Hannah Bissiw Raids Abongo

Deputy Minister Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr. Hannah Bissiw, has been accused of invading the office of her former boss, Albert Abongo, tampering with private and official confidential documents even before the former minister of state officially handed over to his successor, Alban Bagbin yesterday. Sources within the ministry, who described Dr. Bissiw as �very powerful� with tacit support from �above�, told Daily Guide that the deputy minister also engaged in profligate spending by replacing all the furniture in Mr. Abongo�s office with new ones, immediately after the President�s recent reshuffle removed him from office. The apparent raid by the �busy body� deputy minister, Daily Guide learnt, occurred when the former minister of state, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bongo, was in the Upper East Region mourning the death of a relative. Dr Bissiw was said to have sabotaged her boss, leading to his removal. Her conduct had been reported to the Chief of Staff and the National Security. Ministry sources said Mr. Abongo did not change the furniture inherited from his predecessor, Alhaji Abubakar-Sadique Boniface, because they were still new and that the only chair which was changed, was the former minister�s seat, as the wheel under it was broken. According to sources, the �indecent haste� with which Dr. Bissiw replaced the chairs with brand new ones, went against President Atta Mills� cost-cutting measures and strict financial prudence. The deputy minister, Daily Guide was further told, had replaced the chairs in her office soon after taking over from her predecessor, exhibiting what sources described as capitalist bourgeoisie lifestyle in a social democratic party. Some officials at the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, were not happy with the conduct of Dr Bissiw, as according to them, she should have waited for her former boss to officially hand over the office and its original contents to the new minister before moving in to virtually turn it upside down. Daily Guide learnt that Mr. Abongo had complained to the Chief of Staff and National Security in a letter titled: �Invasion of Minister�s Office�, taking strong exception to the conduct of the Cuban-trained veterinary doctor. Mr. Abongo was replaced in President Mills� maiden reshuffle, during which the constituents of the former minister at Bongo in the Upper East Region nearly took to the streets to protest the removal of their Member of Parliament from office. Police and chiefs in the area virtually went on their knees, begging for restraint. All efforts to get Dr. Bissiw to respond to the allegations hit a snag as she failed to return telephone calls and text messages. A gentleman who answered the deputy minister�s call told Daily Guide she was in a meeting and promised that she would return the call after 5:00pm. After patiently waiting for the response till 7:30pm, a text message was sent to Dr. Bissiw reminding her of the story, but unfortunately, she did not respond before press time.