I never said "I hate Kufuor" - Anyidoho

RE: I HATE KUFUOR

Daily Guide, in its lead caption of Wednesday, October 07, 2009, screamed thus: I HATE KUFUOR, SAYS KOKU ANYIDOHO.

The caption and story was anchored to an interview I granted London based Radio Focus.

On several networks in Ghana, the recording has been replayed, and at no time during the interview did I say that I hate former President Kufuor.

The Daily Guide went on to put words into mouth and quoted me as saying “who does not know ex-President Kufuor looted the nation’s coffers and gave the money to his son to buy a hotel and his daughter to buy a shopping mall in Accra”.

I state unequivocally that at no time during the interview did I make such a statement.

According to the Daily Guide, when asked why the government is not initiating legal action against the Children of ex-President Kufuor, I said that “In matters of this nature, you can’t head for the courts without substantive evidence, so the government is working hard in that direction”.

At no time during the interview did I say that Government is “working hard” to gather evidence in the matter of the hotel and shopping mall.

It is on record that in reacting to the assertion by some voices within the NDC that His Excellency President John Atta Mills is moving at a snail pace in relation to jailing perceived corrupt operatives of the Kufuor Administration, my point was that, people may say that President Kufuor’s son has acquired a hotel; people may say that President Kufuor’s daughter has acquired a shopping mall; people may say that ex-President Kufuor has acquired property all over the place but it is another thing going to court and proving that the ex-President stole state funds to acquire such property.

In other words, those who are saying that President Atta Mills is slow and not jailing perceived corrupt NPP operatives, should know that the Mills Administration has no option but to follow due process as well as respect the laws of Ghana and so cannot throw people into jail arbitrarily.

I want to reiterate the point that I NEVER said during the interview that I hate ex-President Kufuor.

According to the Daily Guide “Taking his battle of attrition to the former President, Koku noted that he did not only hate ex-President Kufuor, but got irritated whenever he saw his face even in the media”.

The Daily Guide must have taken this quote from elsewhere and not from my interview because I NEVER uttered these words.

Koku Anyidoho (Head, Communications)