CAN 2008 Judgment Saga (Part 3) Osafo Marfo Under Siege

… from NPP gurus to speak in defence of the party … meanwhilst Akufo Addo has warned his men to stay away from defending “Kufour’s mess”

By: Winson V.A. Addotey

The main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is in a web of total confusion about the position the party should take in relation to the African Cup Nations (CAN) 2008 judgment debt, which has caused Ghana GH¢58 million loss as a result of former President Kufour’s reckless action to abrogate contract between the state and an individual. The Crystal Clear Lenscan state that credible sources within the NPP have said the leadership of the party is sharply divided over the strategy the party should adopt over the judgment debt to avoid any future political blows. According to our sources, whereas Mr. Osafo Marfo, the former for Education and Sports is under serious pressure from some party bigwigs to speak in defence of the party, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo has unilaterally acted to the contrary.

Subsequently, the NPP presidential candidate, the source indicated, has warned his campaign team, particularly his spokesmen to stop defending what he described as “Kufour’s mess”, because it would be a political suicidal for his campaign should the party keeps the issue in the public domain.

“Kufour is the cause of this whole mess. We can’t defend it or attack the NDC government for ever. They have the documents. What documents do we have that we can rely on all the time? Kufour has been taken to court, let him go and face it.” The source said. However, the man at the centre of internally political attacks is the General Secretary of the NPP, Kwodwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly called ‘Sir John’. Despite the heavy oceanic waves pushing him to hold press conferences to address the issue to save the NPP, he sarcastically turned them down. ‘His mouth is full and his hands are wet, so he would not speak against the ‘business dinosaur’, Consul Woyome,” he source has hinted. Meanwhile, the Crystal Clear Lens can state without fear of contradictions that the last Thursday press conference the NPP Minority organized in Parliament presided over the Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who is from the Kufour’s camp, should have been headed by Mr. Osafo Marfo.

Noticeably, since the High Court has ruled and ordered the state to pay the judgment debt to Consul Alfred Agbeis Woyome, which has provoked long politically controversial debates, up to date, the former Finance Minister and Economic Planning and Attorney General and Minister of Justice under the erstwhile Kufour-led NPP Administration have not spoken, given credence to the verifiable reports that they had vehemently spoken against Kufour’s decision to abrogate the contract, which he had re-awarded to a Chinese Company, which was not part of the bidding processes. Mr Osafo Marfo is very much upset with Kufour over the current difficult situation, which has implicated him so clearly because there are verifiable documentary evidences that he hold him responsible.

Also, our sources have told us that Mr. Osafo Marfo has vowed to speak only when a state body like the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) invites him. Within the NPP big shots, especially those from the Kufour camp, the information said, are completely uncomfortable and jittery with the position Mr. Osafo Marfo has taken and they are living no stone unturned until he cooperates with them.

Meanwhile, upon the directive of the President Mills, the EOCO is investigating the matter. Also, the President has ordered the EOCO to make public all beneficiaries of judgment debts from the date he was sworn into office as the President of Ghana.