‘I’m not even powerful in my house let alone in Akufo-Addo gov’t – Gabby
Private legal practitioner and leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party, Gabby Otchere-Darko sat with Citi TV’s Umaru Sanda Amadu on Face-to-Face monitored by theghanareport.com.
The astute lawyer made some revelations about his professional life and the Akufo-Addo led administration
Here are seven things we learned from him.
- I have been in media for 30 years
Recounting his days as a journalist, Gabby Otchere-Darko said he has been in the media for 30 years.
From practicing journalism in Europe while doing law on the side, he later hosted his own show ‘Gabby’s Air Time’ on TV3 around 2003. ‘I did a bit of radio as well on Choice FM.’
The publisher of ‘The Stateman’ said he was one of the torchbearers who helped with the early days of Citi FM.
- Asaase Radio has not applied for DTT license
Gabby, the board chairman of ABC Ltd, owners of` Asaase radio, said the network had not applied for a Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT) license.
There have been controversies over a directive from the Communication Ministry to the state broadcaster, GBC, and private television station, Crystal TV to cut down their channels from six to three.
The directive has been fiercely opposed and allegations made that the ministry is creating space on the DTT for cronies of the government specifically, Asaase radio.
“I am hearing this for the first time, I don’t understand this and let me put it on record, ABC limited owners of Asaase Radio has not put in any application for Digital Terrestrial Transmission license… I think the last bit of the lot was given away in the first quarter of 2017” he stressed.
- Gabby as the de facto Prime Minister
The astute legal practitioner said it baffles him why people think he is at the center of the Akufo-Addo led government.
“It is actually interesting because I have never even set foot in the cabinet room. I don’t get involved in the ins and out of government,” he said
According to him, before the 2012 election, he told himself he was not interested in government or any political office.
“After they won in 2016, there was speculation of which position I was going to get and eventually when I was not offered any position then the speculators had to create one for me and that is what it is”
“They had to create something for me because they expected that Akufo-Addo was going to appoint me” he added.
When asked why people would speculate about his involvement in government, Otchere Darko said “let’s look at it positively, it must be because perhaps they think I merit it…. I am not that powerful in my house; I have a managing partner”.
- Alleged Nepotism in Akufo-Addo’s government
Mr. Otchere Darko said every member of the Akufo-Addo led government is competent and deserves to be there.
“You don’t expect a president to appoint people he cannot trust or people he does not know,” he said
When challenged why he criticized the erstwhile Mahama government of nepotism when his NPP was doing the same, Otchere -Darko said contrarily to media reports, he never criticized Mahama for nepotism.
He insisted competence should be the benchmark for any government appointment adding that it was a personal decision to stay out of government.
“Because of the work, I had done prior to Akufo-Addo being elected the expectation was that I was going to be appointed so even when you are not appointed but if I had been offered an appointment would it have been fair for any Ghanaian to have said that it was due to nepotism”
“Nana Bediatuo Asante’s mother was unhappy when she saw her picture, first of all, she is not an appointee but she thought the picture they used was not complimentary” he noted.
- Society has not been fair to my family
Coming from a linage of political actors, the lawyer said Ghanaians have not been fair to his family.
“It is not uncommon for societies to have some families that have historically dedicated a big chunk of their lives to serving the public good in public service and the rest of it and my family happens to be that” he added.
According to him, members of his family have always been in public services
“I have three family members in the big six, Dr. Nkrumah’s Finance and Interior Ministers were my uncles…Dr. Suzzy Ofori-Atta and now Prof. William Ampofo of Noguchi, is a cousin, so when you look at it from that angle then almost every family has had them” he added.
6. Debt Management under NDC and NPP
Reacting to comments made by Ato Forson that President Akufo-Addo’s debt accumulation is almost akin to Ghana’s entire public debt since independence.
He said Ghana’s public debt increased from 120billion in December 2016 to 230billion an assertion a Bloomberg has alluded to, but the private legal practitioner said facts can be massaged.
“In 2008 Ghana’s entire desk stock was GHC 9.7billion when President Mills took over from President Kufuor by the end of 2012 it had shot up to GHC35.6 billion and that is 237%, by 2016 the desk stock had shot up from GHC 35.6billion to GHC122.2billion that is 243.2% and this was when Ato Forson was deputy Finance Minister”
“From 2016 to 2019 (if you include the cost of the banking sector cleanup) our desk stock is GHC214.5 billion that is a 76.1% increase, so yes our desk stock will rise but it is the rate at which it will rise that we should focus on” he noted.
7. Akufo-Addo on Agriculture sector management
Agriculture was on the list of candidate Akufo-Addo’s campaign messages, Planting for Food and Jobs; One Village One Dam; Planting for rearing; One district one factory, etc.
It’s been three years since the NPP took over the management of the country and Ghanaians would judge them on the delivery of their promises come December 7.
According to Asare Otchere-Darko, investment in agriculture is clear, the evidence is on the ground.
“Investment in agriculture is so clear, they went up fourfold within the first two years, now if you look at the investment in agriculture and you look at the productivity of our farmers that shows that something as happened”
” There was a time in this country that we had to import plantain, so there are things being done” he added.