Why Emma Mitchel might have quit, the Chronicle

After three years of humiliation, anxieties, fear of offending The Fist Lady and frequent upstaging by his Deputy, Mr. Dan Abodakpi, 'Pretty Emma' hit ground zero last fortnight and snapped after a bust-up with the Amazons of 31st December Women's Movement, the organisation that was formed by Mrs Rawlings following the coup of 31 December 1981. Mrs Mitchell quit The Service, the third Fanti Minister to redeem the terrible image of her tribe as cannon fodder for the (P)NDC within the last two years: *Forson - Attorney General *Botchwey - Finance Minister *Emma Mitchel - Trade Minister

Pieces of collated evidence and "digital monitoring" of Emma's ordeal point conclusively to one indisputable reason for her resignation - a scrap over $50,000.00 (fifty thousand dollars) paid by a foreign inspection company that was then seeking a consolidation of its stake in Ghana.

Emma's brief letter to the President unscrambled by Chronicle Intelligence did not assign specific reasons for her resignation.

The Information Minister, Mr.Totobi-Quakyi, who was among the first to get wind of the contents of the letter quickly wrote a three paragraph "story" and planted it in The Daily Graphic to pre-empt a possible press leakage and embarrassment as happened in the Kwesi Botchwey case.

Totobi-Quakyi has virtually taken over Mr. Ato Dadzie's functions at the Castle following the latter's serious motor accident in New Jersey last year. He is still undergoing treatment for his fractured backbones. Mr. R.B. Hesse has reportedly been shortlisted as the next Information Minister to take over from the scheming Quakyi. Emma, who has been enduring taunts in her hometown for her association with the NDC, had specific instructions to pay the funds to the DWM for "party financing".

Dutifully Mrs. Emma Mitchell paid the money to a top official of the movement which is the Women's Wing of the National Democratic Congress. A source very close to Miss Sherry Aryittey who is the Treasurer of the DWM and Managing Director of GIHOC distilleries says that her name was mentioned as the 'collector'.

One highly-placed party source confirmed that the First Lady wrote a note to Emma asking about the money and Emma replied that she had passed it on to them. To Emma's horror Sherry denies receiving 'any $50,000.00'. Even the intervention of Obed Asamoah could not resolve the cash matter as Emma was allegedly described as "A liar" by Aunt Sherry. She crossed her tolerance threshold, her carefully nurtured reputation on the line.

What made matters worse was that it got to the President. At around 1.30p.m.on December 28, the resumed sitting of the Cabinet following Arkaah's groin-busting, Flt.Lt. Rawlings railed at the corruption among his men and made snide remarks that implied that Emma was now in a position to finance her children in schools abroad. The case has become a sore spot for Emma and friends of her husband have indicated that she has been wet-eyed at this stain on her reputation. Most of the ministers are privy to the ding-dong battle that was being played around Emma.