*...NDC Political Operatives Cry As They List A Litany Of Corrupt Cases** And Call For An End To Catholic Father Presidency*
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Ex-President Kufuors’ claim of widespread corruption in the Mills administration has angered some political operatives at the seat of government – The Castle Osu- and are calling for an end to what they term the Catholic Father Presidency of Mills.
They insist that members of the previous regime, including their leader, former President J.A Kufuor, have found their voices and throwing the corruption mud at Mill’s government simply because the presidency has not sufficiently dealt with his cronies in spite of damning issues unveiled and captured in the transition reports during the handing over.
They enumerated a litany of cases which they believe are ridden with corruption involving members of the previous administration and Mr. Kufuor’s children and were captured in the Transition Report, but which have not been probed further for the culprits to be punished.
Among the cases mentioned were the over US$5 million payroll contract to* **Herman Chinery**-**Hesse, son of Mrs. Mary Chinery**-**Hesse, the purchase of Mancell Vocational School in Kumasi by Gladys Asmah and Hajia Alima Mahama in the name of the Women and Children’s Ministry as well as the sales of Ghana Telecom and Westel, all under questionable circumstances.*
*The operatives of the ruling government are also unhappy with their government’s seeming unwillingness to take decisive action on the state bungalows, including the one sold to NPP chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey and state lands which were shared under the Kufuor administration, the turning of a state bungalow by Nana Ohene-Ntow, ex-General Secretary of the NPP, into a “shito factory” they and the ex-Speaker’s looting of his official bungalow. *
In the case of Mr. Kufuor, the operatives could not come to terms with government’s inability to surcharge his three children who, in turns, hijacked luxurious and pricy state lodges for their private accommodation for several years, although they were above 18 years and were not rendering any service to the country.
The ex-President’s children, Saa Kufuor, Agyekum Kufuor and Kofi Kufuor, lived in state lodges most of the time during their father’s presidency even when they were outside the country, the lodges and all facilities in them, were kept in their names and, sometimes, given out to his friends to have sex with women.
The free use of the state facilities was discovered by the Executive Assets Committee of the Government Transition Team led by Dr. Don Arthur, a Presidential staffer at the Castle.
Independent checks conducted by this reporter at the time revealed that Kofi Kufuor, a married man with kids, converted the state lodge into a brothel, where he entertained members of the opposite sex and, at times, allowed his friends access to have sex and do other things there.
Ivor Agyeman-Duah who wrote a *biography** *for* **Kufuor titled “*Between Faith and History” left his wife in one of the state lodges after he himself had been rewarded with an appointment as a press attaché to Ghana’s High Commission in London.
The Committee’s report cites Nana Ama Kufuor, as having lived in the state-owned Bosumtwi Lodge for a period of three years. Checks by an Accra- based newspaper at that time revealed that two of the President’s children, Kofi and Saa Kufuor, were rather the ones who took turns at that lodge.
Saa, who has since bought a house at East Legon, lived in London, where she earned standard salary, working at the City Council’s housing section. Agyekum has also bought a property close to the Italian Embassy at Cantonments, where he lives with his American wife whose age is gaps apart from the President’s son.
Before the couple moved to Ghana, they filed for bankruptcy. Mr. Agyekum was later given a multi-million dollar pre-paid meter contract by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to execute. The contract did not go under tender most of the meters supplied have serious defaults, yet the ECG has gone ahead busily installing them in the homes of unsuspecting Ghanaians.
Kofi, however, is said to be presently putting up at his father’s Airport West residence.
The lodges had 24-hour state security personnel on guard, as well as cooks, who made for them sumptuous meals paid for by the state. There are no records of payments for utility by the children of the ex-president whilst they were at these lodges.
The lodges, which are Sakumo Lodge, Bosumtwi Lodge, Ankobra Lodge and Kulpawn Lodge, located adjacent to the new American Embassy in Accra, were occupied at various times by the children of the ex-President and others.
While Saa Kufuor and Agyekum Kufuor lived in the Bosumtwi Lodge at different times, their fun-loving younger brother, Kofi Kufuor, was in Kulpawn Lodge, separated by a wall.
Apart from Saa Kufuor, Agyekum Kufuor, and Kofi Kufuor, Mrs. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, wife of former NPP Campaign Manager, was found to have stayed in a SSNIT Lodge near 37 Military Hospital for four years without paying a dime, whilst one Kofi Adomako, whose designation could not be established by press time, was said to have lived in the Ankobra Lodge for an unspecified duration.
