False accusation is killing my mother – KT Hammond on Drill Ship sale
Former Deputy Minister of Energy and MP for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahir Hammond almost snapped, yielding under a weight of emotions as he appeared before the Judgement Debt Commission on Monday.
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The Commission was continuing its inquiry into the controversial sale of the drill ship belonging to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) by the government in 2001 to settle the corporation’s indebtedness.
After telling the Commission there was no underhand dealing in the controversial sale of the drill ship, and proceeding to deny claims he may have pocketed an amount of $3.5 million from the sale, he said he and his family had been unduly lambasted for alleged wrong doing.
KT Hammond, almost in tears and shaking restlessly at this point, said his mother was almost dying because he had been accused of stealing government money. Listen to KT Hammond.
Not even the advice of the sole Commissioner, Justice Yaw Apau, for KT Hammond and other politicians not to take issues in the media to heart since there are regular publications of untruths, was sufficient enough.
According to the judge, politicians should learn how to deal with criticism since in politics, sometimes the same group of people in whose interest a politician is acting turn round to insult him.
KT Hammond insisted it is unfair and should not continue, but Justice Apau counselled him and all others who go into politics to develop the space to accommodate some of the aberrations that come with politics, saying politics is not for the faint-hearted.
Justice Apau said it is because of those occasional attacks on politicians that forced him to quit politics, saying he could not stand it.
KT Hammond had earlier complained about publications in sections of the media, particularly The Herald and The Informer in which he said he had been accused of malfeasance in the drill ship sale. He also complained bitterly about how a Deputy Minister of Information, Felix Kwakye Ofosu had likened the whole drill ship sale to the sale of tomatoes in the open market for its alleged lack of due diligence.
Mr. Hammond said it was improper to describe the process in the manner the Deputy Minister put it.