Francis Duku-Boateng, GNA
Koforidua (E/R), Oct
20, GNA – Over 1000 people with disability have been defrauded by Rev. T.A Topper the II Foundation (RTATF), a
Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) based in Koforidua and led by Ms Matilda
Topper.
The Eastern Regional
branch of the Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD) has therefore
appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to help them to collect the
registration fees they paid to the NGO and their passport pictures in custody of
the NGO.
According to Mr Daniel
Agyekum, the Eastern Regional Chairman of GSPD, RTATF promised to provide wheel
chairs, food stuffs, money, clothes and free vocational training to people with
disability in the region if they register with the organization.
Many people with
disability from different parts of the region numbering over 1,000 registered
with the NGO and paid a registration fee of GH¢ 10.00 each with two passport
size pictures at the cost of GH¢ 5.00.
The chairman said
people who registered with the NGO were also made to buy a customized T-Shirt
of RTATF at a cost of GH¢ 20.00.
Mr Agyekum said he
mobilized over 1000 members of his organization to register with the NGO in
addition to people from other disable organizations in the Eastern Region.
He said Ms Topper
urged all those who registered with her NGO to meet at Jackson Park at
Koforidua on September 27 this year to collect their parcels.
Mr Agyekun said on the
given date, many people with disabilities came to Jackson Park and waited in
the rain for their parcels but Ms Topper failed to honour her promise.
The Chairman said the
people with disability who were at the Jackson park want a refund of their
registration fees and passport pictures.
A victim of the fraud,
Mr Kwame Kusi who spoke with Ghana News Agency (GNA) said, he borrowed GH¢ 50.00
from a friend to travel from Akim Oda to Koforidua hoping to receive something
from the NGO and said he now has to go on the road to beg for money to repay
his debt and threaten to curse Ms Topper for taking advantage of them.
Reacting to the
demands of the persons with disabilities Ms Topper told the GNA that, she had a good package for the new
members of her organization which include a vocational training for their
children with monthly allowance and wheel chairs but their rude action on the
meeting day made her not to present the parcels that she promised them.
Ms Topper said she
spent the registration fees to rent a hotel for about six people who arrived in
Koforidua a day before the scheduled date of the meeting, renting of canopies
and a bus for float and therefore had no money to pay back to the persons with
disability who she regards as new members of her organization.
She said she was on
her way to Atwia mountains in Ashanti Region for a one week fasting and prayers
for divine ideas on how to re-organized the program to give her support to the
people with disabilities in the region.
When the issue was
reported to the Koforidua Central Police Station, the Police claimed that they
could not identify any crime in the relations between Ms Topper and the persons
with disability.
GNA