DCE mad at Chronicle

… For exposing alleged impropriety … But mechanic exposes him The Bosomtwe-Atwima-Kwanwoma District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr. Bright Addae-Mununkum, nearly marred a meeting of the assembly last Friday when he pointed accusing fingers at the Presiding Member (PM), instead of answering allegations of impropriety levelled against him before the assembly members.

Seething with anger and suspecting the PM, Mr. Joseph Kwasi Asuming of being the thorn in his flesh, the DCE broke the protocol arrangement of the meeting and chose to accuse him of leaking information to the press.

The Chronicle reported in its Thursday, January 13, 2005 edition that Mr. Addae-Mununkum stood accused of allegations of impropriety “ranging from award of dubious contracts to close allies and cronies; the use of Poverty Alleviation Fund in acquiring a pick-up; and ¢75 million used to repair his accident car at the expense of the assembly.”

Addae Mununkum argued that the PM might have given such information to The Chronicle, stemming from the fact that he (DCE) knew Mr.

Asuming was a close friend to the reporter.

It took the intervention of a colleague Presiding Member for Asante-Akim North District, Hon. George Kyei Baffuor, who was on visit to the assembly, to calm down the DCE and cool tempers. The Chronicle's observations

at the assembly point to an acrimonious tension between the DCE and the PM that has sought to divide the assembly members, hence any attempt to blackmail Mr. Asuming to the house.

The embattled DCE, was uncomfortable of the presence of newsmen at the meeting, and with the support of the Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe, Mr. Simons Osei Mensah, proposed to the house to throw the reporters out but this was dismissed as improper.

He could not answer any of the allegations leveled against him, and was only interested in finding who The Chronicle's informant(s) were.

In a related development, Sebastian Freiku reports form Kuntanase that the assembly, last Friday, heard how Mr. Addai Mununkum attempted to inflate the cost of repair of a vehicle belonging to the Assembly.

The DCE had gotten an assembly vehicle No. GT2415U involved in an accident while conveying his family to Adunku, his hometown on September 27, last year.

He informed the House that his mechanic in Kumasi was taking ¢79 million but the House demanded that the said mechanic appear before it to explain the details of the charge because it was “astronomical.”

The DCE had earlier also told The Chronicle that the cost of repair was ¢75million.

As a result, the mechanic was made to appear before the Executive Committee which revealed in a report that the mechanic had actually submitted a bill of ¢65million as cost of repair. The inconsistency in the figures (first ¢79 million then ¢75 million and finally ¢65.580 million) made the House suspicious of the transaction.

The committee had revealed that the spraying of the Pick-up alone cost ¢5.8 million while panel beating (straightening) and lining cost ¢4.5 million.

The committee said also that the oil filter, windscreen and shells cost ¢34.3 million while the bonnet and some other parts cost ¢21.4 million.

The Assembly compromised to let sleeping dogs lie after the DCE admitted having made a mistake.

He was cautioned not to make any such mistakes in future