NDC must not sacrifice former TMA Boss - Moshake

An Executive Member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Tema East Constituency, Stephen Ashitey Adjei, has called on party members not to sacrifice the Constituency’s Parliamentary Candidate on the altar of their opponents.

“Our opponents in Tema East know that Mr. Isaac Ashai Odamtten would be the candidate to beat in the coming elections because of a whole lot of factors, including; his family lineage, broad appeal and track record. And so they are stirring up rumours that he will be arrested to scare the NDC into dropping him.”

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Wednesday on their prospects as an ardent supporter of the NDC candidates in Tema, Mr. Ashitey Adjei, who is popularly called Moshake, said claims by political opponents that Mr Odamtten would be arrested and prosecuted on criminal charges upon his arrival into the country from the United states of America were deliberately created as a fear mongering trick.

He warned NDC persons thriving on rumours as a trump card for a campaign for the former TMA boss to be dropped are only playing into the hands of their opponents.

“I have said it several times that those sabotaging Odamtten will laugh at the wrong side of their mouths if our opponents succeed, because they will always have this secret on them. For those who have been easily swayed by the propaganda, I want them to understand that no matter how beautifully the chicken dances, it will never be able to please the hawk. No matter who you sacrifice in the NDC for others, they will never accept you as an ally,” Moshake added.

Mr. Odamtten, he said was studying in the United States before the coronavirus outbreak forced him to remain there.

He said in his absence, there were allegations that while he was MCE for Tema under President John Mahama, he colluded with a company to embezzle Ghc5.7million belonging to the Tema Metropolitan Assembly.

The former MCE allegedly allowed one of many private revenue collectors, CTK GeoSys Company limited to divert 30 per cent of all revenues it collected for the Assembly into an unauthorized account bearing the name of both GeoSys and TMA.

It is not clear how this implies embezzlement, but it is alleged that EOCO is said to have completed investigations into the matter and concluded that there was embezzlement involved.

“There was a falsification and it is alleged that the contractor opened a fraudulent account in which he lodged some of the revenue belonging to the assembly, especially so when the current administration also dealt with the same contractor for two years, how does this automatically mean that Mr. Ashai Odamtten is a criminal, who would be barred from contesting the 2020 election? If he is a suspect, is he not entitled to defend himself in court?” Moshake asked wondering why some people within the Tema East NDC are trying to pressure the party’s national leadership to drop Mr. Odamtten.

According to him, for a very long time, Tema East NDC had not had a Parliamentary Candidate like Mr. Ashai Odamtten; a man who was both an indigene of Tema and an Akan.

A man whose appeal cuts through all manner of demographics, from teachers to farmers, to administrators, to truck pushers, to fishermen, to carpenters, to bankers, to pastors and to footballers; simply because he has been all of these before.

“The opponents are aware that for the very first time, we have a very winnable candidate and want to do everything to sabotage him; Their agents in the NDC are helping them, they even wrote several letters against Mr. Odamtten in my name as propaganda to compel the party to change our candidate as if Allah doesn’t see everything, Allah knows everything and the law of karma exists.” Moshake said.

He denied claims that Mr. Odamtten was not coming down from the United States because he was afraid of the arrest waiting for him at home, saying that like many other people trapped by the coronavirus induced close-down, Mr. Odamtten were also trapped.

“There was more to the issue than meets the eye and that when Mr. Odamtten returns, the real secrets will come out. Ghanaians are wise, nobody can hide behind politics to deceive them”. Moshake concluded.