Ashanti NDC pocket GHS705,000 in fruitless one million votes campaign

That the last campaign by the National Democratic Congress NDC was a platform for top-level activists to retire themselves in anticipation of a looming 2016 election defeat is revealed in the massive loot that had accompanied the NDC campaign in the run up to the 2016 elections.

Your authoritative Daily Searchlight can reveal that, from the corridors of John Mahama’s administration, is now coming shocking accounts on how the leadership of the Ashanti Regional National Democratic Congress (NDC) blew to the bones a whopping sum of GHS705,000.00 (GHS7.5 billion old currency), without accounting to anybody.

The alleged misappropriated funds, according to credible sources close to the party, was meant for supporting the party’s monitoring agents who were tasked to monitor the polling stations election to ensure transparent polls in the Region.

But unfortunately at the time of going to press, this paper learnt, the money has since been allegedly diverted into private pockets.

It is still a mystery who took possession of it from the NDC headquarters in Accra, even though it remains on paper that the money was signed out to an NDC Regional executive member.

The stinking deal we can, however, state is currently creating a lot of disquiet among the rank and file members in the constituencies, and tearing the party apart in the Ashanti Region.

Informer sources confidently told this paper, apart from the huge undisclosed sum of monies channelled into the Ashanti NDC campaign to advance the fortunes of the party in winning the projected one million votes, another GHS7.5 billion old currency was further topped up to be shared to all the 47 constituencies in the region to facilitate monitoring.

In addition to this huge sum of money, every constituency was to be given GHS15,00.00 (150 million old currency) to motivate foot soldiers to deliver.

At an emergency crisis meeting held at the NDC Regional Office near the Kumasi Technical Institute on December 26, 2016, after the party's defeat in which all the 47 constituency chairmen were present, it allegedly came to limelight that, though the said GH7.5 billion actually reached base in Kumasi, only 17 constituencies benefited from the booty. Information gathered by this paper alleged that it was the Regional Chairman, Yaw Obimpeh who took receipt of the money.

The revelation was not taken lightly by the rest, as confusion rocked the meeting, resulting in near exchange of blows between the Regional Vice Chairman of the party, Mr. Alex Attivor Sowa and Chairman Yaw Obimpeh.

Attivor was alleged to have leaked the deal to the Constituency Chairman of Kwadaso, Mr. Alhassan Kusi, who had allegedly snubbed Chairman Yaw Obimpeh over how the cash should be split when Kusi was invited for a secret meeting.

When the story broke out, the media were blockaded, with the lead beneficiary and regional chairman Obimpeh ensuring that measures were put in place to prevent the proceedings from getting exposed.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the remaining thirty constituencies who did not benefit form the fund have threatened to go public to expose the regional executive members or discard the party if the national headquarters of the party in Accra fail to ensure that full-scale investigations were put in place to bring the said culprits in this disgraceful scandal to book.

Some of the party chairmen who spoke to this paper were also of the view that, it was through this dirty scandal that the party heavily lost the election in the Ashanti Region.

Present at the crisis-ridden meeting includes Mr. Joseph Yamin, formal deputy Regional Minister of Ashanti who also doubles as the national coordinator of NADMO and Mr. Ashen deputy regional organiser (operations) of the party.