Nii Lante Vanderpuye
Opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has revealed that Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye – the party’s Member of Parliament (MP) for Odododiodio – had refused to offer a public apology for saying that the NDC would set free Abuga Pele if the party won the 2020 elections.
Abuga Pele, who until the last parliament, was the MP for Chiana Paga in the Upper East Region, was sentenced to six years in jail last week alongside the Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill International Group, Philip Apkeena Assibit, who was given 12 years, for causing financial loss to the state in a $4 million scandal.
Mr. Asiedu Nketia, popularly called General Mosquito, said the obstinate posture by the MP compelled the party to issue a statement distancing itself from his comment, which has attracted the ire of a section of the public.
Unguarded Pledge
In the ensuing reactions to the court ruling, Nii Lante Vanderpuye, during the NDC’s Eastern Regional ‘unity walk’ featuring former President John Mahama last Saturday, told Citi FM that the NDC was working hard to win the general election in 2020, and would thereafter release Abuga Pele.
“It is unfortunate but I can only say that this will not dampen the spirit of the NDC. Between 2001 and 2004, they sentenced Tsatsu Tsikata, Dan Abodakpi, Ibrahim Adam and Kwame Peprah. It did not stop us from winning elections in 2008. We are going to win the elections and bring Abuga Pele out,” he had stated specifically.
JJ Reprimands
The comment attracted the angst of former President Jerry John Rawlings, founder of the NDC, who reprimanded some party elements for their unguarded utterance and said that that was going to make the party remain in opposition for a very long time, if not checked.
Reacting via social media platform – Twitter – to the MP’s comment, the former president had said that political power cannot be used to free the guilty.
“Stealing and corruption put no one above the law. Those who have committed crimes deserve to be punished,” he said, adding, “If the quest for political power is to release wrongdoers from prison, then the NDC is laying its own foundation to remain in opposition for a long time.
“Fortunately, this kind of talk belongs to a handful of people in the NDC leadership who have gained power and influence they do not deserve and the sooner they are packed off, the better for the NDC and this country.”
However, Mr. Asiedu Nketia, explaining the reason behind the party’s disclaimer to pro-NDC media network –Radio Gold – in Accra yesterday, said that he had personally telephoned Nii Lante Vanderpuye urging him to offer an apology for the comment, but the MP was adamant.
“He made claims about the party that are not correct so we came to set the records straight,” he said.
By William Yaw Owusu