I've Been On Suspension For 8years�Kofi Adams� Scenario Is D�j� vu - Josiah Aryeh

After years of political hibernation - and occasionally popping up to comment on issues of national concern - following his suspension from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over a $3,000 bribery scandal, Dr. Nii Armah Josiah Aryeh, one-time General-Secretary of the ruling party has resurfaced, saying he is still on suspension; eight years after the decision by the National Executive Committee (NEC) to ex-communicate him. According to him, he never resigned from the party as bandied about by sections of the media and was speculated some years back by members of the party hierarchy. Speaking in an interview with Peace FM's Kwami Sefa-Kayi on the "Kokrokoo" Morning Show, he revealed that he was simply asked to go on suspension but that has been 8-years now and he has still not been communicated to. Dr Aryeh said he still considers himself a member of the NDC despite the fact that he was suspended since he never resigned from the party. Josiah Aryeh, it would be recalled, hit the headlines in November 2004, over speculations that he had compromised his position by collecting $3,000 from the then ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the run-up to the December 7, 2004 general elections, after he had reportedly complained of financial problems. He was recorded on tape complaining that he had not been paid for several months and that he was being starved financially. He also stated that he was even denied access to some cash donated to the party by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). He added that the last time he got money from the party was in April that year, when during the registration exercise he was given just �2 million, and unveiled a two-phased plan to resign from the party. According to the plot, he would not only resign quietly from the NDC, but also hold a press conference to tell the world his story, during which he promised to throw punches at his party. �There are two stages; the first stage depends on me, I can handle that. You know the Ghanaian mind is such that when you leave one political party and join another, people might not necessarily understand,� the tape revealed. He also lamented instances when he was sidelined by the party hierarchy and prevented from speaking at party rallies, to the extent that it took the intervention of the party's founder, Jerry John Rawlings to get him to speak at party functions. The NPP members who reportedly held the meetings with the learned lecturer to receive his resignation, and allegedly recorded him included Hon. Kwamena Bartels, former Minister for Private Sector Development; Mr. Steve Ntim, former Deputy NPP National Chairman; and one Paa Nii Owoo at East Legon. Even though he denied the allegations and claimed he was framed up, the functional executive of the party suspended him indefinitely. A committee was constituted then to investigate the circumstance but Dr Aryeh told Peace FM on Tuesday that he is yet to be furnished with the outcome of the committee's investigations. To him, current happenings within the ruling party including the suspension of Kofi Adams can best be described as "d�j� vu" and urged the NDC to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of allegations via recordings leveled against its members before taking action. ��here we go again; d�j� vu �in my case they didn�t even specify that the suspension was for a definite period but as it turned out the suspension was indefinite. No outcome to the enquiry and no conclusions have been drawn�I will simply say you can�t run institutions like this�technically I am still on suspension�it�s nearly eight years now and up till now, they have not concluded (investigations)�I did not resign from the NDC� when you do that what you create is a grievance culture. I worked for the party and nobody has paid me a pesewa�I worked freely for them and they can take it�if you do something wrong against somebody you have to come out and say if he has done it or he has not done it�I never resigned from the party as a General Secretary or as a party member�the then acting General Secretary will renew the suspension every three months and he was doing this mischievously�,� Josiah Aryeh said.