Tema West constituency supports MP's calls for forensic audit into TMA

Members of the Tema West constituency branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has supported the call by the Member of Parliament for the area for a forensic audit into the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) to unearth massive corruption since the last assembly members left office in 2001.

A statement issued after a meeting on Saturday and signed by Mr Henry Osei-Owusu, constituency secretary said, "we support the call by Mr Abraham Ossei-Aidoo and urge the government to send a team of forensic auditors to examine the accounts of the TMA to uncover corruption and the award of contracts to assembly members." It observed with disbelief the recent attacks and previous attempts by "some people hiding behind the TMA to put our MP in bad light."

According to the statement, the members were aware of meetings that were held at the office and residence of the Presiding Member, Nii Abotsi III, to draw strategies to make the MP unpopular.

The statement said the Presiding Member was on record for having said that the MP had collected allowances due him before and that even if he had stopped collecting them, it did not mean that he would not collect them eventually.

We want to state that our MP has not mis-conducted himself and challenge the Presiding Member to publish any allowance he (MP) had collected illegally with the attendance book of the assembly members.

The statement explained, "We want to inform the Presiding Member and people of his like that our MP does not personally enjoy his legitimate allowances and those from Boards on which he serves, but rather used them to cater for the numerous children whose education he takes care of."

It said NPP members saw these actions as calculated attempts by the hierarchy of the TMA to tarnish the image of the MP, discredit him and ultimately make him to lose favour with the electorate.

"We deem it our duty to place on record the immense contributions the MP has so far made towards the development of the constituency, especially empowering the poor and the youth and therefore pledge our unflinching support for these efforts.