st Vice-Chairperson, signatory to an NPP account, is neither novel nor without precedent. The existing practice in the NPP, until the term of the current NPP executives, was for the 1st Vice-Chairperson together with the Chairman, Treasurer and General-Secretary, to be the signatories to NPP accounts.

It has since come to the attention of our client that the Chairman and General-Secretary refused to sign the Ecobank mandate card when they realized that our client was a signatory to that account. They insisted on being signatories to the exclusion of our client.

A decision was taken at a meeting at which the Party’s Parliamentary leadership and almost all members of the Steering Committee (with the exception of the Chairman, General Secretary, National Women’s Organiser and Second Vice Chairman), were present, to provide needed funds for the NPP’s contest of the Talensi bye-election.

Most importantly, the Treasurer of the Party, in whom the NPP Constitution vests responsibility for “handling the funds of the Party, and seeing to their proper disbursement”, was present at this meeting. He, in exercise of his mandate to handle Party funds, had earlier paid the money in issue into the Ecobank account in question.

We are instructed that the Chairman was not present at the meeting referred to in (vi) above, because following the death of Adams Mahama and the obvious controversy generated in the immediate aftermath, he was simply not available. He was not available at the Party office, and he was not available for meetings. The General-Secretary and the Second Vice-Chairman were also not in the jurisdiction of Ghana on the date of the meeting.

A budget for the Talensi contest was prepared which was approved by all National Officers.

The Treasurer wrote a letter signed by himself and our client, an existing signatory to the account, for the release of monies needed for the Talensi contest from the account in question. Our client is aware that this sum was indeed paid out of the account by Ecobank and utilized for the Talensi contest, after instructions for the disbursement had been given by the Treasurer, in strict accordance with his constitutional mandate.

Our client is also aware that the Treasurer of the NPP has since, invested the funds remaining in this Ecobank account in treasury bills for the benefit of the NPP. The remaining funds, are thus, unavailable for anybody’s personal benefit.

The foregoing fully represents the position of our client regarding the operation of the account in question. Our client is appalled by the deliberate distortion of the relevant facts and circumstances to create an impression of wrongdoing on the part of our client. Indeed, it is instructive that the Treasurer is solely responsible for the handling of the Party’s funds, which necessarily includes even a determination of who can be a signatory to an account, how it is to be disbursed, etc.

In matters bordering on the management and disbursement of Party funds, the discretion and relevant authorization of the Treasurer is certainly superior to that of any other officer of the Party. We are at a loss as to how any allegation of “diversion of funds” or other improper conduct can be levelled against our client in the light of all of the above.

No provision in the NPP Constitution has been violated by any officer of the Party including our client in the matter of the operation of the account in question.

Our client is aware of a criminal complaint to the Ghana Police Service by an amorphous group purporting to be affiliated with the NPP alleging a purported diversion of Party funds or opening of some ‘secret account’. Much as our client is averse to a public discussion of Party matters, incalculable ruin has been unleashed on our client’s hard-won reputation and standing in the eyes of the world. By a copy of this letter, we are informing the Ghana Police Service of the full circumstances surrounding the operation of the account in issue.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Godfred Yeboah Dame

Cc: The Director-General,

Ghana Police Service,

Accra.