GBC boss shy away from NPP

- And Dan Botwe urges him to resign

The change of government has brought to the fore many interesting political developments in relation to government appointees and officials who work in government parastatals.

These officials who are currently at post but were appointed by the previous New Patriotic Party government have suddenly changed their posture and attitude, to the surprise of many.

William Ampem Darko, Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, yesterday left many NPP supporters spell-bound when he could not declare that he was a bona fide member of the now opposition NPP.

Speaking on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo Morning Show, Mr. Darko said he could not disclose his political affiliation because of his position as the Director-General of the state-owned broadcasting corporation.

He had sought to justify why he ordered the suspension of the Breakfast Show, a newspaper review programme last Friday.

According to him, the two NPP panelists against one panelist from the ruling National Democratic Congress was unfair hence his directive to abruptly yank the programme off air that morning.

This explanation however did not go down well with Dan Botwe, former NPP General Secretary and now Member of Parliament for Okere. Mr Botwe is calling on the GBC boss to resign because as an NPP member, he (Ampem Darko) could not also claim to be fair to the current NDC government.

Mr. Botwe observed that the Director-General never acted the way he did when his party, the NPP, was in power and wondered whether he took the unfortunate decision to safeguard his appointment.

The MP for Okere said the abrupt termination of the programme was not the best and asked the Director-General to apologise to viewers and the nation as a whole.

He said the action of Mr. Ampem Darko was an embarrassment to the party. Nana Ohene Ntow, NPP General Secretary, who was equally worried about the incident, noted that the GBC boss had set a bad precedent and cautioned him to be careful with his actions.

He has done a great disservice to himself and he must be very careful, Nana Ntow warned.

William Ampem Darko has twice contested parliamentary primaries in the Kade constituency in the Eastern Region on the ticket of the NPP but lost both elections.

Meanwhile, many sympathisers of the opposition NPP have described the behaviour of the Director-General of the GBC ostensibly to please the NDC government as unfortunate.