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General News of Wednesday, 28 November 2007

Source: Ghanaian Observer

NPP Aspirant's Man Bolts With His ¢200m

As campaign teams of aspirants of the New Patriotic Party cross swords and engage in blame games, accusing and counter-accusing one another, information reaching Ghanaian Observer(GO) has established that a social commentator and former member of the Alan Kyerematen communications team has bolted with the aspirant`s cash meant to further enhance his media publicity.

According to an insider, shortly before the launch of the Alan campaign at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, a committee was set up by the campaign team to make contacts with very good reporters, editors and publishers on the media landscape, particularly those seen as friendly or not too committed to particular aspirants and working for the right leaning, pro-NPP papers. The original idea, according to GO insider sources, was to have invited those top editors and media men to a dinner at which they would be courted. Somehow, that idea did not materialise, leaving the Alan team with the option of getting a trusted aide to get in touch with the selected media personnel and establishments.

Thus, sources close to an interim communications team that had been handling the former Trade Minister`s media relations gimmicks before the launch of the Alan Campaign Machine told GO that a budget of ¢200m was provisionally approved and actually `handed cash and dry to some media man` close to Alan. `The clout of the rogue social commentator as a vociferous, hard media man` put him ahead of the others as the one to depend on to carry out the assignment of contacting all Editors of both the print and electronic media in Accra.

His responsibility included talking them into supporting the Alan Campaign Machine by way of running in his favour highly-professional promotional stories. Names of editors and reporters given to GO have been withheld; but GO insider sources said, it was when Alan began suffering media headaches and repeatedly had to apologise on behalf of campaign aides who had made unpalatable statements against other aspirants, and which in turn put the media`s searchlight on Alan, that it came to light that `something was wrong somewhere.`

When the social commentator was contacted, he repeatedly kept denying any wrongdoing, assuring the committee that he had made all the necessary contacts. It was when the full force of the constant probing began hitting him hard that the truth eventually came out. But not before the social commentator had made a beeline to a hideout, leaving frenzied campaign aides, aspirant and other members of the committee on media relations bewildered, confused and desperate.

It was the umpteenth time Alan had to overhaul his media relations team; and it was also the reason behind the launch of a paper, The New Vision, that would cater solely for his media interests, without risking any further loss of precious funds to unfaithful members in his campaign team, GO learnt. The social commentator`s cellular phone has since refused to ring, as his whereabouts remained a riddle at the time this paper went to bed. No report, GO learnt, had been made to the police at the time this story was filed. The last time the social commentator was seen by this reporter, he was hopping out of one of the elevators at the Ministry of Trade.