With
the country's leaders implored to be decorous in their discussions and
conduct, many people would expect that Ghana's body politics will also be
devoid of any acrimony or revenge.
But this appears not to be so
on the air waves as outspoken Deputy Communications Director of the
National Democratic Party (NDP) has decided to go head to head with a
Deputy Minister for Information and Media Relations, Murtala Mohammed.
The
NDP Communicator, Ernest Owusu Bempah is disgruntled with recent
statements made by Hon. Murtala Mohammed regarding the party's 2012
Presidential candidate, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings.
Hon.
Murtala Mohammed, speaking in relation to some remarks which were made
by Nana Konadu pertaining to Ghana's economic situation labeled her as a
"confused" analyst and wondered where she obtained her facts from.
The
former First Lady, at a public forum, reportedly sought to find out the
rationale for an increment in the Valued Added Tax (VAT) from 15% to
17% by government. She asked why the government has increased other
taxes and was continuing with expanding the tax net.
She argued
that economies around the globe hardly run on taxes because taxes have
the potential to kill the private sector and further affect investments,
particularly for developing countries for which Ghana is not an
exception.
She therefore proposed that there should be reduction
in the taxes imposed on goods and services in the country in order to
attract private investments and also enhance the employment rate in the
nation.
But responding to the analysis made by Nana Konadu, the Deputy Information Minister claimed on Adom News, a couple of days ago, that Nana Konadu displayed her ignorance and is confused about the tax system.
“I
don’t know whether she was talking economics, architecture, psychology
or physiology. I really couldn’t get her. I didn’t understand, and I
believe your listeners themselves were confused if they listened to her
that we use the taxes to balance the economy,” Murtala asserted.
The comments seem to have riled the NDP Deputy Communicator, who in a sharp riposte on Oman FM’s “National Agenda” programme, berated Hon. Murtala as an incompetent government official.
He
accused Murtala Mohammed of having a very serious "criminal” past,
claiming he (Murtala) was once "arrested in Nigeria for Visa fraud" and
dared him to prove his innocence.
“…it took the intervention of one of the Nigerian’s leaders to bail Hon. Murtala out,” he added.
He rejected appeals to retract his allegation and held strongly that his claims are backed by substantial evidence.
“He
was a criminal. He was arrested. He was perpetrating Visa Fraud in
Nigeria. The ambassador there then bailed him out,” he stridently
claimed.
A charged Owusu Bempah further warned the Deputy
Information Minister not to dare attack the integrity of Mrs. Rawlings
so as not to risk any exposure of the skeletons in his closet.
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