Former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, says he is prepared to appear before the committee spearheading President-elect John Dramani Mahama’s Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative.
However, Mr Blay expressed concerns over the posturing of the committee Chairman, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who also serves as North Tongu MP.
Speaking to Accra-based Joy News, Freddie Blay said tensions could rise during proceedings due to the allegations the NDC MP levelled against him and his family.
“I am saying if it’s a proper organization and has a basis in law and they even invite me that they have something and they want me to appear, Okudzeto, I will meet him. Unfortunately, he will be the chair. If I don’t take care, I might be a little bit… I will lose my temper with him because of what he’s been saying, the disgrace, the defamation, the libellous things he’s been talking and writing. It may provoke me. I wouldn’t know what my reaction will be,” he noted.
Mr Ablakwa has previously accused the Blay family of unlawfully acquiring state lands, implicating Blay’s sons, Kwame and Kwaw.
“My family has not taken a pesewa from the Ghana government unlawfully. We have not taken any government land unlawfully. We have not done anything that you can blame me for. If Okudzeto now is convinced that I’ve done that, then I’m a little careful about what ORAL wants to do,” he said.
“I’ve sued him for defamation, and my two children have sued him also for defamation because we have not taken any government land and yet give that impression. He organizes people with placards and makes it look as if my two sons and I have stolen government lands. He calls that state capture. That I will resist. I want to tell you that he is shooting after shadows because we have not done that,” he explained.
President Mahama’s ORAL committee, led by Ablakwa, is tasked with gathering information to facilitate investigations by relevant authorities. Other members of the committee include Raymond Archer, Martin Kpebu, retired COP Nathaniel Kofi Boakye, and Daniel Yao Domelevo.
By: Ekow Annan/newsalertgh.com
