Aryeh To xpose NDC

THE SUSPENDED General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Nii Armah Josiah Aryeh, has hinted at a possible revelation about the party's acquisition of vehicles and other matters. He said it would have been better if the NDC desisted from washing its dirty linen in public, by frivolously attacking him, adding that, “I personally believe that it is advisable that the NDC does not wash its dirty linen about the ownership of vehicles in public. A word to the wise is enough, but if I am pushed against the wall, I will move further,” he cautioned. Dr. Josiah-Aryeh, who was accused of mal-administration and malfeasance by his party's Functional Executive Committee (FEC) said, all the allegations made against him were not only a figment of the imagination but also a ploy by the NDC to find means of covering up the debts that the party owed him. Speaking to The Chronicle in an interview in reaction to the FEC's accusations against him, he said, “Every Ghanaian would recollect that in the aftermath of the NDC's handover, in 2001, a furore arose about the end-of-year benefits and vehicles allegedly owned by the party. The national chairman and others asserted strenuously that they owned no such vehicles and that they belonged to Alhaji Baba Camara and his company.” He continued that, “Today, the party chairman and others have appended their signatures to a document, claiming that those vehicles belonged to them.” That was when he issued the ominous caution about being pushed against the wall and going even further if they wished it so. Denying any wrongdoings on his part, he stated that the problems of the NDC stem from lack of organization, adding that, “The only reason I can fathom now is that, the party and its chairman is finding means of holding my allowances under the IEA project. I believe in that vein, they are trying to accuse me of squandering more than they owed me.” According to him, “As it is said, there is nothing like a perfect crime so also, there is nothing like perfect falsehood. If the enquirer searches hard enough, he will always find a chink in the armour of falsehood. I do know that all my allowances that should have gone into my bank account have been withdrawn. It is clear that the party is finding reasons to dodge my allowances.” He continued, “Clearly, it is pathetic and very sad that you don't want the party to look appealing. People at the helm of affairs should make statements consciously.” According to the suspended General Secretary, he reacted to accusations made against him by the national chairman, Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah and published in the Daily Graphic, expressing shock that the party had embarked on vilification and assassination of his character. Taking the points, one after the other, Dr. Josiah-Aryeh stated that there was nothing like fax machines, computers, a decoder and satellite dish in his possession as claimed by FEC. “To my knowledge, a satellite dish was never brought to the party headquarters. It was initially attached to the campaign office where the IEA project initially was and it was decided that since the removal of the dish might deface the walls, the satellite dish remained where it was,” he explained. Explaining further, he said, “The decoder was brought into the party's office but was kept in the IEA office of the party without my control. As far as I know, the decoder was never used since the satellite dish was brought to the office.” He stressed further that, “During my tenure of office when I was in charge of the formed IEA Committee, there was no complaint. It was strange that somewhere February or March, this year, the chairman of the party wrote to me about those materials at the time the Committee had been managing the project for almost six months,” adding that, “It makes little sense to mislead the public that I am to account for those missing items if there is.” Expatiating further on the whereabouts of the party's resources, he said, initially, the IEA project bought three computers; one was given to him, one kept at the party's office and the third was taken to the 'drop in' center at the Spintex Road, adding, “It was therefore untrue that I kept party resources. I have never kept in my custody a fax machine belonging to the IEA project. The fax machine that was given to me was donated to the party by the Swedish branch of the party.” Responding to the charge of giving to the party old computers belonging to the Faculty of Law of the University Of Ghana, Dr. Aryeh confirmed that he gave those computers to the party in addition to his own personal computer, in the interest of the party, when it was in dire need of computers to collate election results. According to him, it was ridiculous that the FEC went berserk on him instead of looking into their own organizational structures to establish the truth. He contended that the party had contradicted its own statements put out in the public domain, what with various assertions by leading members of the party.