Editor of The Al-Hajj newspaper, Alhaji Bature, has asserted that it is time Former President Jerry John Rawlings and his wife Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings boldly come out and state whether they back detained Director of Operations of FONKAR, Ernest Owusu Bempah, or they are for the presidency.
The newspaper editor avers that though the Rawlingses might publicly denounce Owusu Bempah, he believes the former First Family are secretly in support of his actions. He was reacting to claims by spokesperson of the Rawlingses, Kofi Adams that Mr Rawlings and his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings have distanced themselves from the allegation peddled against Mrs Naadu Mills.
The FONKAR operations director alleged on Oman FM that Mrs. Mills received US$5 million from the embattled businessman, Alfred Woyome, who is being tried in the infamous judgment debt saga. The First Lady has however denied the allegation.
He honored an invitation to the Bureau of National Investigations for the allegation but was transferred to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Headquarters for further interrogation and was later charged provisionally for publishing false information meant to cause fear and panic and was detained.
His whereabouts currently remains unknown.
Speaking in an interview on Radio Gold’s Newspaper Review, Alhaji Bature felt a fleeting comment by Mr Adams on the subject of Owusu Bempah’s allegations was not enough, stressing that it behoves on the former First Family to openly condemn the accusation outrightly and state if they really back President Mills instead of their mouthpiece doing so on their behalf.
“I think that it is about time the Rawlingses tell the whole world whether they want President Mills and the NDC to win the 2012 election or not. We don’t need Kofi Adams to tell us that he (Owusu Bempah) doesn’t have their blessings. Have they come out to tell us what they are doing; whether they are not in favour? Kofi Adams, you are an Executive Member and if somebody has said something about the President’s wife, have you condemned it? Is this the only thing you can say? Do you know the effect of that statement on the NDC? What he said wasn’t enough; he needed to condemn it… The NDC should demand that the Rawlingses state which side they belong,” Alhaji Bature said.
But in a sharp rebuttal on the same platform, Kofi Adams who also doubles as the Deputy General Secretary of the NDC said it is unnecessary to demand that the former first family issue a statement distancing themselves from that allegation.
Declining to have an on-air spat with Alhaji Bature, he rather stated “…Owusu Bempah can be a friend to Nana Konadu but he is an adult and speaks as an adult. We must allow him to substantiate and not put anything out there. When people speak, let us treat it like an individual speaking and not a group. Mrs. Rawlings is not somebody who is known for not speaking her mind. If she wants to say something, she can come out and say it herself. I think he should be asked to bring the evidence, however, to detain him overnight was uncalled for…even though I don’t believe in that kind of politics…”
But Alhaji Bature, who was clearly not satisfied with Kofi Adam’s response, shot back saying: “Kofi has clearly shown that he is an embarrassment to his office and the NDC. Where is his loyalty? Where does it belong to?…that today you can’t even condemn an allegation unless evidence is given. Even though they (Rawlingses) will not come out to condemn it publicly, they are in support of it secretly otherwise they would have come out to distance themselves from it. If I were you, I would have resigned today because you can’t defend your party or your President. This means Kofi Adams believes what the guy is saying…”