Refund our money for failing to endorse Berekum West DCE nominee

A meeting by the newly-created Berekum West District Assembly in the Brong Ahafo Region to decide the fate of President Akufo-Addo's nominee as District Chief Executive ended inconclusively last Friday.

This is because the nominee, Mr Martin Obeng-Adjei did not get the required two-third majority to become the District Chief Executive (DCE).

Reports say the nominee obtained 12 votes which fell short of the 18 needed in the 27-member Assembly.

Matters arising out of the outcome of the election has generated heat in the area as there are reports that associates of the nominee are bent on retrieving the alleged GH¢2000 paid to each assembly member to influence them to confirm Mr Obeng-Adjei’s nomination.

Presiding Member

The Presiding Member of the assembly, Mr Yaw Ansu confirmed the story in a telephone interview with Graphic Online but denied receiving GH¢2,000 from the nominee.

According to him, on the day of the election, the nominee invited all the assemblymembers to a meeting at the Berekum College of Education during which he presented his vision for the newly-created district with its head at Jinijini.

Mr Ansu explained that after the meeting, colleagues of the nominee distributed envelopes with each one bearing the name of an assembly member to them.

According to him, when they inquired about the purpose of the envelope, it was explained that the envelop contained money meant for T & T to the venue of the election at Jinijini.

“I did not open the envelope to know about its content but handed it over to a colleague and headed to the venue where the election was held”, he stated.

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Night visit

Mr Ansu, who is also the Senior Housemaster of the Jinijini Senior High School, explained that he was awakened at midnight on Saturday, a day after the voting exercise that he had visitors and when he came out he met 12 people led by Mr Isaac Adjei, who is the Assemblymember of Jinijini Atanotia and one Ahmed Bella, who is the Nasara Co-ordinator of the Berekum West New Patriotic Party (NPP).

He said the midnight visitors told him that the result of the election had brought shame to President Akufo-Addo, who made the nomination and the entire Berekum West District.

Mr Ansu said, Mr Bella who questioned him added that as a result of outcome of the election, they had been asked to collect the amount of GH¢2,000 paid to each assembly member and sent it to where it came from.

He said he called the nominee at that moment and asked him if he knew about the matter to which he responded in the negative.

Mr Ansu said even though the boys went back, they came during the day on Sunday to demand the said amount paid to him and his colleague assemblymembers.

He said they told him that even though they do not have the consent of the nominee, some of the assembly members had decided to collect the money because of the outcome of the exercise.

“When I called the nominee to call his boys to order, he said even though he had not authourised them, he would be happy to get the money back because he would be doomed if he does not get the money and paid back to where he collected if from”.

Checks from colleagues

Mr Ansu said his checks with other assemblymembers indicated that some of the envelopes distributed to them contained GH¢200 while others contained GH¢100 and not the GH¢2000.00 as was being alleged.

“For me I gave the envelope to a colleague assembly member and I do not know how much was contained in it as of now”, he stated.

Graphic Online's attempt to speak to Mr Obeng-Adjei for his side of the story was not successful since even though someone answered his telephone, the person said he was seeing some friends off while his cellphone had been left behind for it to be charged.

Way forward

Asked about the way forward, Mr Ansu said he intended reporting the matter to the police since he was not sure about what might happen to him the next time the “boys” visited him at his residence at the Jinijini Senior High School.