By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

A report published in the Chronicle newspaper appears to have vindicated the claim by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin-Central, Mr. Kennedy Agyepong that, in the heated lead-up to the 2012 general election, he had presented some motorbikes to some leading operatives of the party for the express purpose of facilitating the smooth-running of their camapign. According to the Chronicle report, an unspecified number of the motorbikes, allegedly donated by Mr. Agyepong, have been found in the private possession of Mr. Bryan Acheampong, described as a special aide to Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, the National Chairman of the main opposition New Patriotic Party ( See "Kennedy Agyapong's Motorbikes Found" Chronicle 2/5/14).

As difficult as it is to believe that one of his own aides may have criminally betrayed the trust of the NPP National Chairman, nevertheless, knowing what we have come to know about the precipitous plummeting of moral integrity and honesty in the Ghana of today, in general, it is quite possible that Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey is being wholly candid to the high heavens, as it were, when he asserts that he had absolutely no knowledge of any such motorbike delivery to the operatives at the NPP's national headquarters in Accra.

This, however, does not in any way exonerate the NPP National Chairman from full responsibility of this glaringly apparent massive failure of his leadership. Needless to say, prior to the widely publicized press conference at which he vehemently denied Mr. Agyepong's allegation, Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey ought to have conducted a thorough investigation of the matter. With the latest discovery of the alleged motorbikes in the private possession of his special aide, the NPP National Chairman's credibility appears to have been seriously damaged. I am, of course, not ruling out a set up of some sort.

Now, what the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NPP needs to do is launch a high-powered enquiry into whether, indeed, Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey was telling the Ghanaian public the unalloyed truth, when he vehemently and categorically denied any knowledge or awareness of the aforesaid motorbikes. If it turns out that the NPP National Chairman has not levelled up with the very people who entrusted him with their political fortunes and destiny, then, of course, the most honorable and dignified thing for him to do, right now, is to promptly tender his resignation, together with an unqualified apology to both Mr. Agyepong and party supporters and sympathizers.

The question of whether Mr. Agyepong is a major party financier or not, as categorically stated by Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey at his press conference, is one that will be taken up in a separate column in the near future. What is significant, presently, is for the NPP-NEC to promptly get to the bottom of the matter. Mr. Acheampong, the special aide to the NPP National Chairman, clearly risks criminal prosecution; for not only does he apparently stand guilty of betraying the trust of his superior(s), Mr. Acheampong also stands guilty of grand larceny, that is, assuming that the decision to hide and/or divert the motorbikes into his private possession and residence had been taken without either the authorization of any of his superiors or their knowledge, or both.

How this case gets resolved is almost certain to be quite intriguing. And that is pointedly understating matters.

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*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Department of English
Nassau Community College of SUNY
Garden City, New York
Feb. 5, 2014
E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net
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