Accused EOCO boss cleared to contest NDC primaries

The former director of the Economic and Organized Crimes Office (EOCO) Biadela Kwaku Mortey Akpadzi has been cleared to contest in the parliamentary primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ho West constituency.

Akpadzi is among 86 other aspirants who were given the nod by the party’s vetting committee to contest their various constituencies’ parliamentary primaries in the Volta region.

A petition was filed against the former EOCO boss by one Cudjoe Akpabey for allegedly embezzling state funds and still using official vehicles months after his retirement.

Akpabey has asked for the disqualification of Akpadzi from the parliamentary primaries as well as his arrest and prosecution.

However, Akpadzi denied the accusations, describing them as frivolous and baseless.

During the two-day vetting exercise in Ho, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, a national vice-chairman of the NDC, who also doubles as the chairman of the vetting committee, also told Starr News, most of the petitions against some aspirants, were dismissed by the committee for lack of merit.

“The committee received a number of petitions against some aspirants but after a careful consideration, we've dismissed most of them because they don't have basis to warrant the disqualification of any of the aspirants.”

Akpadzi, after going through the vetting, is optimistic of unseating the incumbent Ho West MP, Emmanuel Bedzrah, who is also the chairman of the Government Assurances Committee in parliament, come November 7.