Boateng Gyan betrays NDC

National Organiser of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Yaw Boateng Gyan, has eventually admitted that the party indeed owns the controversial US$20 million ultra-modern office complex at Adabraka in Accra.

?When we became national executives, we made our minds that by the time we leave office or by the end of our term of office or even when we decide not to contest anymore or we will not contest for any position, we would have gotten a place we could pride ourselves with that this is our party headquarters,? he said on Accra-based Asempa FM yesterday.

This was after several denials by the leadership of the party concerning the ownership of the building, although DAILY GUIDE has reported in several publications revealing that the edifice belongs to the ruling party.

When the issue about the building was first made public, the party?s Deputy National Organiser, Joshua Akamba, was among the first people to deny the story.

?The NDC has not acquired any new building, neither are we putting up any ultra-modern office building,? was his exact rebuttal on Adom FM?s ?Dwaso Nsem? programme in December 2011.

NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, aka General Mosquito, had earlier told delegates in Sunyani, the Brong-Ahafo Regional capital, that the party was building an ultra-modern headquarters in Accra which was nearing completion, even though he did not mention the exact location of the facility.

Apparently, the party is now preparing the ground to officially commission the building as earlier reported by the paper.

Confession

Yaw Boateng Gyan

During an interview on Asempa FM?s late afternoon political talk show programme hosted by Kojo Asare Baffour Acheampong, popularly called KABA, the National Organiser of the NDC, who is seeking re-election, touted the erection of the building as part of his achievements for which he needed to be retained. ?Today, as I talk to you, I am just coming from our new office; we will soon commission the building and when people come and see it, they will realise the work we have done,? he posited.

He justified the construction of the building saying they could not continue to rent office spaces for the NDC.

Aside that, he said they could not compare their office to those of their colleague political parties outside the country, claiming theirs looked like a hen coop.

When the host of the programme asked him why the NDC was now admitting ownership of the controversial building, in spite of a series of stories by DAILY GUIDE to that effect and the denials, Yaw Boateng Gyan was bold enough to throw back a rhetorical question: ?What has the building got to do with the paper,? retorting ?They? (referring to DAILY GUIDE) should go round and write about the building everybody is putting up.?

He continued, ??If somebody buys a building for us, what has that got to do with them??

New Twist

Instead, he said the building was purchased by some big men in the party for the NDC, but declined to disclose the identities of those he claimed purchased the building for the party, except to say some NDC members joined forces to purchase it.

According to him, those details would be made public when the building is being commissioned.

About four months ago, DAILY GUIDE reported that the NDC was on the verge of occupying the said building, whose construction had and continues to be a major source of controversy.

This was after the party had branded the ultra-modern office complex with NDC colours and slogan.

At the time, the party?s logo had been prominently displayed with inscriptions echoing the ?Better Ghana Agenda,? when DAILY GUIDE visited the area one Saturday.

The branding of the imposing twin-building therefore somehow put to rest the argument over the ownership of the property estimated to have cost some whopping $20 million.

The lull which followed the banter among a section of the media, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the ruling party?s propaganda machinery appears to have now given way to a fresh public scrutiny over the wealth of the NDC.

Initially, the impression was created as though the building had been put out for lease or was being rented out for the highest bidder, but our checks have established that it is actually going to be used as the head office of the ruling NDC which has Dr Kwabena Adjei, aka Wayoo Wayoo, and General Mosquito as chairman and general secretary respectively.

Facts On File

The building, which was constructed by a Chinese company, prompted questions from individuals and groups following speculations that it was owned by the NDC, ahead of the 2012 elections.
They subsequently and deliberately put leasing notices on the gates of the building to sway public attention because of the controversy surrounding it.
Though it was not clear for how much the plush edifice was being let out, an Accra-based legal practitioner and brother-in-law of the Ahwoi brothers, Kwaku Bram-Larbi, who is also a member of the NDC and is in-charge of the property, had earlier confirmed to DAILY GUIDE that the facility was being offered for lease at a price of $32 per square meter per month.
Mr Bram-Larbi was a member of the Sub-Committee on Legal Affairs of the NDC Transitional Team in 2009 when President Mills was elected.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu