Allotey Jacobs: Everything wikileaks revealed is so true

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Category: Politics

Created on Wednesday, 07 September 2011 00:00

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Allotey Jacobs: Everything wikileaks revealed is so true

In spite of calls on Ghanaians to not place premium on information from whistle-blowers, wikileaks, Mr Allotey Jacobs, Central Regional Communications Director of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), believes everything contained in the leaked US diplomatic cables is fact and can be relied on as a basis to judge the nation's leaders.

Many aspects of the information as revealed by the cables, he said, are visibly manifest for any open minded person to observe.

The cables, amongst other things, report Insight newspaper Manager, Kwesi Pratt as telling US Embassy officials that flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo Addo smoked marijuana.

They also quote Trade Minister Hanna Tetteh as suggesting that the Speaker of Parliament was given her position because the government saw her as malleable and susceptible to party discipline.

She, according to the revelations, also said the NDC National Chairman, Dr Kwabena Adjei is immature.

New Crusading Guide Editor-In-Chief, Malik Kweku Baako has cautioned too much premium should not be put on the reports since they were simply a rehashing of statements and claims and opinions of other people.

While contributing to discussions on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo Wednesday, Mr Allotey Jacobs however maintained it would be illogical for anyone to suggest there is no truth in the report, asking whether the the American Embassy has anything to gain from concocting stories about Ghanaian officials.

Wikileaks, according to him, has revealed a lot about corruption, especially in relation to the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration and also about the credibility of it’s flagbearer.

Allotey Jacobs said the cables would help Ghanaians make their choice concerning the presidency in future and added that it was time for the citizenry to ask themselves whether or not their future president would use drugs.

He stressed that the cable was mainly important to the cause of the country since it gives insight into “what happens behind the scenes,” saying, nothing under the sun can be hidden.

Touching on what Hannah Tetteh is alleged to have said, Mr Jacobs said he had no doubts the cables reflected the truth because happenings in Parliament - where the speaker is not allowed to sit on controversial issues - testified to it.

He maintained that as far as he was concerned, everything reported by wikileaks is the truth but maintained that it was incumbent on the citizenry to decipher the information.

However Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, editor-in-chief of the New Crusading Guide - irritated by what he termed as Allotey’s poverty of analysis - warned that overrating the wikileaks report could pose a danger for the nation.

Source:From Dorcas Efe Mensah/myjoyonline.com/Ghana

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31st Bans Konadu• From Central Region

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Category: Politics

Created on Tuesday, 06 September 2011 00:00

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31st Bans Konadu• From Central Region

THE FOUNDER and leader of the 31st December Movement, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, has been asked not to set foot in the Central Region as part of her intention of thanking those who voted for her in the NDC congress to elect a flag-bearer.

According to 14 out of 19 organisers of 31st December Women’s Movement in the region, Nana Konadu, through her tour, had been inciting the youth against the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) which they claimed was not healthy and bred indiscipline among the youths.

“What did the youth benefit from her when she and her husband were ruling the country?” they asked.

The organizers made the statements in a release issued to some selected media houses in Cape Coast on Monday to express their displeasure about the behaviour of Nana Konadu.

According to the organizers, they did not need any thanks from her since they were aware of the insults she kept on hauling on Fantes, adding that they were fed up with her insults and would not compromise any longer.

The organizers bemoaned the situation where Nana Konadu was still maintaining her Friends of Nana Agyeman Konadu Rawlings (FONKAR) and other groups after the congress, creating disunity in the party.

They disclosed that after congress in 2000, Nana Konadu called for the disbanding of all sprinter groups like the Veranda Boys and Girls, Friends of Atta Mills among others, wondering why she could not adhere to the party leadership’s ban on splinter groups.

“Our concern is the message she is giving to her followers and the general public such as Ghana is a very, very, expensive to live in Africa, things are getting very expensive in the country under the Mills administration among others,” they said.

The organisers wondered which party Nana Konadu was representing that she had appointed one Derick as her campaign manager.

They alleged that although Nana Konadu was preaching unity, her actions would breed disunity in the party if she was not checked.

The organisation revealed that the utterances of Nana Konadu would not only damage President Atta Mills but the country at large.

They hinted that they had a constitution that governed the operations of the movement and therefore called for immediate elections in the movement since the zonal organizers and national president had overstayed their various offices.

From Sarah Owusu-Darlington, Cape Coast

Source: Daily Guide/Ghana

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Ben Ephson benefitted from NPP largesse – Karbo

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Category: Politics

Created on Tuesday, 06 September 2011 00:00

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Ben Ephson benefitted from NPP largesse – Karbo

The National Youth Organiser of the opposition New Patriotic Party, Anthony Karbo says claims by the Editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper, Ben Ephson that he did not receive money from the New Patriotic Party to alter results of a poll he conducted ahead of the 2008 elections to favour the party are false.

