The office of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo flag-bearer of the New Patriotic Party has described as “fabrication, baked in the dilapidated propaganda oven of the True Statesman”, reports making rounds that he (Nana Addo) and the NPP have received some monies and cars from the president of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, to fund its campaign.

In a strong worded statement signed by Nana Addo’s press secretary, Herbert Krapa, the office of the NPP standard bearer stated “no such meeting has been held between Nana Akufo-Addo and President Alassane Ouattara’s Chief of Staff and Nana Akufo-Addo has not sought any assistance whatsoever from President Ouattara”.

The statement is in reaction to a story published in the True Statesman on Tuesday, October 16, 2012, captioned NPP Turns to Quattara for Cash and Campaign Vehicles. The newspaper claims to have picked some intelligence on a meeting between the NPP flagbearer and high ranking officials in the Alassane Ouattara government.

Read Full Statement Below

The attention of Nana Akufo-Addo’s office has been drawn to yet another irresponsible and reckless piece of journalism by one of the “NDC rented press”, ‘The True Statesman’, known for its gutter journalism, alleging that “the NPP has turned to Quattara for cash and campaign vehicles.”

The paper also alleges that “Nana Addo and his team were in Ivory Coast last month where a series of meetings were held with the Ivorian Chief of Staff.”

They add that their so called “investigations has uncovered details of a meeting between Quattara’s Chief of Staff and Nana Akufo-Addo where an amount of CFA 2million was donated to the NPP campaign.”

The entire story is a baseless fabrication, baked in the dilapidated propaganda oven of the True Statesman. We wish to place on record that no such meeting has been held between Nana Akufo-Addo and President Alassane Ouattara’s Chief of Staff and Nana Akufo-Addo has not sought any assistance whatsoever from President Ouattara. Indeed, the last time Nana Akufo-Addo went to the Ivory Coast was in 2008, when he toured a number of African countries including Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and Ivory Coast, after being elected flagbearer of the NPP. He has since not been back there in Cote d’Ivoire.

It is common knowledge that last month, Nana Akufo-Addo was in the Eastern and Ashanti Regions with his ‘hope restoration tour’. The success of those tours must have elicited this sham of a story by the True Statesman.

It should not be difficult for the paper to make available to the Ghanaian public, the so called details that they claim to have on this alleged meeting. We dare them to do so or forever bow their heads in shame.

We are aware that between now and the elections of December, as the NDC continues to suffer in public opinion, desperate efforts are going to be made by their “rented press” to put out all manner of gibberish about Nana Akufo-Addo.

Nana Addo remains undistracted by the negative stories and propaganda that the “NDC rented press” continue to put out falsely about him. He will stop at nothing to take his good message of creating a society of opportunities, industrialisation, job creation, access to free quality senior high school education, quality healthcare delivery and a modernised agriculture, amongst many others, to the Ghanaian people, as he is currently doing in the Brong Ahafo Region, which has embraced wholeheartedly this message.

......signed......

Herbert Krapa

Press Secretary