Fred Kakraba Sam
The parliamentary ambition of Fred Kakraba Sam — one of the contenders in the parliamentary primaries of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Takoradi Constituency of the Western Region — is hanging in the balance.
This follows a petition against the aspirant by one Bernard Bartels-Boham, a Ghanaian domiciled in the United States of America, which was subsequently submitted to the committee that vetted the parliamentary aspirants of the party in the Takoradi Constituency in the Western Region on Monday.
In the petition dated February 25, 2020, copied to the Western Regional Chairman and the constituency chairman of the NPP, Mr. Bartels-Boham accused Fred Kakraba Sam of alleged fraud.
He said he decided to petition the vetting committee because what he was accusing the candidate of bordered on fraud which was an affront to the qualities required of a person who aspires to be a Member of Parliament.
“Mr. Kakraba Sam has defrauded me by unlawfully and illegal using my credit card in Maryland, USA,” Mr. Bartels-Boham claimed in the petition.
According to him, he once accommodated Mr. Kakraba Sam as a ‘friend’ and a ‘brother’ in the US.
He claimed that while staying with him, Mr. Kakraba Sam managed to know how to use his (Boham) credit card and used it for some transactions to the tune of $3,900 in Maryland, USA, without his consent, adding in the petition that “Kakraba Sam had early on used my address to shop online with stolen credit cards and the items were delivered at my address until I got to know and warned him.”
“Little did I know that my own credit card has also been compromised to the tune of $3900,” he added.
Ghana Police Report
He said later the aspirant returned to Ghana, knowing very well that he (Bartels-Boham) was going to press fraud charges against him in the US, adding “I also came to Ghana and reported the case at the Kwesimintim Police Station because I reside at Airport Ridge and I gave my statement in November 2018 and pursued the case.”
He stated in the petition that Mr. Kakraba Sam admitted to the charges and negotiated for the terms of payment and paid $1,000 to the CID to be given to him (Bartels-Boham).
“But later Fred Kakraba Sam told me he has political powers behind him and that his party is in power. He also told the police the case was out of their jurisdiction and that I can only press charges against him in the United States,” he claimed.
According to the petitioner, he returned to the USA and whilst there, Mr. Kakraba Sam paid another $1,000 to his younger brother in Ghana, bringing the total amount paid by Kakraba Sam to $2,000 and a balance of $1,900 to be paid which he said the aspirant had failed to pay.
“So I have taken keen interest to report this case to the reputable vetting committee and humbly pray the committee to take a special interest in this and disqualify Frederick Kakraba Sam from contesting the primaries,” he said in his petition.