Executive Director of the National Identification Authority, NIA, has vehemently deneid claims by an article that he is orchestrating to register over a million foreigners as Ghanaians to give the NPP an advantage in the 2020 elections. Prof Ken Attafuah says the article is a fabrication, completely mischievous, highly inflammatory and defamatory.
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In the piece titled, Dr Akofa Segbefia writes...NPP vrs Charlotte Osei, the author claims to have sighed a document in which some high ranking members of government is scheming to kick out Electoral Commission Chair Charlotte Osei in order to influence the compilation of a new voters' register.
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It continued, the plan is for the NPP to register at least a million foreigners as Ghanaians and get them issued with the Ghana Card, then pressurize the EC to abandon the current voters register and do a new one altogether. The only form of identification for the new register will be the Ghana Card, so the NPP has a guarantee of a million people on the register.
"The document said the boss of the National Identification Authority [NIA], Ken Attafuah, is in the loop. So, how does Charlotte Osei come in? The document reveals that Charlotte is too meticulous for their comfort and would be an impediment in the pursuit of this agenda. It says Charlotte is very adept at what she does. Solution? Get her out of the place at all costs. That’s the only way out." the article added
Prof Attafuah Responds
In a sharp response, Prof. Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah said there is no iota of truth in the write-up as it relates to him, the NIA and the NPP.ÂÂ
Second, I have not conspired with anyone in the NPP leadership or elsewhere to register one million foreigners as Ghanaians and issue them with the Ghana Card for any reason whatsoever, political or otherwise. Such a dirty, partisan, criminal machination is utterly beneath me!
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Third, no one has been sidelined at NIA on suspicion of being close to the NDC or any political party. If I did so, there would probably be very few people actively engaged in productive work at NIA. I have stayed faithful to my constitutional obligation to cultivate and maintain the NIA as an inclusive public service institution that is reflective of the diversity which Ghanaian society embodies.Â
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In short, contrary to Dr. Segbefia's assertion, I'm NOT in the loop on any diabolical and criminal plan to place a million foreigners on Ghana's civil register, and to use same to orchestrate the removal of Mrs. Charlotte Osei as Chairperson of Ghana's Electoral Commission. That result, if achieved, would confer no political advantage on the NPP, neither would it occasion any material disadvantage for the NDC. It would only cause grievous detriment to our dear nation Ghana.Â
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The article provides no credible foundation to support any of the fantastic claims it throws up; it is anchored in idle conjectures and suppositions. It is plain evil, and I roundly repudiate it.
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Finally, I am shocked by this foul article purportedly written by a senior academic —a Ph.D holder. Indeed, it is utterly suprising that Dr. Segbefia accords credence to the wholly senseless and putrid suggestions from his so-called contact from the NPP Government. It is hard to fathom how such a criminal plan, if truly hatched, would be put on paper by anyone with any brains at all.Â
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And by the way, Dr. Segbefia's statement that he only hopes the document, allegedly shown him (by an NPP insider) was not true, is an insincere addition aimed at masking his patent biases. I reject it and the entire poisonous article to which it is a sad add-on. Spreading mischievous propaganda and false news will not destroy the NPP, the NIA, or myself. Truth stands, and integrity wins.