Opinions of Tuesday, 21 February 2017

Columnist: Ntimoah, Kwasi

Daniel Asiedu for Krachi East District Chief Executive?

By Kwasi Ntimoah, Kasoa, Accra
The people of Krachi East District would be shocked if the President of the Republic of Ghana His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo appoints Mr. Daniel Asiedu as the DCE.

Mr. Asiedu hails from Kadjebi District and was posted to Dambai to teach at the Lakeside Basic School. His lineage to Krachi East district only came up recently when he started lobbying for the DCE position by falsely claiming that his mother hails from Pai-Katanga. We want to challenge and expose Mr. Asiedu's false claims with the following that should serve as strict proof if he hails from Pai-Katanga:

He should tell us his family house and clan at Pai-Katanga
He should tell us how many times he has attended any social gatherings for instance funeral or any occasion which he contributed financially or otherwise to the people of Pai-Katanga since his childhood.

The fact of the matter is that Mr. Aseidu is not and cannot be someone from Pai-Katanga. This can easily be verified from the Chiefs, Elders, youths and the good people of Pai- Katanga.

In fact, Mr. Aseidua's senior brother is currently the NPP constituency secretary of Kadjebi and is also lobbying for the DCE position for that area. Clearly, Mr. Asiedu wants us to believe that he and his sibling (from the same parents and not half-brothers) hail from two different Districts. This a very clever and fraudulent way of trying make the DCE positions in the two districts a family affair!

During the 2016 General Election campaign, Mr. Asiedu did not play any active role as a party member to support the NPP campaign. Mr. Asiedu declared that he could not sacrifice his job at the expense of politics. Furthermore, he pointed out that politics cannot put food on his table. As if that was not enough, he was alleged to have said that the NPP could not win 2016 election so we should forget about it.

Our big question is WHO SHOULD WORK FOR THE PARTY TO COME TO POWER for Mr. Asiedu to come and enjoy the fruits of our labour?

The more serious issue that bothers on good governance is that Mr. Daniel Asiedu could not properly account for money that accrued from the use of the school toilet when he was the Head teacher at Dambai Lakeside Basic school.

The following are the audit findings against Mr. Daniel Asiedu:
Failed to keep Public Moneys as Required by Law
Are Suppressing Public Financial Records
Engaged in Misapplication of Public Moneys
Provided Receipts which are not Authentic
Statements provided and the underlying records are inconsistent
In spite of all the above false claims of hailing from Pai-Katanga and damaging audit findings that should immediately disqualify Mr. Daniel Asiedu as DCE for Krachi East, a destooled Chief of Pai-Katanga ( Diawuo Bediako II aka Atta Kwasi Akowuah) and some so-called close friends of the Vice President Dr. Alhaji Bawumia are strongly lobbying for Mr. Aseidu to become the DCE. Not only is Mr. Asiedu using people who claim they have connections with people in the corridors of power to lobby for him, he has also forced some NPP Constituency Executives to sign a letter addressed to the President to provide the appearance that everybody in the District wants him to be the DCE. This is an attempt by Mr. Aseidu and his cohorts to subvert the sovereign will of the people in the District.
Clearly, Mr. Aseidu becoming the DCE for the district would be tantamount to the NPP government endorsing him to perpetuate his corrupt practices in the District as exemplified by the audit findings when he was Head teacher of Dambai Lakeside Basic School.

Mr. President, we strongly support your vision of devolving power to the districts and that elections for DCEs will be held in 2018. Appointing an individual who is not an indigene of the district and has a questionable past (which your government is against) is a sure way to lose the District to the Opposition. We have worked so hard in the district for the party to win the only seat in parliament in the whole of the Volta Region for you to give the DCE in 2018 on a silver platter to the Opposition. We are confident that your officials are more than able to interrogate these issues to prevent Mr. Daniel Asiedu being made the DCE, and for an honest, patriotic and hard working citizen to be appointed as DCE for us.