of leaving him in the lurch

Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, Minister of Foreign Affairs, has criticized the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) for not going to his aid when he encountered accusations of corruption from the opposition New Patriotic Party during his recent Parliamentary vetting before becoming minister.

The Minister, who sounded very bitter as he made his grievance known during a retreat of Ministers and Deputy Ministers at GIMPA in Accra on Saturday, said he expected his party to have intervened in the matter.

He said he considered himself a captive in the diabolic scheme of the NPP. "I was all alone and had to fight them all by myself," he said at the retreat, which some believe was not the right platform to address party issues.

The Minority side of the Vetting Committee in Parliament maintained during his vetting that Alhaji Mumuni had corruption charges to answer, citing alleged misapplication of funds in an audit report relating to the operations of the NVTI when he was Minister of Employment and Social Welfare in the previous NDC administration.

Alhaji Mumuni maintained his innocence and indicated that there was no such audit report in existence. He also explained that no such report had ever been sent to Parliament.

Consequently, the Minority side boycotted his vetting and objected to him becoming a Minister, but Alhaji Mumuni sailed through with a majority vote.

What may have broken Alhaji Mumuni’s heart, according to him was the fact that some of the leading members of the NDC secretly supported the action by the NPP.

The Minister poured out his feelings, saying that although he was not indicting his party, he expected the NDC to have come to his rescue during the tough times.

President Mills, responding, told the retreat that he, together with other leading members, met Alhaji Mumuni to discuss the issue for solutions.

Although he did not hold brief for the party, he said he felt that he and the other members of government who met the Minister were also members of the party who have found themselves in government, and therefore Alhaji Mumuni could have considered it as an intervention by the party.

Responding also to a call by Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Communication on the need for the government to carry out its promises especially those which they said would be done in the first l00 days, such as the Freedom of Information Bill, President Mills gave the assurance that “we will do all things possible to fulfill the promises."