The Enquirer Responds to Whitaker group

Akufo Addo Busted in America
LIARS IN THEIR PANTS... As four rejoinders expose Nana’s Campaign Team ..

Four Hush-Hush statements seeking to put a damper on The Enquirer expose´ on the abuse of incumbency by Nana Akufo-Addo, have exposed The Whitaker Group, the Ghana Embassy in the United States of America (USA), and the yawning NPP-USA and thrown them under friendly fire.

The statements were seeking to neutralize the effect of an Enquirer story which caught Nana Akufo-Addo and his Campaign Team, rollicking in Ghana Embassy vehicles in USA as they did in London, whilst they were on private political fundraising.

Even though the letter inviting guests to the Park Hyatt Hotel event in Washington on June 4th dubbed, ‘lunch discussion with His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,’ was to enable the NPP flagbearer outline ‘his vision for Ghana and his perspectives on the way forward for Africa,’ the Whitaker Group still describe the event as non-political.

In an unprecedented manner, Rosa Whitaker intermeddled in Ghana’s politics by declaring in his letter of invitation that Nana Akufo Addo is going to win Ghana’s December elections and therefore become the successor of President Kufuor. According to her “While he is generally expected to succeed President Kufuor, this luncheon is not a political event, but rather a discussion with one of Africa’s most respected leaders, who will continue to be a force in the region, regardless of the outcome of the election in December 2008”

Duncan Williams’ latest wife, Rosa Whitaker, who has a string of rumours, in spite of this evidence, insists that her political luncheon was non-political.

Supporters of other Presidential aspirants in Ghana are already fuming over Rosa Whitakers proclamation of Nana as the eventual winner of the December elections, with some saying that even if Nana will win the election it is not the job of the Whitaker Group to squat in some corner in Washington to proclaim him as President ahead of the elections, which is less than six months away. “Not even a Ghanaian organization can make such a political statement ahead of an election that all polls say there could be no clear first round winner. If there is no clear winner then where is the evidence that Nana is ‘generally tipped to win the elections coming from?” a supporter of another presidential candidate told The Enquirer.

The first paragraph of the two-paragraph invitation letter reads: ‘The Whitaker Group is pleased to invite key U.S. stakeholders engaged in Ghana’s economic and political development to an intimate exchange of views with this Ghanaian and African leader, as he outlines his vision for Ghana and his perspective on the way forward for Africa. Akufo-Addo believes in a greater Ghana and a stronger Africa, fully integrated in the global economy, and he has a particular interest in strengthening ties with Africa’s diaspora and the U.S. business community.’

The politically-pregnant invitation letter, which was sent out from The Whitaker Group, and had Nana Addo’s photograph embossed on it, continued: ‘He is one of the key architects of Ghana’s economic and democratic renaissance realized under the administration of President John A. Kufuor. An international statesman, Member of Parliament, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General, Akufo-Addo is carrying on the legacy of leadership of his father, Edward Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana’s Second Republic. Nana Akufo-Addo is a nationalist, Pan-Africanist and internationalist, who chaired the United Nations Security Council and is credited with skillfully guiding it at a time when the Council was addressing the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon. The Whitaker Group has Mrs. Rosa Whitaker Duncan-Williams, the latest wife of Nicholas Duncan-Williams of Action Chapel International, as its Founder and Chief Executive Officer.

YAW OSAFO MAAFO

The first to react to the story on the morning of June 6th 2008, the day of publication, was Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Member of Parliament (MP) for Akim Oda, who is not merely an MP but also a leading member of the Akufo-Addo campaign team in the U.S. Osafo-Maafo was not on any Official Assignment from the government, the President or Ghana’s Parliament. He was basically on the trip because of his role on Nana Addo’s campaign. Speaking on Peace FM’s news review programme, Mr. Osafo-Maafo, first Finance and Economic Planning Minister under the Kufuor-led NPP administration, revealed that the Whitaker Group, indeed work for the Government of Ghana.