{sidebar id=10 align=right}Leaked US diplomatic cables by wikileaks indicate that Mr. Ephson was approached by the then ruling NPP to skew his poll results in favour of the party.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Monday, Mr. Ephson admitted to the wikileaks report that the NPP had offered him 20,000 dollars to conduct an opinion poll and skew it in its favour with the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko said to be the one who proposed the amount to influence his work. Mr. Asare-Darko has however denied making the offer.

But Speaking on Multi TV’s current affairs show, pm: EXPRESS via phone, the NPP’s National Youth Organizer revealed that Mr. Ephson did indeed receive monies from some members of the NPP.

“I had knowledge about the fact that some monies had gone to Mr. Ben Ephson in connection with these issues and indeed he’s stated clearly in the wikileaks [if you look at the document that I have before me], he in fact told the Embassy that an attempt was made to him but he declined receiving the money but my information is that he in fact received money to that effect”.

According to Mr. Karbo, “I’m aware that many leading members of the NPP were approached by Ben Ephson in the run up to the 2007 primaries where he in fact demanded money to conduct polls for them and for me I’m surprised if he tells the Embassy that he did not receive any money from the NPP or functionaries of the NPP in the run up to that particular 2007 primaries... I think that he presented himself to the Embassy as though someone who is not corruptible or somebody who was offered money and he rejected which is totally false. I will challenge Ben Ephson on that any day, anytime, anywhere”.

Asked if officials of the NPP gave Ben Ephson money to conduct the polls, Mr. Karbo said “well I am saying that it is false if Ben Ephson tells the Embassy that members of the NPP attempted to give him money which he refused and that’s what I’m worried about because that’s absolute false.”

He maintained that Mr. Ephson contacted at least 4 or 5 of the 17 candidates who contested the NPP’s 2007 primaries for support to conduct polls for them.

Although he would not say how much money Mr. Ephson received from the NPP’s presidential aspirants at the time, Anthony Karbo noted that “I do know that Ben Ephson contacted Arthur Kennedy and it’s in the public domain. Arthur Kennedy hasn’t denied this matter and so I’m surprised that people are making it look like this is the first time Karbo is making these allegations.”

“But why would Ben Ephson go to the Embassy and say to the Embassy that he did not receive any cash from the NPP or he did not request money?” he asked. He added that “in fact, if you listen to what he said in the cable to the Embassy it created the impression that he was given money to do these things and he declined and I’m saying that he did not decline that”.

The NPP National Youth Organizer also noted that “this whole wikileaks issue is a can of worms and people must be very honest and truthful to the people of this country. You don’t go and say things to the Embassy and when you’re pushed to the corner, you say you were not offered any money or you were offered money which you refused”.

He dared Mr. Ephson to challenge the information he has put out “and I will state those facts”.

The Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko who was on the show, maintained his stance that the pollster approached him for financial assistance to finish working on his opinion poll.

“Ben Ephson is a friend, he approached me. I have a graphic memory of what happened” he told show host Nii Arday Clegg.

He recounted what happened on the day he met with the Daily Dispatch Editor.

“He went into his car [boot] brought out a box with questionnaires that had been filled, showed them to me and [said] that his people were still on the field and he’s stuck because he needs to complete this exercise. So the exercise, I knew nothing about the exercise being done. And this is a friend who is doing – as I saw it – his work and had difficulties and he at least knew that I could have some interest in it, because as you know, whichever way you look at it, nobody doubts my connection – with as it’s put there – my cousin Akufo-Addo, and from what he showed me clearly Akufo-Addo was doing well and he needed some support. We didn’t have any agreement” Gabby noted.

According to him, Mr. Ephson needed some 50 million old cedis to conduct his poll and even though he could not give him all the money, he managed to personally raise half of the amount for him.

“I’m sure he knew it [poll result] was favourable to my candidate and that’s why he approached me...and the thing is maybe not just me he approached, because at the end of the day he needed 50 million [old cedis]. I managed to give half of that so I’m sure he got the other half from somewhere else. But really, there was nothing pre-arranged and when he published the poll which had Akufo-Addo fourth, I never went back to him to say Ben Ephson why is Akufo-Addo at fourth or third” he explained.


Source: Nii Akrofi Smart-Abbey/ Multi TV

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Bishop Obinim: I wanted to die!

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Category: Religion

Created on Tuesday, 06 September 2011 00:00

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Bishop Obinim: I wanted to die!

The beleaguered Bishop Daniel Obinim of the International God’s Way Church has disclosed that he nearly committed suicide when news of his recent scandals broke.

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