Togo Bares Teeth At NDC Papers

Nana Ama Kufuor Is Not President's Girlfriend

The Togolese Embassy in Accra has rubbished publications in two pro-National Democratic Congress (NDC) newspapers, alleging that, the Togolese President, Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema is expecting a baby by Nana Ama Kufuor, daughter of President John Agyekum Kufuor, describing the publications as mischievous and baseless.

A statement issued in Accra, on Monday night and signed by the Ambassador, Jean-Pierre Gbikpi-Bermissan said there was no iota of truth in The Ghana Palaver and The Lens publications that the Togolese leader was seeking the hand of Nana Ama Kufuor in marriage, after impregnating her.

"President Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema is not having any affair with Nana Ama Kufuor, daughter of President Kufuor and has never performed any rites whatsoever, much less ask for the hand of Nana Ama in marriage", the statement said. The Friday August 19, and Friday August 26, 2005 editions of The Ghana Palaver and The Lens newspapers, respectively, alleged that President Faure Gnassingbe was having an intimate relationship with President Kufuor's daughter and that Nana Ama was carrying the baby of the Togolese leader.The papers also alleged that President Gnassingbe had led his family members to meet those of Nana Ama at a meeting, attended by the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei tutu II, and the President Kufuor in Kumasi to seal the conjugal relationship. But the Togolese Embassy stated that no rites had been performed and that the publications were not only malicious but misplaced.

The Embassy has therefore asked the editors of the pro-NDC newspapers to retract the embarrassing publications. Describing the publication as tissues of lies and figment of the papers' own imagination, the Embassy noted that the move was a clear case of malicious attempts to lure President Faure Gnassingbe into public ridicule. Referring to a section of The Lens story which alleged that the late President Eyadema, together with President Kufuor, were deeply involved in blood, juju rituals and sacrifices, the statement warned and declared, "we want to state here that the Togo President and the people of Togo will no more tolerate the vicious attacks rained on our former head of state, by a section of the Ghanaian press and the therefore advised all journalists who have made it their plan to do what they did in the past to stop.

The improvement of Ghana/Togo relations is a delicate, challenging task that must involve all sections of our societies, especially journalists", the statement read.It therefore reminded reporters behind the publication that since Togo and Ghana were countries destined to live together, whatever the circumstances of the people and the parties in government, everything must be possibly done by both neighbours to get on well with each other because should there arise a problem in Togo, the ripple effects would be felt in Ghana and vice versa. It further called on the editors to give the same prominence to the retraction as they did to the original stories.