I’m not a political prostitute - Malam Issa

A former Minister of Youth and Sports during the Kufour administration, Malam Ali Yusuf Issa, has said he is not a political prostitute, although he moved from the People’s National Convention (PNC) to join the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Mr. Issa served as a minister in the NPP government while he was still a card- bearing member of the PNC. In the year 2001, he was convicted for causing financial loss to the state after misplacing $46,000 of state funds.

After serving the jail term, he joined the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2008.

He told Chief Jerry Forson on Accra100.5FM’s breakfast show Ghana Yensom on Tuesday, July 19 that: “…In my case I was a card-bearing member of the PNC, I have never been a member of the NPP and I will never be a member of the NPP… My party, the PNC, lied about me …so, I decided to leave and joined the NDC, and, so, the question as to whether I am a political prostitute is neither here nor there.”

Touching on his relationship with former President Kufuor, he said: “Former President Kufuor is an excellent man everybody will like to tap from his experience. …I have a very good relationship with him, we have no scores to settle. He [Kufour] is willing to welcome me into his house. I don’t have a problem with JA Kufuor and that is a fact.”

He continued: “He [Mr. Kufour] brought me to the limelight, and, so, I have never been an ungrateful person and I will never be ungrateful [to him], he contributed in making Ghanaians know me and so Malam Issa has become a household name to many Ghanaians courtesy Mr. Kufuor, so I cannot bear grudges with him.”