We Have Done No Wrong In Distribution Of Ahotor Project Goods!---Ahotor Project Team Scolds NDC's Ashanti Regional Communications Officer

The members of Dr. Kwabena Duffour's Ahotor Project Team have stated categorically that they are still following proper procedures and processes when distributing goods and logistics to the regionals numerous constituencies as part of their Ahotor initiative.

According to them, they have been effectively engaging all the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regional and constituency executives of the regions and constituencies for which they visited to distribute goods and logistics to support the NDC grassroot members.

The Programme Coordinator of Ahotor Project, Mr Abass Osabutey was sharply reacting to the current outburst meted out to the Ahotor Project Team by the NDC’s Ashanti Regional Communications Officer, Mr. Nurudeen.

In a current media report, the NDC Ashanti Regional Executives led by Mr Abass have accused Dr. Kwabena Duffuor of not following proper procedures when distributing goods to the region’s numerous districts as part of his Ahotor initiative.

Regional NDC executives claim they weren’t involved in the initiative’s execution and weren’t even contacted.

The report indicated that the party has voiced reservations about the way in which money are being distributed to party members.

According to Mr Nurudeen, the executives are not necessarily opposed to giving party members and constituencies logistics, but they do object to what appears to be disobedience on the part of the Ahotor team.

“While we are not opposed to the provision of logistical support in any form to the party at any level, we believe that the correct party structures must be followed so that the regional executive body can supervise and ensure that those resources donated are put to very good use.

"If you monitor the activities of the Ahotor project team, you will realize that it is not a donation to the party in the strict sense of the word because the items are not donated to the party and the party is not allowed to manage the donated items thereafter.”

“An NGO is formed in each constituency consisting of five members that are mandated to manage the donated resources and whatever monies that are realized from such donations are to be paid into an account managed by the Ahotor team and this is a different kind of arrangement that is unknown to the party,” the media report quoted NDC's the Ashanti Regional executives.

But in a quick rebuttal in an interview with Sorireenews.com, Mr Osabutey scolded Mr Abass Nurudeen and expressed his  disappointment in him for making such unguided statements against the team without taking time to consult effectively.

According to him, they believed that if Nurudeen should have took his time to do proper consultation by way of cross checking the issues from the leadership of the Ashanti Regional Executives of the NDC, he would not have exposed his political naivety.

Mr Osabutey said that at the time that they wanted to distribute the goods and logistics to the grassroot members of the NDC in the 15 constituencies in the Ashanti Region, his outfit has officially written a letter on December 29, 2022 to inform the executives leadership of the Ashanti Regional branch of the NDC.

He disclosed that they submitted such letter to the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NDC, Mr Augustus Nana Akwesi Andrews and copied his Deputy including the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NDC, Dr. Frank Amoakohene.

In this letter, he noted that they had detailed the programme of the activities and specified the date that they would start the distribution of the items to the grassroot members in the constituencies in the region.

"We wrote in the letter to inform the Ashanti Regional Executives of the NDC that we shall start the distribution of the goods and logistics from Tuesday January 3, 2023 to Saturday January 7, 2023," he explained.

According to Mr Osabutey, they had taken their time to write the names of the various 15 constituencies for which they would visit to distribute the items.

"So if you look at the content of the letter dated December 29, 2022, it clearly tells you that the Ashanti Regional Executives of the NDC were given five days notice before we have even started the distribution of the goods and logistics to the grassroot members in 15 constituencies in the region," he explained.

He stated that when they submitted the letter to the Ashanti Regional Executives of the NDC, they had not received any feedback from them indicating that they had even received their letter and showed concern about what we started in the letter."

Mr. Osabutey stressed that "if the NDC Ashanti Regional Communication officer should have exercised patience to talk to the leadership of the NDC in the region, he believes that Mr Abass would not write such ill-fated and controversial letter to challenge the modalities of the distribution of the items in the constituencies.

Mr Osabutey was of the view that "if you look at the content of the protest letter by Mr Abass, it clearly shows that l personal didn't  even understand what he is really saying."

He pointed out that the true of the matter is that the Ahotor project has come to stay and that the project was designed to give support to the grassroot members of the NDC in the constituencies.