The Agona West NPP Chairman, Joseph Afankwah aka Kojo Addo, has been suspended over the alleged secret video recording of Prof. Frimpong Boateng in a conversation with Mr. Horace Ekow Ewusi who is under investigation over missing excavators. The Central Regional Executives of the party took the decision during a meeting in Cape Coast on Monday, February 24, 2020, 3news.com has gathered. The issue has subsequently been referred to the Regional Disciplinary Committee for consideration. Kojo Addo appeared in the video which he is alleged to have discretely captured in the office of Prof Frimpong Boateng, the Minister of Environment and the Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM). In the video that went viral weeks ago, a voice purported to be that of Professor Frimpong Boateng was heard discussing ways to allocate concessions to members of the NPP ostensibly to raise funds for the party. The video surfaced following the arrest of Ekow Ewusi, an official of the IMCIM, in early this month on the orders of Prof. Frimpong Boateng for allegedly trading in seized galamsey excavators. Ekow Ewusi is the suspended ruling party’s Vice-Chairman in the Central Region. Kojo Addo mounted strong defence on behalf of Ekow Ewusi as he went on several radio stations accusing some functionaries of the party of orchestrating evil against embattled Ekow Ewusi. He recently told Swedru-based Golden Star FM that the arrest of Ekow Ewusi was a “game plan” to portray him as a “criminal”. It is not clear if the suspension of Mr. Kojo Addo was entirely influenced by a petition by a polling station executive of the party, Idriss Ali Musa Kwame Issaka, who wanted the constituency chairman suspended or expelled from the party. “We write as petitioners to invoke article 3 (7) and (8) of the NPP constitution as amended to suspend and or expel Mr. AFANKWAH (A.K.A) KOJO ADDO from the party for misconducting himself within the meaning of Article 4(7) (1) a, b, , c, e, f and g of the NPP Party Constitution as Amended,” the petitioner averred. He accused the Agona West Chairman of recording and publishing the video with malicious intention to cause the following;
- That he went into the meeting with malicious intent to incriminate the minister, Prof. Frimpong Boateng
- That he recorded the video with the intention of bringing in the minister and all those persons the video captured orally into the alleged criminal activities that the police are investigating into.
- He recorded and published the said video to tarnish the reputation of the minister and the entire NPP party and the government and those persons mentioned including the General Secretary of the party, Mr. John Boadu
- That he conspired with Mr. Ekow Ewusie to mortify the good name of the party and the government by recording and publishing the said video.