NPP fears Gbevlo Lartey – Omane Boamah

Lt. Col. Gbevlo Lartey, National Security Coordinator The Deputy Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Omane Boamah, says the NPP’s call for the exclusion of National Security Coordinator, Col. (retd) Larry Gbevlo Lartey from the NDC’s 2012 campaign team is borne out of fear. He said because the opposition New Patriotic Party wronged Gbevlo Lartey when they were in power, they sense that he is seeking vengeance on them. Col. Larry Gbevlo Lartey has been named as part of the ruling party’s campaign team for the next general elections in 2012. This has led to calls particularly from the NPP for him to either resign from his national position or be sacked by the president. NPP General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie (popularly known as Sir John) has argued that by his position, the National Security Coordinator has no business in meddling in the affairs of a political party, insisting that doing so would compromise his neutrality. But Dr Boamah thinks there is absolutely nothing wrong with Gbevlo Lartey being a member of the campaign team. Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme Tuesday, the deputy Science and Environment minister argued that the NPP is being hypocritical as far as this issue is concerned because there are instances in the past where even ministers have been included in such committees. He said in 2008, the then Interior Minister, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor was made a member of the campaign team for the NPP. Disagreeing on this example, Kwadaso MP Owusu Afriyie Akoto, a co-panelist on the programme, noted that Dr Addo-Kufuor was never a part of the NPP’s campaign team during the 2008 elections. He maintained that Gbevlo Lartey’s involvement with the ruling party at that level would result in a conflict of interest. He added that the “sooner (the government) came out to admit that they made a mistake and correct it, the better for the governance of this country”. By: Dorcas Efe Mensah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana