Hackman Hacks Benyiwa Doe's Claims

Mr. Hackman Owusu Agyeman the acting minister of interior has denied as absolutely untrue a statement made by Mrs. Ama Benyiwa Doe the defeated Member of Parliament for Gomoa-west and sections of the media that sought to create the impression that Ivorian rebels had lost confidence in President John Agyepong Kufuor.

Speaking on the Peace FM newspaper review morning show yesterday, Benyiwa Doe alleged that the president's inability to bring peace to the country was due to the warring faction in the neighboring Cote D' Ivoire's loss of confidence in President Kufour.

She said Hackman at a point in time had asked that the rebels be crushed because there was no way they could hold the country to ransom. Reacting to the allegation, Hackman said not only was Doe's information untrue; it was very bad for the peace process and mediation in our part of Africa since strenuous efforts were still being made by not only the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) but the United Nation (UN) which was fashioning ways to bring the long standing hostility to a halt.

According to the minister, the President had rather made immense contributions to the peace process in Cote d'Ivoire, which had at least minimized the tension in the war- torn country.

He noted further that Thabo Mbeki, the South African president was made to replace President Kufuor in the mediation process upon realizing that he (Kufuor) had only a couple of months to campaign in his re-election bid and could not have looked on with the seat slipping to his political opponents who were then briskly campaigning.

He asserted that President Mbeki taking over from President Kufuor could not be represented as meaning the Ivorians had lost confidence in him.

He further indicated that Kofi Annan was brought into the process in his capacity as the UN secretary general which made it incumbent on him to react to all threatening security situations the world over.

Hackman stressed that he never asked anybody anywhere to 'crush' the rebels in the country as purported by Benyiwa Doe, knowing well that without them, the much expected peace could not prevail. He concluded that Benyiwa Doe had gotten all her claimed facts upside down since the picture she was painting did not represent or reflect the real situation.

In furtherance of his speech, the minister said President Kufuor's mediation efforts played a significant role in his second term bid as the chairman of ECOWAS, stressing that this and other things reflected in the trust reposed in him not only in his country but in the West African sub-region.

Meanwhile, most callers and text messages to the programme condemned the former legislator in no uncertain terms with some branding her as too politically inclined because she had on series of occasions stated categorically that if offered an appointment by the NPP government, she would refuse it.