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| Brong Ahafo Citizens Stunned |
11/23/2005 |
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Brong Ahafo Citizens Stunned
According to the sympathisers of the arrested arrest of the Member of Parliament (MP)for the Nkoranza North, Eric Amoateng, for his alleged involvement in a heroin deal in New York, he was currently sponsoring more than 100 students in basic, senior secondary and tertiary educational institutions whose fate now hanged in the balance.
The personalities who expressed their sympathy for Nana Amoateng included Okatakyie Agyeman Kudom VI, the Omanhene of the Nkoranza Traditional Area, his Gyaasehene, the Nkoranza District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr James Appiah-Awuah, the District Director of Education, Mr J. R. Agyemang-Badu,the Methodist Pastor at Akumsa-Domase,near Nkoranza, and Mr Osei Kofi,the Nkoranza South Constituency First Vice-Chairman of the NPP.
Okatakyie Agyeman Kudom said before contesting the position of MP for Nkoranza North constituency in 2004, Nana Amoateng was the chief of Amoma in the traditional area and he single-handedly financed a number of development projects across the length and breadth of the district,including the rehabilitation of feeder roads.
He said he knew the MP to be a successful businessman and contractor who generously offered soft loans to needy people without charging interest, with some of the beneficiaries even refusing to repay the facility, but he took no action against them.
“We know the MP as a businessman and not as a heroin dealer, so his arrest in the US in connection with narcotic drugs is a surprise to the entire people of the Nkoranza Traditional Area where he was a chief before abdicating to become a parliamentarian”, the Omanhene said with sadness.
Mr Appiah-Awuah, the DCE,who was highly disturbed by the allegations against his MP, said he would not comment at length.
“Akan names are identical. Maybe someone sharing a similar name with Eric Amoateng might have been mistaken for the MP. His whereabouts could best be known by the Speaker of Parliament”,he stressed.
Mr Agyeman-Badu, the Nkoranza District Director of Education, said “I don’t believe that Nana Amoateng could be arrested for a heroin deal because I knew him to be honest, respectful and respectable gentleman who contributed towards educational development in the district.”
“Last year when he was not an MP, he single-handedly financed a mock examination for final year JSS students organised by the Nkoranza District Assembly at a cost of more than ¢100 million and gave prizes such as wall clocks, ghetto blasters and 21-inch television sets to the outstanding candidates, teachers and schools”, the District Director said.
Mr Kofi Osei, the Nkoranza South Constituency First Vice-Chairman of the NPP and father-in-law of the MP, said his arrest was a worry to his family members, the NPP,as well as well-meaning people in the district because he was a philanthropist who had helped many people in the area and beyond.
When the Daily Graphic visited the house of the MP’s wife at her hometown, Bonsu, near Nkoranza, her mother said she had travelled to Techiman where she lived with her husband. The old lady, however, dismissed the heroine allegation against her son-in-law, saying that his enemies were peddling the lies to damage his hard won reputation.
Amoateng was busted with his accomplice,Nii Okai Adjei, a seafarer who travels on Canadian passport,in New York, last week for trafficking in heroin.
Source:
Graphic
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