Dr. Opuni's prosecution nothing but political witch-hunting - Group

A group calling itself, Young Cadres Association of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has stated that the legal action initiated by the government against the former CEO of COCOBOD, Dr. Stephen Opuni is political witch-hunting.

The Attorney General last week filed some 27 counts including a charge of causing financial loss to the state against Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni.

He is being sued together with one Seidu Agongo, CEO of Zeera Group of Companies and Agricult Ghana Limited, beneficiaries of a supposed fraudulent fertilizer contract worth over GH¢43 million.

The first court hearing has been scheduled for March 23, 2018.

But in a statement issued by the group's National Executives and copied to GhanaWeb indicated President Akufo-Addo has failed to deal with the corrupt practices within his government hence using the former appointees as scapegoats.

The Young Cadres Association described the news as strange.

"The news is as bizarre as it sounds because President Akuffo-Addo has sheepishly decided to turn a blind eye on the numerous corrupt practices happening right under his nose and rather decided to go in for scapegoats in the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) to assuage the cries and murmurs from the hawks within his party", the statement emphasized.

According to the statement, President Akufo-Addo has turned the Flagstaff House into a 'cleaning house' hence cleaning his alleged corrupt officials of any wrongdoing.

The statement added that President Akufo-Addo wanted Ghanaians to believe his charade of a fight against corruption is going in for soft-targets from his political opponents hence the real rots are happening under him.

The group believes that Dr. Opuni is a hardworking man and innocent of all the charges being levelled against him.

According to the group, Dr. Opuni is being prosecuted because his record at the helm of affairs at COCOBOD towers over every achievement of the NPP government.

The Young Cadres Association has therefore challenged President Akufo-Addo to prosecute the BOST MD, CEO of NLA as former President John Mahama did to his own appointees.

"If the President believes in fighting corruption, he should tell us what he did with those who took, and are still taking USD 20,000 to arrange meetings for him; or those who solicited thousands of Ghana Cedis from businessmen to have them sit close to him. Of course the numerous corrupt acts happening at BOST even as at today cannot be said to have escaped the attention of the President. Or has he not seen reports of Osei Ameyaw, his appointee at the National Lotteries Authority (NLA) awarding eleven (11) contracts to his sister-in-law in a single day! So if Nana Akuffo-Addo is really committed to fighting corruption, he should emulate President Mahama who had the temerity to put members of his own party on trial", the statement explained.

Below is the full statement

In a rather bizarre move this week, Ghanaians woke up to the news of Dr. Opuni, former Chief Executive of the COCOBOD, being slapped with 27 counts of corruption and causing financial loss to the state.

The news is as bizarre as it sounds because President Akufo-Addo has sheepishly decided to turn a blind eye on the numerous corrupt practices happening right under his nose and rather decided to go in for scapegoats in the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) to assuage the cries and murmurs from the hawks within his party.

After turning the Flagstaff House into a clearing house and clearing all his corrupt officials of any wrongdoing, President Akufo-Addo wants Ghanaians to believe his charade of a fight against corruption by going in for soft-targets from his political opponents when the real rots are happening under him.

We, the Young Cadres, are of the firm belief that Dr Opuni is a hardworking man and innocent of all the charges being leveled against him. He is only being prosecuted because his record at the helm of affairs at COCOBOD towers over every achievement of this current NPP government. He is being prosecuted because he embarked on massive projects like Cocoa roads that are/were meant to uplift the livelihoods of those in the rural areas, and because of this he has become the envy and the target of this corrupt NPP government.

They simply reason that because someone presides over an institution, he can take decisions single-handedly, failing to see that COCOBOD had and still operates with a board that approves every transaction undertaken by the institution.

Whilst we, as a youth group, do not condone any acts of corruption wherever they are found, we do not believe and trust in President Akufo-Addo’s commitment to rid our country of this canker.

If the President believes in fighting corruption, he should tell us what he did with those who took, and are still taking USD 20,000 to arrange meetings for him; or those who solicited thousands of Ghana Cedis from businessmen to have them sit close to him. Of course the numerous corrupt acts happening at BOST even as at today cannot be said to have escaped the attention of the President. Or has he not seen reports of Osei Ameyaw, his appointee at the National Lotteries Authority (NLA) awarding eleven (11) contracts to his sister-in-law in a single day! So if Nana Akufo-Addo is really committed to fighting corruption, he should emulate President Mahama who had the temerity to put members of his own party on trial.

In a little under eight (8) months, President Akufo-Addo’s government would have spent half of its four-year term with absolutely nothing to show for it. In the period that this New Patriotic Government (NPP) has been in government, Ghanaians have known nothing but brazen daylight armed robbery, abject poverty, monumental increases in the cost of living, unreasonable import duties inflation, and open corruption from government officials.

Indeed, proof of the state of the nation is captured in a recent report by the World Happiness Report in which Ghana is ranked among the least happy countries in the world, placing a ludicrously 108th position behind countries like Nigeria and Somalia – yes, a failed state like Somalia!

By setting in motion a campaign promise to jail all former NDC members who served in government, the Akufo-Addo-led government has simply activated a process to polarize the nation and make it a one-party state governed by the NPP.

We are by this release serving notice to the President and his government that we will not sit idly by and allow this experiment to succeed. We will resist, demonstrate and make the government regret its actions if a single innocent member of the NDC thrown into jail. And those ostriches in cassock, who see nothing wrong going on – they should continue being spectators. When the bell rings, they will equally be culpable.

Long Live Ghana!

Long Live the NDC!

Long Live Young Cadres!

Signed!

Bright Botchway

(General Secretary)

Mubarak Watara

(PRO)