The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Builsa North, Vida Anaab, has come under pressure as some members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Builsa North Constituency are calling on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to fire her.
The aggrieved-looking NPP members also want the party’s Chairman in the constituency, Albert Atuga, and its Secretary, James Ananoanning, removed from their executive positions. The three persons have been accused of embezzling some Gh¢16, 200 meant for the party’s campaign activities for the 2020 general elections in the area.
The money was supposed to be shared among 81 polling stations in the constituency, according to the NPP members.
“The Municipal Chief Executive is not supposed to be there. The MCE, the Secretary and the Chairman came together and chopped the money. The woman, you see her like that, she is not a woman who deserves to sit on that chair. If the President, Nana Akuffo Addo, is listening to me, I’m saying that he should remove her or else NPP will never win here.
“If it is left with that woman alone, she is a cheater. She likes money. Already she cannot walk. Her mind is old. She hasn’t got any sense. Sitting alone is a problem. Should such a person be an MCE? We are saying that she should come down or else the NPP will not get any vote here,” Angelina Abayom, a senior nurse, told the press.
The aggrieved NPP members, who are polling stations executives led by Adaambik Malik, had filed a petition to the party’s national executive body through the constituency and the regional executives.
Speaking exclusively to Word News in the Builsa North Constituency, Malik Adaambik said he was arrested by police for petitioning the constituency executives after the MCE reported him to the security agency. He said the MCE’s call for his arrest only showed that she was in support of the actions of the Chairman and the Secretary.
“If you are a good leader and you know that they embezzled Victory 2020 money and you hear of this, if you are a good leader, what will say to them? Why are you helping them? If you don’t want the party to die here why are you helping them? That is my question. You have to be neutral. If something is good, say it. If it’s wrong, say it. She is a mother, but if my mother does something wrong, I will say it because you are my mother. If I hide the truth, God will punish me.
“I want her to let us unite the party but with what she is doing, she is dividing the party and if I wanted to destroy the party, I will not follow the laid-down rules of the party by writing a petition. I would have reported the matter to the police but instead of you following the same process you went to the police for them to arrest me and it’s all over Builsa North that the MCE has arrested the Coordinator and the Assemblyman. You yourself know that it is true that they gave this money to use for the campaign,” he bemoaned.
However, the Constituency Chairman has denied the allegations levelled against the constituency executives.
“I have heard and I have been given a copy, myself the Constituency Secretary Hon James Ananoaning about a petition given to us by one Malik who claims to be the leader of this group alleging that we have spent money meant for polling stations executives. The truth is that two or three days to elections we were called to Tamale by our party and monies were given for some particular officers within the parties or groups which include polling stations agents, monies meant for cooking that was supposed to go the women organiser and monies for the final day. Now some monies were also given to the Parliamentary Candidate. The three of us were called to Tamale: Parliamentary candidate, Constituency Secretary and Chairman. So, the monies were handed over to us.
“Among those monies, part was meant for the victory 2020 coordinators in the region and every constituency. Persons we call Victory 2020 Coordinators were appointed by the Constituency Campaign Team, chaired by the Parliamentary Candidate. So, when we went to Tamale, they gave us this money so my Parliamentary Candidate took his part of the money Gh¢75000 and gave all the other monies meant for electoral coordinators they were supposed to take Gh¢300.00 and monies meant for feeding and other monies meant for other activities to the Constituency Secretary to keep it for the Treasurer for onward distribution,” he said.
He added that their duty was only to disburse the money and that they did not have any hand in the Victory 2020 monies.
When Word News contacted the MCE for her side of the story, she declined to respond to the allegations directed at her, saying it was a family issue.
Source: mywordfmonline.com/ Gaspard Ayuureneeya.