I Was Not Impressed with MILLS- Sefa Kayi

By Daily Guide - Daily Guide

Kwami Sefa Kayi

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KWAME SEFA Kayi, host of Accra-based Peace FM's morning programme 'Kokrokoo', has stated that he was not impressed with the answers President Atta Mills provided to questions posed to him by journalists during his encounter with them on Thursday.

Sefa Kayi explained that he was particularly not content with the answer President Mills gave in connection with the Muntaka saga.

He said had it not been that President Mills was speaking in the comfort of the seat of government, and that he was hosting him on radio, he would have pushed him further to be more concise with some of the answers.

He made these comments on Friday when he granted an interview to Kessben FM, a Kumasi-based radio station.

The presenter cum actor disclosed that he nearly shunned the programme when at the entrance of the Osu Castle some boys refused him entry with the excuse that he was late for the function.

Sefa Kayi noted that although he explained that his inability to arrive at the scheduled 10:00 am was not deliberate but due to the fact that he finished his show at that same time, the guys were not ready to budge.

He pointed out that Malik Kweku Baako; the editor-in-chief of the New Crusading Guide, whom he arrived at the entrance with, could not stand the impudence of the guys and therefore left.

The host of arguably the best morning show in the country revealed that had it not been for the timely intervention of one Baffoe Bonnie, an aide at the Vice President's office, he too would have left.

On Thursday, President Mills met some editors and senior reporters at the Castle Gardens of the Osu Castle to interact with them as part of activities marking his one year anniversary as president of the country.

During the encounter which was telecast live on GTV and other media networks, President Mills answered various questions posed by journalist who attended the function.

Among the questions asked was one on the issue of the toppled Minister of Youth Sports, Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, who was shown the exit after a catalogue of allegations were made against him by his Chief Director, Anthony Ampong, and Principal Accountant, Adim Odoom.

The charges included the allegation that the Asawase NDC MP used his ministry's imprest to buy khebab and pampers, and also take his girlfriend to Cote d'Ivoire and Germany at the expense of the ministry.

Responding to the question, President Mills mapped up a strong defence for Hon. Muntaka, saying the Asawase MP was not the first minister to have traveled abroad with a girlfriend.

“Are we saying that this is the first time ministers of state have traveled abroad with their girlfriends? Is this the first time ministers of state have infringed on the law, have spent state money on themselves”, President Mills roared.

Bizarrely, President Mills went on to shower tons of praise on the deposed minister for his courage to take the path of resignation after his act of indiscretion was investigated by the National Security apparatus.

Contending that the act committed by Hon. Muntaka did not amount to corruption but rather indiscretion, President Mills said those who made the allegation of corruption could not substantiate their claims.

The tax law professor then stated that Hon. Muntaka deserves commendation from the populace instead of condemnation because he was bold enough to give up his position in the heat of the saga.

From Morgan Owusu, Kumasi

Source: Daily Guide - Daily Guide

Muntaka ‘Girlfriend’ Revealed

Just as the ripples of his momentous time in the court of public opinion are beginning to fade, former Minister of Youth and Sports, Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, has bounced back with what cynics describe as a belated defence. Although he admitted that his discretion to travel with his girl friend was flawed, he stated that the action was not criminal in nature, challenging “those who are without sin to cast the first stone”. Latest revelations showed that Alhaji Muntaka, when he was minister, traveled with his entourage, members of which were Charles James Aryeh of the Sports Council, Kofi Bartholomew Kukubor and Ms Edith Zinayela, through the VVIP lounge at the airport, and collected per diem approved for them by the Chief of Staff, J.H.M. Newman. A correspondence dated 14th May 2009 and signed by J.H.M. Newman, Chief of Staff, gave approval for the minister and a three-man entourage to travel to Germany with the payment of $2,615.23 as per diem for three of the ‘officials’. However, Daily Guide’s checks revealed that apart from Charles Aryeh and the former Minister, the two other members of the team including the alleged girlfriend had nothing to do with the Sports Ministry and yet per diem approved by the Office of the President was collected for them.The Sports Ministry also paid for their visa application when they were not staff of the ministry. Also, the VVIP facility at the airport was made accessible to them and the advantage of those using it is that they would not be subjected to bodily search as obtaining in the other exit points. Part of the correspondence requesting that the entourage pass through the VVIP point dated 14th May 2008, read: “The Ministry of Youth and Sports presents its compliments and wishes to inform you that Hon Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, Minister of this ministry and three other officials are scheduled to travel to Germany on Thursday 14th May 2009. We should accordingly be grateful if you could grant them permit to use the VVIP lounge at the Kotoka International Airport.” Allen Agbenatoe, Deputy Director (HRD), signed for Muntaka. However, speaking on a JoyFM morning programme yesterday, the former minister, who is also the MP for the Asawasi constituency in Kumasi, conceded that he breached the norm when he traveled with Edith Zinayela on the purse of the state. He however dismissed the notion that his trips with the lady were for fun, explaining that in both Germany and La Cote d’Ivoire where he was with the lady, they could not have had time for such engagements as being insinuated by some Ghanaians because the programmes were so planned as to make such things impossible.He appeared to have prickled the minds of many who began questioning what the import of the defence was when the radio programme ended. The MP took solace in what he said was an honourable exoneration by the National Security committee which probed the 17-point charges leveled against him. Had people taken an objective look at the report which followed the investigation, he noted, “Nobody in his right sense of mind (sic) would say I was covered up”. Alhaji Muntaka earned for himself notoriety and fame when a principal accountant at the Sports Ministry presented a 17-point charge against him to the Presidency. While some Ghanaians questioned the sincerity of the accountant’s action, others saw in it a veracity requiring immediate intervention by government.When eventually the President ordered the National Security apparatus to probe the allegations, many Ghanaians expressed apprehension over what the outcome of such an exercise would be.For such skeptics, the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service and not the National Security apparatus should be charged with such tasks. The President, John Evans Atta Mills’ slogan of not shielding even his ministers when they soil their image with corrupt practices, was no doubt put on trial. Eventually, the then minister was cleared of most of the charges but went away with the indictment of indiscretion. Some of the charges had it that he traveled with Edith Zinayela, a secretary who then worked in the office of the Majority Leader in Parliament, Alban Bagbin. Edith is said to be cooling off in the United Kingdom.Alhaji Muntaka was said to have traveled with the lady to both Cote d’Ivoire and Germany at the expense of the state, even though he denied that they had an intimate relationship. The litany of charges also had it that the MP taxed the ministry’s coffers for such expenses as the purchase of pampers and meat for his household among others.Alhaji Muntaka denied many of the charges, especially since documentary evidence could not be adduced to support the charges, Daily Guide gathered.The case, which raged on for a while, eventually saw the Chief Director of the Sports Ministry losing his job.The Chief Director could not understand the denial of the then minister that he did not collect an amount of $10,000 being landing expenses for the aircraft which conveyed the Ghanaian entourage to Abidjan. The resignation of the minister at the instance of the President attracted a rowdy reaction by some members of his constituents in Kumasi who destroyed billboards bearing the pictures of President Mills.He told his radio host when asked whether he intended contesting the next polls as an independent candidate that “regardless of the cannibalism in the party, we must build it and hold onto it; that is our party, the NDC party.” Alhaji Muntaka’s outbursts will obviously attract a mixed reaction from the political spectrum. source:D-Guide