Abeiku Santana
Popular radio presenter, Abeiku Aggrey Santana, a known supporter of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has been appointed ambassador for National COVID-19 Trust Fund by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
The COVID-19 Trust Fund, which was inaugurated last year by President Akufo-Addo with former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo as the head of the trustees of the fund, has been receiving contributions and donations from the public to assist in the welfare of the needy and the vulnerable in the wake of the pandemic.
According to an appointment letter in circulation, Abeiku with the Despite Media Group, is to use his influence to raise funds to support government’s efforts towards fighting the pandemic.
The board, which is an independent body established by an Act of Parliament, (Act 1013), is made up of prominent persons such as Archbishop Justice Ofei Akrofi, Mr. Jude Kofi Bucknor, Mrs. Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, Mrs. Elsie Addo-Awadzie, Dr. Ernest Ofori-Sarpong, Dr. Tanko and Mr. Collins Asare.
Abeiku Santana’s appointment has come as a ‘shock’ to many NPP followers who are claiming they have been working for the party for others who opposed the NPP coming to power, to enjoy on their sweat.
A group calling itself the Alliance For Footsoldiers Advocacy (AFFA) within the NPP has since demanded for the termination of Abeiku’s appointment on the grounds that “if the board is apolitical as has been bandied about, then what is the legitimate basis of Abeiku Santana, a known NDC member’s appointment?”
Also, the group didn’t agree that the man who attempted the NDC primaries for the Mfantseman Constituency for the 2016 elections, shares in the vision of the Nana Akufo-Addo-led government.
This is because “Abeiku Santana’s ideologies and public pronouncements in recent times are in sharp contrast with the visions and policies of this government.”
The statement which was signed by Sir Obama Pokuase, a vociferous NPP member on social media who said he is the Executive Secretary of AFFA insisted that “while we acknowledge the urgent need for the government to tap into the competence and experience of knowledgeable people in the Creative Arts sector, to complement its efforts in combating the deadly pandemic, it is equally important for the appointing authority to be wary of dubious and selfish characters gallivanting the corridors of power.”
The statement said that “during the early stages in the outbreak of COVID-19 in Ghana, Abeiku Santana’s party, the NDC, formed a parallel COVID-19 Technical Response Team which specialised in destructive criticisms instead of partnering the government to solve the problem. That obnoxious team, unprecedented in the history of Ghana’s multiparty democracy since 1992, had the full support and blessing of the now appointed Ambassador for the COVID-19 National Trust Fund.”
“AFFA is by this release calling on the Board of Trustees of Ghana’s COVID-19 National Trust Fund to withdraw the ambassadorial appointment of Abeiku Santana as soon as possible or have itself to blame in the coming days,” they fired.
Abeiku Santana has not yet commented on the emerging issue, neither has he even said he was taking up the appointment in the first place.