Call For Mills' Arrest Was A Slip Of Tongue -Wayo

Founder and Leader of the defunct United Renaissance Party (URP), Charles Kofi Wayo has beaten a sharp retreat over a statement he made calling for the arrest of President John Evans Atta Mills and some two others in their handling of the cholera outbreak, which is said to have claimed the lives of 61 people.

Pontificating on Accra-based VibeFM on his weekly programme dubbed "Capital Talk", "Chuck", as he is affectionately called, lashed at President Mills, the Mayor of Accra, Alfred Nii Oko Vanderpuije and the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Amarh Ashiety, describing them as a bunch of inept people who needed to be arrested for allowing Ghanaians to die needlessly out of the cholera epidemic. He also called on the Health Minister, Joseph Yieleh Chireh, to voluntarily "put himself in jail" or resign over his handling of the outbreak which has killed some 61 Ghanaians.

Known for his somewhat controversial statements, the maverick politician, however, on several platforms categorical denied ever making those statements.

On Wednesday, one of his aides, Akane Akurucu Adams inundated the offices of peacefmonline.com with phone calls and later stormed our premises to demand that the story be deleted from the website, since Mr. Wayo never made the remarks attributed to him. Patiently, he was asked to wait awhile and listen to the full unedited tape, and it came as no surprise when after a few moments, he literally walked off with his tails between his legs, but not before he tried to offer reasons for his boss' gaffe.

Mr. Wayo's aide told peacefmonline.com that what his boss said was a slip of tongue and literally begged the editorial team to "take it off". According to him, what "Chuck" meant to say did not come across as expected, stressing that he was demanding for the arrest of the Mayor of Accra, Alfred Nii Oko Vanderpuije and the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Amarh Ashiety, but not the president.

"Mills is the best President Ghana has ever had, and Kofi Wayo always believes that," Akane Akurucu Adams said.

Later, when peacefmonline.com called up the aide to find out if Mr Wayo was ready to avail himself to be interviewed regarding the alleged "slip", he was clearly heard in the background telling the aide; "I won't speak to them, they are bias".

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) estimates that over 4,000 cholera cases have been recorded since the outbreak of the disease in the latter part of 2010 with officials of the Disease Surveillance Unit at the GHS describing the situation as worrying which needs urgent attention.

Some health experts say Ghana has over the years been known to be a cholera endemic country, owing largely to the attitudinal and lifestyle of some Ghanaians.