Embattled presidential staffer Stan Xoese Dogbe suspects there are some people in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration who are craving for his downfall by linking his wife to the error-laden Independence Day brochure.
According to Stan Dogbe, some of his colleagues in government are conniving with certain media houses to do him in by circulating information that his wife’s company, EventPR, produced the error-riddled brochure.
“It is trite knowledge that I was a business owner before entering politics. It is no secret that I run the EventPR Company.
“It is a fact that EventPR published the funeral brochure for my big sisters, Hon Hanna Tetteh and Hon Elizabeth Ofosu Agyare. With all due respect, is it a sin for EventPR to do business because of my links with the company?
“For a colleague appointee to carry copies of the two brochures to prove to people, including NPP friends, that my wife's company published the Independence Day brochure is disgustingly low. It is sheer wickedness,” he stated in a statement on Friday.
The presidential staffer added, “Some may have their own reasons for conniving with journalists and NPP elements to lie about me and build disaffection for me, but we must all remember that we are mere mortals.”
Stan wonders why the unnamed colleague would want to draw his wife into the scandal by circulating the company’s registration certificates and share allocations.
“While you are at it, kindly leave my wife and my sister out of this Hatred-for-Stan campaign.
“Kindly bear in mind that turning me over to your paid media hirelings will not win us the elections,” he said.
Until the scandal broke, Stan Dogbe was the head of communications at the Flagstaff House and was linked to the brochure saga, leading to his reassignment to the Protocol Department of the presidency.
The brochure was characterised by grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and a host of other inaccuracies. Among the many mistakes was the naming of Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, as the President of Ghana.
The acting Director at the Information Services Department (ISD), Francis Kwarteng Arthur, claimed sole responsibility for the mess and the axe has fallen on him.
Stan Dogbe on Friday denied that EventPR had anything to do with the publishing of the Independence Day brochure.
“The EventPR undoubtedly has one of the best concepts, designs and publishing teams in the country, but the company has never produced any document or publication for the Office of the President.
“Furthermore, the company did not publish, let alone print the Independence Day brochure.
“As we continue on this anti-Stan agenda for whatever reason, let us sit and ponder over our own actions and positive contribution to the Mahama administration and upcoming campaign. Let us ask ourselves whether we are being sincere and committed to the appointing authority,” he charged.
The sacked acting ISD director, Francis Kwarteng Arthur, is also director of EventPR.
IMANI Angle
However, president of policy think-tank IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe, believes the errors in Ghana’s 59th independence anniversary brochure were deliberately done to embarrass President John Mahama.
Speaking on Citi FM’s current affairs and news analysis programme, ‘The Big Issue,’ Mr Cudjoe questioned why some portions of the brochure were written without mistakes, while some parts were full of grammatical and factual errors.
He is of the view that the processes used to award the contract of printing the brochure to some individuals brought about sabotage.
“I don’t see how any normal person who has gone through some form of secondary school education would have put together these words… you could tell that other parts of the brochure were written quite well, so for me it’s either a combination of witchcraft, vodoo or sabotage,” he said.