Rockson Bukari is a victim of betrayal, not bribery – Upper East residents hit back

The resignation of Rockson Ayine Bukari, former Upper East Regional Minister and Minister of state has generated apprehension and anger among residents of the Upper East Region who have described events leading to his exit as betrayal of trust on the part of Edward Adeti, a reporter with the Daily Dispatch Newspaper and Accra based Starr FM.

The once revered politician popularly known as ‘Action Man’ who is still being held as the most industrious Municipal Chief Executive Bolgatanga has ever had, saw a dead-end to his political career after a private conversation with with a journalist known to be his long-standing friend went viral on social and mainstream media.

Mr. Bukari admitted having a telephony conversation with the reporter sometime last year where he is heard pleading for a story about his friend who is a judge not to be published with the promise of getting ‘something’ for the reporter from a CEO of a Chinese Mining company, Shaanxi.

Judge Jacob Boon, the High Court judge who was trailed by Edward Adeti was presiding over a case involving two foreign mining companies over allegations of Trespassing by Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited into the underground concession of Cassius Mining Limited, an Australian Mining firm also operating in the upper east region.

Speaking on Bolgatanga based YEM Radio on Monday monitored by MyNewsGh.com, Executive Secretary of the Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy Bismarck Adongo Ayorogo said there was no evidence of any corruption against the judge for which the journalist wanted to publish. He opined that Rockson Bukari’s intervention was based on fear of unfairly damaging the image of the judge who is nearing retirement.

“What has happened can best be described as a clear betrayal of trust by the reporter with no basis to impugn corruption. The fact that you have seen officials of one side of the factions visiting the judge, does not amount to evidence that he has been corrupted. Rockson trusted you as a journalist and called you as a son and good friend. You did nothing special to extract that information from him but he called. Why would you do what you did” he questioned.

Corroborating the stance of Bismarck Ayorogo, the former Public Relations Officer of BONABOTO Stanley Abopam said the basis for which the reporter intended publishing about the judge was a hoax.

“The so-called investigations Edward Adeti claimed he did, which created panic and led to Rockson’s intervention was nothing but a complete hoax”.

Some residents who spoke to MyNewsGh.com expressed displeasure at the events that subsequently saw the sad exit of a man they described as ‘a man of principles’.