‘Chavez’ Benyiwa Doe Strike

The Central Regional Minister and NDC Women’s Organiser, Ama Benyiwa-Doe is said to have compelled the Central Regional Police Command to lock-up the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman for Assin North, Fiifi Bako, and later arraign him on criminal charges. Benyiwa-Doe, the complainant in the case, was reported to be busy, hunting leading members of the NPP in the region.

She was as well alleged to be scheming on how to imprison the billionaire Member of Parliament for Assin North, Kennedy Ohene Agyepong, so as to disqualify him from being a parliamentarian. An exposure of a secret meeting purported to have taken place between Benyiwa-Doe and the Central Regional Police Commander DCOP Akayira Kampara on how to achieve the mission, had raised suspicions about the political neutrality of the Commander and already, he is busily exchanging threats, wild accusations and heated verbal tussles with leading NPP members in the region.

DCOP Kampara yesterday told Fiifi Boafo, Host of National Agenda on Oman fm that on December 7, 2008, during the first round of the presidential polls, Benyiwa-Doe complained to his outfit that she had been ambushed by three vehicles and the occupants of the vehicles had robbed her of her money and mobile phones. Reports said Benyiwa-Doe was caught in the Assin North constituency as she was sharing money to the electorate on voting day and that persons who were unhappy about the development accosted her over the issue and seized the money she was sharing. The Commander said he was given the registration number of one of the vehicles but investigations later proved that all the three vehicles belonged to the NPP and that the money that was taken from Benyiwa-Dow was actually given to Kennedy Agyepong.

He also stated categorically that the said NPP members who were in the car had been involved in a robbery but when asked to substantiate his claims, the Commander could not do so, except to reiterate that the vehicles belonged to the NPP and that the said money was given to Kennedy Agyepong as he had alleged. He also apologised and retracted his statement that the said NPP members were involved in a robbery. Narrating in a rather incoherent manner what he claimed were the facts of the case, DCOP Kampara said after the complaint from Ama Benyiwa Doe, the NPP Chairman for Assin North, Fiifi Baako and other suspects were arrested but later granted bail.

He said when Fiifi Baako reported to the Police last Wednesday; he was re-arrested and put behind bars because one of the other suspects that were also granted bail had fled the country.The Commander said he would keep the NPP Chairman for 48-hours and then send him to court, maintaining that he had the right to use his discretion to revoke the bail he had granted. The Chairman for Central Region, Smith Danquah, who was also on the programme, accused the Commander of open bias, alleging that the police chief had told him that during a meeting the police held with Benyiwa-Doe, she expressed strong misgivings about the way the case was being handled.

Smith alleged that the Commander also told him that there was the need for the matter to be settled with a sense of urgency because Benyiwa-Doe was bent on using it to drag Kennedy Agyepong to court and possibly getting him imprisoned even for a day so as to get him out of Parliament. Smith debunked the claim that one of the suspects had fled the country, disclosing that the said suspect had travelled to the United States for a few days and that the Commander was fully aware of the tripInterestingly, DCOP Kampara confirmed that he had actually spoken to Smith on the need to settle the case urgently and that though they spoke about Benyiwa-Doe during the said discussions, he did not remember what exactly they discussed about her.

The Commander claimed the NPP had threatened to burn the region and he dared them to go ahead. He also said it was untrue that he had taken sides. Smith Danquah denied that the NPP had planned to burn the region. He said the party was not happy with the apparent bias of the Commander and that they planned to stage a demonstration against him if he continued to be selective with regard to the cases he handled.