<<Print>>

Self-acclaimed financier of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central in the Central Region, Kennedy Ohene Agyepong, has openly admitted that he was made rich under Kufuor regime with questionable and juicy government contracts. �Although I was a good businessman, I did good business under president Kufuor. Those times, whenever I get to the office they know me as president�s boy so the little that I wanted lawfully, they gave it to me�, he told host of the Adom FM�s Dwaso Nsem show, Captain Smart, last Friday. But despite his open and public apology to ex-President Kufuor, The Herald has landed dirty files, ostensibly from the Kufuor government on multimillion dollar state contracts dished to the NPP MP. Some of the contracts were in blatant disregard for state procurement laws. Some of the document mentioned the Agriculture Development Bank (ADB). Mr. Agyepong told his interviewer; �I respect him, because he did a lot for me. Yesterday when I said I won�t go to his house, I felt bad when I publicly stated it, although that was how I thought. I think that when I come back, I will go to his house. If a man saves your life, you are indebted to him for the rest of your life. I don�t know what I said that made him sack me from his house. But today, I have slept over it, wept and I think that as I speak to you I won�t weep like that. So when I come back, I will go back to his house and say that I am sorry for saying that I won�t go to house. But as for the sack, indeed he sacked me, he is a very good man,� he said. The Herald in that publication revealed how some insiders of the party close to ex-President Kufuor, felt peeved about Mr. Agyepong�s recent outburst, claiming that he was once driven out from ex-President Kufuor�s residence, because of his decision not to support his(Kufour�s) choice of candidate, John Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanteng as the NPP�s flagbearer. The insiders, questioned why the lawmaker would descend so low to spew lies about Mr. Kufuor, when in fact during his presidency, he Mr. Agyepong was made a billionaire, because of a deliberate decision by the president�s lieutenants, to award to him juicy contracts to enhance his businesses. Following that expose�, the ex-president through his spokesperson in far away United States of America (USA) issued a statement debunking Mr. Agyepong�s claims and cautioned him to refrain from statements that has the tendency to disunite the NPP. But in a follow up interview with Adom FM�s Dwaso Nsem recently, the MP admitted haven benefitted exceptionally from President Kufuor�s government, pointing out that at the time, he was tagged as the �President�s boy� and so he was given anything he wanted as a business mogul. According to the MP, although before Mr. Kufuor�s presidency, he was doing well as a businessman, he acknowledged that he was raised up higher during Mr. Kufuor�s tenure, because his businesses flourished immensely owing to the many luscious contracts he got. The rather sober sounding MP although admitted that the way and manner he spoke about ex-President Kufuor on that fateful day on radio was inappropriate, he still stood on his grounds that the former leader indeed sacked him from his Airport West residence. Mr. Agyepong, however, revealed that he feels indebted to him for what he did for him at the time. Mr. Agyepong, last week touched the painful part of Mr. Kufuor by claiming that the ex-president drove him out of his Airport West private residence for choosing to support Nana Akufo-Addo, instead of Alan Kyeremanteng as NPP presidential candidate for the 2008 Presidential elections. But ex-President Kufuor�s inner circles countered by revealing that the Assin Central MP, was rather made a billionaire by the ex-NPP regime, as he was drawn closer to the presidency and offered juicy government contracts, especially at the Energy Ministry rooted through his wife, Stella Agyepong, mostly without competitive tender. Some of his companies were mentioned as Mina D�oro Ventures, Super Care Limited and Messrs Imperial World Business Limited. They made millions of US dollars from the National Electrification Scheme (NES), project under the Kufuor regime. Frank Agyekum, Special Aide to former President Kufuor, has also in a statement issued from New York and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Wednesday, suggested that Mr. Agyepong had lied about his relationship with the ex-President, and described his claims as �reckless�. Mr. Kufuor, also in the statement dared the ex-Energy Minister, Kofi Adda to reveal the real reason why he was sacked from the Energy Ministry. Impeccable sources in the office of the ex-President told The Herald how Mr. Agyepong was paid millions of United States Dollars as �finder�s fee� for the Chinese funded US$622 million Bui Hydroelectric construction by Sinohydro Company. Some officials in the office of the ex-President described Mr. Agyepong as �an ungrateful person� and challenged him to mention the names of the companies with the thousands of employees he has been boasting about. To the best knowledge of the ex-president�s office, apart from Oman FM and Net2 television, Mr. Agyepong is solely into procurement and supply of items, mainly from China. The statement issued and signed in New York by Mr. Frank Agyekum, said that �it is emphatic that no such discussion took place between him and Mr. Agyapong and, therefore, the said incident could not have happened. �Mr. Adjepong�s assertion can just not be true,� said the statement. With regards to Dr. Adda, Mr. Kufuor said, the reasons for which he lost his post are well known to him (Mr. Adda) and had nothing to do with his support for Mr. Kyeremanteng or any other candidate, adding that Dr. Adda must state his position. The statement appealed to members of the NPP to refrain from making reckless statements that have no foundation in truth and would only serve to tear members apart. �Members must do things that will help consolidate the party�s front and woo outsiders into its fold, instead of doing things that create disunity and confusion. �If we are able to do this now, we stand in a good position to win the future. �Members must at all times be minded of the core values of the party that has been its distinctive feature and helped to sustain it for the past 60 years, even as we strengthen our structures to wrestle power in 2016, and not do things that will dissipate our energies,� it said.