Komla Dumor & Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings
Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, has maintained her claim that she offered “financial” assistance to the late broadcast journalist, Komla Dumor, to get university education; despite a denial by the latter’s family.
“It is not my intention to bring Komla Dumor into disrepute but just setting records straight by bringing out a fact. Komla Dumor reached out to me at a particular time in his life and I helped him where I could. This is a fact,” Mrs Agyeman-Rawlings told Kobby Asmah of the Daily Graphic.
The former first lady had told Starr FM a couple of weeks ago that when Komla Dumor was a student at the university, he sought some “financial” assistance from her to enter the University of Ghana.
“I had a personal relationship with Komla Dumor. His mother’s brother, the late Tony Gbeho, was my husband’s best friend, so once he (Komla) reached out to me, I was obliged to help him,” Mrs Agyeman-Rawlings disclosed.
Her claim has, however, been debunked and challenged in a statement issued by the Dumor family and signed by Korshie Dumor.
The statement explained that the when Komla Domor was studying at the university, students were not required to pay tuition fees and moreover the Dumor family has what it takes to cater for his education, therefore, he did not even apply for the famous SSNNIT students’ loan.
“By the time student fees were introduced, Komla had already graduated from the University of Ghana. He was, therefore, never in a position to be required to pay fees to begin with.
“…. In June 2003, Komla graduated from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government in Boston after receiving a full scholarship from The Joint Japan World Bank Graduate Scholarship Programme. He finished as the Class Valedictorian.
It is clear that Komla required no additional financial assistance from any individual and should any need have arisen, he would have had the support of his parents to refer to. In that regard, it is interesting to note again that Komla did not emerge from a vacuum,” the statement explained.
Mrs Rawlings, however, insists she has no reason to put out a false information about the late broadcast journalist and that her claim is true.
“Through my role as first lady, president of the 31st December Women’s Movement and a mother, I have come into contact with countless number of persons from different backgrounds who have reached out to me. What do I gain my imputing falsehood to such a matter?” she added
Dead men do not talk and it is, therefore, impossible to get information from the supposed beneficiary to verify or deny either of the claims.