Curiously, whilst the Whitaker Group points out in its rejoinder that ‘It is against US law to contribute or solicit funds for foreign candidates,’ and therefore it ‘has never endorsed political candidates abroad or contributed to political parties or candidates abroad,’ this assertion has been debunked by an NPP zealot.

In his zeal not to be outdone in what appears to be well- choreographed responses, Prince Osei Bonsu, who describes himself as the PRO of NPP-USA, and the one through whom all the responses from the Whitaker Group, Ghana’s embassy and the outrageous NPP-USA rejoinder were delivered, also writes that The Whitaker Group organized the event at no cost to the NPP.

Osei Bonsu writes among others that: ‘The simple facts are: first- the subject was promoting Ghana’s democracy and economic development; secondly- no one charged any entry fee and; thirdly – the Whitaker Group has not asked for or given a red cent to NPP-USA either to pay for or remit as proceeds.’

GHANA EMBASSY

In spite of this conspicuous evidence that the event was organized, specifically for the NPP Flagbearer, the Ghana Embassy in Washington sought to make the Akufo-Addo Campaign team pedestrian to the event, stating in their rejoinder that: ‘Indeed, the Organizers took advantage of the presence of the former Ministers and sitting members of Parliament to contribute to the discussions at the two events, to which the Mission had earlier been invited to participate.’

This cannot be farther from the truth.

The Washington Embassy indicates that courtesies extended to Nana Akufo-Addo and his campaign team are available ‘to all Members of Parliament (MPs) on arrival from Airports and to all official functions.’

In their own words The Embassy said, ‘The Washington Mission has in the recent past provided similar services to others, including Hon. Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom in May 2008.’

The Catch word is ‘official functions’ and the question is: whether or not Nana Akufo-Addo’s tour of North America in furtherance of his presidential ambition plus an invitation to the USA by NPP-USA plus a political luncheon organized by the Whitaker Group, specifically to showcase him and to proclaim him as the winner of the December elections could pass as an official function, which merited the use of Ghana Embassy cars and staff.

Interestingly, all three rejoinders, including that of the NPP-USA and that of the Embassy are mute over whether Nana Ohene Ntow, General Secretary of the NPP and Alan Kyeremanten, Ex-Minister and failed Presidential Aspirant of the NPP are also MPs. The rejoinders also failed to admit that all the MPs who were there in the USA and who were cruising in Ghana Embassy cars were there purposefully to further Nana Addo’s campaign and not on any official function

Insiders are now calling on the President to sack Rosa Whitaker as lobbyist for the government, saying that, as an official agency for the Government of Ghana, she could not have embarked on such a political move without instructions from her client.

It would be recalled that after one of the failed NPP Presidential aspirants, Mr. Owusu-Agyemang, had been left in the cold after the president’s ‘Darling Boy’ in the primaries, Alan ‘Cash’, had commandeered a State aircraft to the north to meet delegates who were already gathered at a meeting scheduled with Hon. Hackman, officials pointed out that the airforce aircrafts were available for rental by any aspirants who wanted to use them. That explanation was pooh-poohed by Mr. Owusu Agyemang and other NPP aspirants, who said if indeed that was the case, then all of them should have been notified and that Alan’s conduct amounted to the story of ‘Animal Farm’ Reacting to the NPP USA rejoinder, which suggested that The Enquirer had timed its story to coincide with June 4th, the day Rawlings staged his bloody coup, The Editor-In-Chief of The Enquirer said that was balderdash and could only come from ignorant minds.

According to Mr. Archer, it was rather Nana Akufo-Addo’s event, which was held on June 4th and that The Enquirer story was published on June 6, two clear days after the event.

“These guys are acting like suicide commanders, once they decide to respond to a story, they must do so at all cost even if they have to lie to defend themselves,” The Editor-in-Chief said

The Enquirer, in a June 6, 2008 publication, revealed how Nana Akufo-Addo and his campaign team had been chauferred in official Ghana Embassy vehicles in the US, while attending to purely partisan functions, including a fundraiser at the Hyatt Park Hotel in Washington.