Appiah-Menka & NPP Gurus Owe Merchant Bank – Alfred Ogbamey

Managing Editor of the Gye Nyame Concord, Alfred Ogbamey, has revealed that leading members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) including Akenten Appiah-Menka have not paid back loans they borrowed from Merchant Bank.

Ogbamey indicated that NPP gurus form part of about 81 percent of defaulters of the bank and thus it was unjustified for the party to hound an individual over non-payment of a genuine loan facility when in fact its members are equally liable for the same offense.

He was commenting on the proposed sale of Merchant Bank on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme last Tuesday.

The NPP has accused Ibrahim Mahama, the younger brother of President John Dramani Mahama of contributing to the collapse of Merchant Bank.

According to the party, the bank has written off a GH¢57 million loan facility to Engineers and Planners (E&P), a mining company owned by the President’s brother, declaring it as a bad debt-an accusation Merchant Bank has vehemently denied.

But Alfred Ogbamey said the NPP is flip-flopping and churning out a lot of inconsistencies on the issue.

He noted that NPP apparatchiks like Appiah-Menka and others were among the 81 per cent debtors of Merchant Bank, therefore they must not make it seem as if Mr. Ibrahim Mahama’s 19 per cent loan collapsed the bank.

The Gye Nyame Concord editor added that to ensure equity and fairness, the NPP must be interested in the 81 per cent defaulters which include its party men and not only Ibrahim because he is the President’s brother.

Alfred Ogbamey stated emphatically that Merchant Bank had not been sold as it was being purported by the NPP.

He indicated that President John Mahama halted the planned sale of the 75 per cent shares of the Bank to First-Rand of South Africa, following what he said was a petition presented to government by Fidelity Bank.

Alfred Ogbamey urged the NPP not to let the pursuit of political power surpass its enviable record as a credible party.

The NPP Youth Organizer, last Tuesday, descended heavily on one of its leading members and former Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro, Dr. Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe, over his statements regarding the Ibrahim Mahama-Merchant Bank loan saga.

National Youth Organiser, Anthony Karbo, told Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe on air to stay off if he was not ready to put his shoulders to the wheel in the party’s quest to recapture power.

Dr. Tamakloe, the tough-talking NPP chieftain had taken issues with some members of his party in their attempt to play politics with a loan procured by E&P, a company owned by the brother of President Mahama, Ibrahim Mahama.

In the heat of the debate, Dr. Tamakloe described those behind the press statement that was read by Deputy Communications Director of the NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, as foolish and stupid, saying their action amounts to a ‘pull him down’ syndrome.

But at a second press conference in Accra last Tuesday, Mr. Karbo who is the convenor of a forum dubbed ‘The People Must Know’, said: “If Dr Nyaho Tamakloe says that we are stupid, we are foolish; okay, this is the party he belongs to, so he is also proudly part of it.”

Media reports said Mr. Karbo was not surprised Dr. Tamakloe’s tantrums on Asempa FM when he called into the live programme since, according to the NPP youth organiser, the former diplomat was related to the President’s brother.

Dr. Tamakloe is said to be a brother of Ibrahim’s late mother, Joyce Tamakloe. Apart from that he was considered as somebody who was detached from the general happenings in the NPP.

Much as he respected his opinion, the NPP youth organiser stressed the need for Dr. Tamakloe to come to terms with the fact that the NPP as a party was bigger than him and for which reason “he cannot superimpose himself on this party”.

Karbo asked rhetorically, “Who will not defend his relative if he buys a plane?” He said, “I will defend anybody in my family who buys a plane because it’s very far from here to my hometown so one can engage in that way.”

He served noticed, “We in the party are not going to allow anybody who has his own interest or has his own personal affiliation with anybody to delay force.”

He firmly stressed the firm belief “the few days left are going to be very very engaging”; therefore “anybody who is going to be a distraction for us on our way; we will please ask you to step aside and allow us to prosecute our victory agenda”.