I am not a coup plotter -Abodakpi

Accra, Dec.17, GNA- Mr Dan Abodakpi, Member for Keta, on Friday dismissed a Vanguard, an Accra newspaper, story which alleged that he intended to overthrow President Kufuor, "as not only absolutely false but also very malicious in intent."

The story entitled, "Abodakpi warns on an upheaval-He tells NDC faithful, Kufuor will never be sworn in for a second term" was published in the Vanguard Newspaper volume 3 number 141 of Wednesday, December 15 to December 19 2004.

The member, who made a statement in Parliament said: "It does seem .... that the Vanguard Newspaper story is part of a well drawn out orchestrated strategy to eliminate or get rid of me."

He said the Editor of the newspaper failed "in his basic journalistic duty to contact me about the authenticity of his source or for my side of the story."

"The Vanguard story stated in its second paragraph.. 'barely five days after the Electoral Commission (EC) had declared the elections in favour of President Kufuor and the NPP, the NDC has unveiled a secret plot to subvert the second term of the Kufuor administration."

According to him, the story further alleged that, " President Kufuor and his NPP government would never rule this country for a second term." "The paper then topped it all by alleging further that I was categorical in saying that ' either something would happen to ensure there would be no swearing in ceremony on January 7, 2005 or on January 12, 2005 after the swearing in, an unexpected event would ensure the removal of the Kufuor administration."

He said," as a former Cabinet Minister and a senior member of this House, I know the serious implications these false alarms of instability and subversion have on our image politically and economically.

"Our stability, our peace are a sine qua non for our growth, development and prosperity as a nation and I, who has played a major role in the development of the current democratic culture, would be the last to do anything to subvert it."