P. C. Appiah-Ofori Runs Away

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa in the Central Region, P.C. Appiah-Ofori, has made a dramatic U-turn, refuting his own purported claims on the Ghana Telecom/Vodafone deal after being hauled to the party’s Disciplinary Committee.

Appiah-Ofori had been invited to appear before the National Disciplinary Committee of NPP to clarify allegations he had levelled against his colleagues in the Fourth Parliament of the Fourth Parliament of the Fourth Republic, claiming that each of them had taken a bribe of GH¢5,000 before agreeing to vote for the sale of government’s 70 percent shares in GT to Vodafone last year.

However, replying to the invitation in a letter dated August 28, 2009, which is in the possession of Daily Guide, the Asikuma/Odoben/Barkwa MP categorically denied making such allegations against his colleagues following a formal complaint lodged by Hon. Fredrick Opare-Ansah, MP for Suhum and Minority Chief Whip.“It is not true that I have at anytime and anywhere under the sun made the above statement. I therefore urge you to disregard the complaint and treat it with the contempt it deserves,” Appiah-Ofori told the Disciplinary Committee. The Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa MP, who has been widely described as an anticorruption crusader and a maverick by political pundits, indicated that during the period under review, he was an NPP Member of Parliament, and therefore the complaint by Hon. Opare-Ansah meant that he also collected to vote for the sale of Ghana’s 70 percent interest in the GT. “This would amount to stupidity on my part to make such an allegation against myself. I did not take part in voting for the sale of GT, let alone collecting GH¢5,000; neither did the other NPP Members of Parliament collect GH¢5,000 each before they agreed to vote for the sale of the 70percent shares in GT of which I know,” Hon. Appiah-Ofori state.

Consequently, he asked the Disciplinary Committee to get the complainant, Hon. Opare-Ansah, to produce proof of his complaint before it decides to investigate the matter as “it is trite that the onus of proof of any allegation lies with the maker of the allegation”.

When Daily Guide contacted Hon. Appiah-Ofori on phone yesterday, he confirmed having written the letter, but contended that he was only responding to the content of Hon. Opare-Ansah’s letter of complaint to the Disciplinary Committee dated August 24,2009 which claimed that “I alleged in the media that the NPP Members of Parliament between 7th January 2005 and 6th January 2009 collected GH¢5,000 each before agreeing to vote for the sale of the government’s shares in the Ghana Telecom to Vodafone. “I have never said such a thing anywhere,” Hon. Appiah-Ofori stressed yesterday.

Asked whether he had mentioned the alleged bribe money in any currency either than cedis, the Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa MP, charged: “Why are you asking me this question in a matter that is well known? Don’t you know what I said? Everybody knows what I said.”