PC Ofori Must Go

A number of supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Kumasi have mounted pressure on the leadership of the country�s biggest opposition party to sack its Member of Parliament (MP) for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, Hon P.C Ofori Appiah. The supporters insisted that the MP must be sacked, because he has amply demonstrated that he is not a dyed-in-the-wool NPP member who has the welfare of the party at heart. According to the concerned supporters, the continuous existence of the astute accountant as a core member of the Danquah-Busia tradition has disastrous consequences as his presence does more harm than good. The supporters, who mounted pressure on the party�s leadership to axe the self-acclaimed anti-corruption campaigner in separate interviews, collectively noted that it was better for the NPP to lose Hon Appiah Ofori�s seat than to maintain him.Communally, the incensed supporters emphasised that they do not fathom why the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa MP should still maintain his status as the party�s MP when indeed his unwarranted attacks on the party are common knowledge. They indicated that they would be utterly disappointed in the party�s leadership, should they fail to take the bull by the horn and fire Hon Appiah Ofori from the party. �I get irritated when people describe Hon Appiah Ofori as an NPP MP, because if he truly is, he wouldn�t be launching series of calculated but unfounded blistering attacks on the party,� an angry NPP supporter, Kwaku Boateng, told the D-Guide . Meanwhile, Amakye Boateng, a Political Science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has renewed his call on the NPP hierarchy to as matter of urgency sack the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa legislator.The former Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) lecturer charged the NPP headship to get rid off Hon Appiah Ofori when the latter petitioned President Mills, upon his assumption of office to probe the sale of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone. He explained that it is about time the NPP leadership sacked the Hon MP who one-time publicly accused his wife of infecting him with gonorrhea, because his actions defeats the quest of the party to recapture back power in the 2012 elections. According to the lecturer, Hon Appiah Ofori is hiding behind the cover of campaigning against corruption to settle personal scores with some people in the party, by coming out with wild allegations against the party.He stressed that the Central regional law maker instantly lost his credibility as an anti-corruption campaigner when he voted for Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni as the country�s Foreign Affairs Minister. Mr. Boateng contended that no credible anti-corruption campaigner would endorse the candidature of a person who has a damning allegation of corruption hanging around his neck as a Foreign Minister. At the beginning of the week, Hon Appiah Ofori dropped a bombshell in a publication in the Enquirer newspaper that NPP MP�s, excluding his good self, were paid a $5,000 bribe each to endorse the purchase agreement of Ghana Telecom and Britain�s Vodafone early 2008. The image-denting allegation which generated public furore infuriated NPP MP�s who quickly instructed former MP for Berekum, Hon Capt. Nkrabea Effah Dartey, to institute legal action against Hon Appiah Ofori. Knowing very well that he could not substantiate the allegation, the law maker after the publication vamoosed from the country to ostensibly avoid the wrath of his colleagues and the party�s general support base. In spite of his surprise absence from the country, the leadership of the party took interest in the matter and referred the Hon MP to the party�s disciplinary committee to consider his actions and prefer appropriate sanctions against him. Hon Appiah Ofori, over the years, has become a thorn in the flesh of the largest opposition party as his actions, both in parliament and outside, has been against the fortunes of the party here presents.