I’m no NDC mole – Manhyia North MP

Member of Parliament for Manhyia North, Collins Owusu Amankwah, has firmly rejected speculation by some persons within his party, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) that his political allegiance lies with the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Some critics within the NPP suspect Mr Owusu Amankwah is a mole for the NDC.

The suspicion comes amidst bad blood between the lawmaker and his regional chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, a situation which led to the postponement of the NPP’s primary to elect a parliamentary candidate for the constituency for the 2016 poll.

The bad blood between the two party stalwarts got to a head on on May 1, 2016, during the Electoral Commission’s limited voter registration exercise, when Mr Antwi Boasiako, more commonly referred to as Chairman Wontumi, physically assaulted Mr Amankwah at a registration centre.

A complaint of assault was lodged with the police by the MP after the incident. Mr Boasiako, who subsequently turned himself in, was arrested by the Kumasi Police and hauled before court for the alleged act. But the complainant applied to withdraw the case.

The incident has led to some party members questioning the loyalty of the MP to the party.

But speaking on Accra100.5FM’s Ghana Yensom, on Monday May 16, 2016, Mr Amankwah refuted the allegation against him. He told host Chief Jerry Forson: “…As parliamentary primaries approach, most people have reckoned that what they can use to get me out is to tag me [as NDC] and soil my name. How can I, Chief, be regarded as a mole in the NPP?”

“Whoever said that should know that the reward for spreading such information is right here on earth. …So, I was no mole when I was a polling station chairman. When I was ward chairman at Krofrom, I was no mole. Was I a mole when I was Constituency Youth Organiser? When I was playing an active role in national politics, I was no mole? And even at the students’ front with TESCON and others, I was no mole? When I was a representative at the campaign office, particularly in 2008, for communicators, I was no mole. But when I am a Member of Parliament and there is going to be an election, the election that has been postponed on end, then I am a mole?

To him, such allegations were hurtful given his record with the NPP. “You can ask the NDC government whether they have given me even a cedi or whether the government offers me contracts when it is dishing them out. I do not want to say much, but it is painful. I was hurt when I heard the allegation,” an unhappy Amankwah said on the programme.

He said it was equally painful to hear some leading figures of the NPP say the assault on him by Chairman Wontumi was mild.

The MP stated that notwithstanding the distractions, he was committed to doing his bit to ensure an NPP win in the 2016 election so its flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is sworn in as president.