Paul Afoko Bribe Case

Mr. Paul Afoko, a New Patriotic Party (NPP) activist and member of the campaign team of Mr. Alan Kyerematen, who was nearly manhandled on Friday at the party’s congress grounds on suspicion of distributing monies to delegates to induce them to vote for his man, said he later reported himself to the police.

Speaking on Joy 99.7 FM, an Accra-based radio station, he said after he was accused of criminality and saved by the skin of his teeth by military personnel, he had no option than to hand himself over to the police to look into the matter.

The confusion at the forecourt of the Great Hall at the University of Ghana erupted when the National Organizer, Mr. Lord Commey, alleged that some of the men of Mr. Kyerematen, including Afoko, were neck-deep in vote-buying, a development that nearly wrecked the congress.

Soon after that allegation, dozens of supporters of other aspirants charged on Paul Afoko. In fact, a woman was said to have hit him in the face, while others heckled him.

But he denied the claims of Commey and explained that he came to the venue in his capacity as a delegate, adding that all he had on him was five Euros.

According to Afoko, he later reported himself to the police at the main entrance of the congress grounds so they could investigate the allegations levelled against him.

And in an ensuing pandemonium, voting had to be interrupted from 7.58 pm to 9.07 pm. A TV3 cameraman was also beaten up by some policemen.

Indeed, so charged was the atmosphere that some delegates accused the national chairman, Peter Mac-Manu, of losing control of the congress. They also fumed that the party reneged on its earlier promise to allow all 10 regions to cast their ballots at the same time.

It took Mr. Mac-Manu a marathon consultation with aspirants to bring the situation under control.

He described the national organizer’s allegation as unfortunate, and assured that the matter would be investigated.

But Lord Commey said he never regretted the action he took on the matter and stated that he would repeat it if another circumstance warranted it.

Allegations of vote buying started making the rounds on Friday afternoon, when a journalist alleged that a former minister was distributing money to delegates to buy their conscience. Later the same day, the allegation was shifted to Afoko, but none of the two instances could be proven.

Afoko, a delegate, was placed under police protection for a while, but the sad thing was that when he was later released, he could not cast his vote because his time had elapsed. Other delegates also booed at him as he left the hall.

Both the police and party are separately investigating the matter.