Don’t tarnish my hard won reputation — Ayariga

The 2012 presidential candidate of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Mr Hassan Ayariga, has warned a section of his party membership not to tarnish his hard-won reputation for political gains.

“Let us not tarnish the image of somebody who has raised the image of the party to become more attractive and visible,’’ he told the Daily Graphic.

He was reacting to allegations by the Treasurer of the PNC, David Apasera, that he (Ayariga) had hijacked and was keeping party cars and money.

In a related development, a group, in a statement signed by its Co-ordinator, Akane Adam, said: “We wish to bring to the notice of all party sympathisers and Ghanaians…our pain and regret following the failure of our party’s leadership to retrieve a whopping sum of GH¢1.6 million of campaign funds donated to the party in the 2012 general election.” 

According to Mr Apasera, Mr Ayariga received many cars, including Land Cruisers and pick-ups, as well as various amounts as donations in the name of the party but hoarded all of them.

But in a swift reaction to the allegations in a telephone interview, Mr Ayariga declared, “I made the PNC more attractive and visible because I am committed to saving the PNC.’’

He explained that as a flag bearer and not leader of  the PNC, he was not a signatory to party accounts, even though ‘’I organised  my own  campaign, paid my filing fee, paid the filing fees of our parliamentary candidates and paid polling agents. In all of these I have the receipts as proof”.

He said if there was any accounts to be rendered, then it was incumbent on the  National Chairman and the t    treasurer to do so, since they were the signatories to the party accounts and all financial transactions were done by them.

He  insisted that throughout the 2012 campaign, the PNC never gave him a cedi and wondered how people could make such spurious allegations.

“Who has given who money? Who brought the money and who  received  it? You have to be credible and prove all of these. 

 “As a flag bearer, I had the right to go round and campaign. I did my campaign solely. Not even the party could raise one cedi to help Ayariga in his campaign. I used my life and the little money that I got from friends. If my brother calls me and says, ‘Ayariga, this is GH¢100,000; go and use it for your campaign, it is not meant for me to bring it to the leadership of the PNC,” he said. 

He added that if there was any money missing, the right people who were at the helm of affairs should rather be held accountable and not him.

He challenged his accusers to prove that any money was given to him on behalf of the party, which he squandered.

Mr Ayariga rather alleged  that besides  raising GH¢600,000 for Mr Apasera’s own parliamentary campaign, he gave him a 4x4 for his campaign, which was still with Mr Apasera.

He said he personally bought more than 50 motorbikes for the party and also erected over 1,500 billboards across the country for the campaign without any help from the party.

This is in contrast with what Apasera  had alleged that Mr Ayariga received many cars, including Land Cruisers and pick-ups, as well as various amounts as donations in the name of the party. 

“It’s unfortunate that people use the party to make money, to raise loans, to ask for cars, get all sorts of things and then they tend to make them their private property,” Mr Apasera said. 

The concerned  group  also alleged that  money given to the party and meant to be used  to pay polling agents, procure motorbikes, print party posters and also pay for other election logistics could not be accounted for by the  party leadership.

 According to  the group,  many polling agents who served the party at various polling stations were still demanding their money and allowances, since they were never paid.

The group said party was currently in financial distress and needed money to organise its polling station, constituency and regional elections. 

The forum has demanded an independent probe to trace the funds. It has threatened to vote out all the current executive members if they fail to account for the money.

In the midst of all these  accusations  and  counter-accusations, Mr Ayariga urged the party leadership to be  credible and truthful and not engage in tarnishing the image of hard-working members of the party.

“We must be committed to building a  vibrant PNC, rather than  working to tear it into pieces,’’ he added.