Emmanuel Kwesi Dawood
The Central Regional DOVVSU Commander, Supt George Appiah, has confirmed that the police are looking for NDC Regional Communications Director, Emmanuel Kwesi Dawood, for allegedly having sexual intercourse with his biological daughter.
The NDC has also moved a step forward by suspending Kwesi Dawood from his position pending the investigation.
Initially, Dawood said the woman (Mavis Ayite), who is ‘pushing’ the girl (victim) to make the allegation, was a TESCON member at the University of Education Winneba (UEW), and that it was an NPP agenda to discredit him.
Later on Adom FM, the same Kwesi Dawood said that it was his own NDC party elements who were behind the agenda he had accused the NPP of instigating, and said the NDC elements were doing that because the party’s internal election was drawing closer.
Official Confirmation
Supt Appiah, confirming the alleged incident said, “The victim has said the father had sexual intercourse with her. The case has been reported so we are investigating it.”
“We have seen the victim. We can say she is somehow sick but it is not so bad. She can walk, she can talk. It is obvious she is traumatised,” he said on Adom FM yesterday.
The DOVVSU boss added that “when we get the suspect we shall provisionally charge him with incest, defilement and assault. The investigation will show all these things so we are moving step by step.”
NDC Suspension
In the ensuing heat, the NDC Regional Secretary, Kojo Quansah, confirmed yesterday that Kwesi Dawood has been suspended by the opposition party.
“When we look at the position Kwesi Dawood is holding as Regional Communications Officer, and for him to be embroiled in such a case, we obviously, are sad,” he said.
“In party politics, all the executives are one body so anyone of us who is involved in a criminal case automatically will have negative effect on the whole party. It is Kwesi Dawood who is being alleged to have been involved in incest but technically, his conduct is affecting all of us.”
Mr. Quansah said “we haven’t told him to go and have sex with his daughter but once it is alleged to have happened we shall use Article 48 of our party’s constitution to take drastic decision against Kwesi Dawood.”
“It has worried all of us, especially the administrator of the region. How can I stand somewhere and say that we do not know anything about what Kwesi Dawood has done?” he queried, adding “we heard it as an allegation and the victim has spoken, the mother of the girl has spoken and the police who are investigating the case have also spoken, so we cannot do any cover-up.”
“We want to put on record that Kwesi Dawood has been suspended as Regional Communications Director of the NDC. As a major political party, we do not condone such things. Even if our leader is found to have breached the law, we can take action against him.”
Emerging Issues
Kwesi Dawood hit the headlines when a woman who claims he impregnated her and abandoned her, alleged that the NDC man has been sleeping with the teenage daughter they have together.
According to the lady, Kwesi Dawood has allegedly been having sexual intercourse with his biological daughter since 2019 when the victim was 15 years, and in the course of the beastly act, the girl became pregnant.
He then allegedly got his friend to administer an injection to terminate the pregnancy last year, and according to the victim, she bled for more than two weeks.
The girl has claimed that Kwesi Dawood beat her up when he got to know she had informed her mother about the father’s incestuous act, an incident that ended at the Swedru Divisional Police Command.
Dawood Responds
Dawood confirmed on Adom FM yesterday that he knows the woman (Mavis), saying “I know Mavis Ayite. She is from Agona Swedru. We were in the same church. She was in the Girls’ Brigade and I was in the Boys’ Brigade.”
The NDC man said “she is not my wife. She has never been my girlfriend. Unfortunately, somewhere in 2003 we were involved in fornication. It was a one off thing and that was all. Later they came back that she was pregnant. It was not even up to one month after the fornication. As a responsible man I said I had accepted it.”
He said “my family was actively involved in helping her till the time she delivered. We gave her a lot of things,” and when asked why the woman would make such claims against him, Kwesi Dawood said “you have never met somebody who has decided to frustrate you in life. She lied that I never took care of the baby.”
“I was going to visit her one day when I saw one boy I thought during my Boys’ Brigade days called Charles Malik Pobee who is now a Prison Officer, who has come to the lady’s house saying the same child was for him. I was suspended in church over the pregnancy.”
He said “this lady told me that the child did not belong to me. She even poured water on me and sacked me from the house.”
Getting Child Back
Asked how the girl came to stay in his house, Kwesi Dawood said “In 2010, there was serious flooding in Swedru and after the destruction I moved to a new place, and Mavis’ father, now deceased, appealed to me to look after the girl who was growing up. He told me Mavis is not looking after the child and that it was the grandmother who was looking after the child.
“If she was my child why is she not bearing my name Emmanuel Dawood Mensah? She is not my child!”
He said “from 2011, looking after the child became my full responsibility. I have so many kids I am looking after. Some belong to me, others are adopted. This girl is not my child!”
Political Motive
Kwesi Dawood said “why didn’t they say all these things and wait when we have an internal election which they know I’ll be contesting? They are doing that to destroy my reputation. When it is time for internal elections, these things happen and so I am not surprised.”
“The lady is NPP TESCON at UEW so they are using her to destroy Dawood. She has been contracted to do it,” after which the same Kwesi Dawood said NDC internal elections are getting closer and he was aware some NDC elements are using the lady to destroy him ahead of the contest.
“Mavis Ayite is not my wife and has never been my girlfriend. The girl is not my biological child. I am ready to submit to any paternity test anywhere. There is no occasion that I have slept with the child. I am not a dog!”
Attacking Victim
He then made serious allegation including describing the teenager as a nymphomaniac.
He said “my neighbours told me the girl has become a deviant. She could invite boys from Accra to all have sex with her at the same time. Everybody in my area is aware of these things. She has been sleeping with many guys. People have been complaining to me about her lifestyle.
Kwesi Dawood admitted that “the girl started staying in my house in Swedru somewhere in 2017/2018. She was here until August this year. She was staying with me as one of the children I have been looking after and she is not my biological daughter.”
Kwesi Dawood accused Mavis of giving conflicting information to the police, and said he was ever ready for paternity test, which the woman also said she would like to do.
Kwesi Dawood also admitted that he was detained by the police over the incident, and said the lady was using NPP gurus to get him in trouble.
“Police invited me. I went to the Crime Officer’s office. The girl told the police he is Mr. Dawood and he is not my father. It was the mother who was coaching her to speak. They went out and called their NPP people and then one officer came in and said the Regional Commander has ordered that when I finish writing my statement they should detain me and not grant me bail,” he said.
“I was detained on Thursday and on Friday I was sent to court. The judge granted me bail and I was asked to reappear on September 24. On Wednesday, September 22, the prosecutor called me that the Regional Commander says they should re-arrest me and send me to court again.”
He also said he did not know a doctor called Atta Mensah but said “I know an Assemblyman called Atta Mensah. I didn’t send her to anyone to be injected. It is part of their fabrication.”
By Ernest Kofi Adu