Techiman North DCE Diverts Streetlight Bulbs Meant For Assemblymen

–Assembly Members Allege

The district chief executive (DCE) for the Techiman North Municipal Assembly, Everson Donkor Addo, has been accused of diverting streetlight bulbs to his cronies and party officials.

The bulbs were supposed to be distributed to the assembly members for their respective electoral areas.

But the DCE is said to have distributed only two bulbs to each of the assembly members, but allegedly recorded 30 bulbs against their names on the distribution list in a deceitful manner.

The diversion was detected during an audit by external auditors, when the DCE was confronted.

Two of the assembly members, Assah Enoch and Richard Yeboah, from Nana Ati and Nana Akyeaw electoral areas, respectively, who confirmed the incident, claimed that they were presented with only two bulbs each, but they later found out from the auditors that they were given 30 bulbs each.

This was confirmed by the assembly members on Friday, July 7, 2023 on a Techiman-based Akina Radio, monitored by online news portal, Masemtvgh.com.

It follows an intelligence picked up by the local radio station, regarding some “missing” streetlight bulbs, initially uncovered by auditors.

The incident, The Anchor gathered, happened earlier this year.

Speaking to this paper, one of the assemblymen, Assah Enoch, said “I was called by the assembly for two bulbs and signed on the distribution list, but I was later called by somebody who introduced himself as an auditor who had come to the assembly to audit the books of the assembly and has found out that I had taken delivery of 30 bulbs and so they were coming to me to show them where I fixed those 30 bulbs in my electoral area.”

“I was shocked and denied taking 30 bulbs,’’ he stated.

He told The Anchor that, earlier, the DCE called all the 24 elected members and the 12 government appointees and agreed that they were not going to mention the issue in the public space to shield the matter.

“And [he] spoke to us and we all agreed that this issue will not go out. So, we, the two assembly members, who granted the interview, actually we were not the ones who brought the news out.

The local journalists, they did their investigation, so they called. Initially, some of us decided not to talk, but later, they signalled our constituents that we have gone for …… so if we don’t speak to let the truth come out, it will be assumed that either we sold the bulbs or we have diverted them. So, to clear ourselves, I came out to say what I know,” he explained.

He also denied knowledge of how the media got wind of the information.

According to him, so far, it was he and his other colleague, Richard Yeboah, that have come out to confirm the incident, because they do not want their constituents to be misinformed.

The Nana Ati electoral area assembly member indicated that, despite coming out publicly to confirm the issue, they are not afraid of any victimisation that may come as result of their action.

“Yes, we don’t fear victimization, we are men, we are bold,” he added.

When asked, if they later found out from the DCE, he answered in the affirmative, saying that the DCE did not have any excuse except to apologize to them.

“He apologized to all of us that it was an error, it was a mistake that he gave us two, two,” he told The Anchor.

According to the duo, all the assembly members were victims, but for fear of victimization, they are unable to come public to explain to their electorate.

Richard Yeboah, on his part, alleged that, the DCE diverted the bulbs to his party apparatchiks, including the former Member of Parliament (MP) and the Deputy Bono East Regional minister, who is the NPP presumptive parliamentary candidate.

The rationale, according to the assembly member, is to give political advantage to the former MP in the 2024 general elections to the disadvantage of the assembly members.

The assumption is that, the DCE is diverting items belonging to these members to the parliamentary hopeful, Martin Oti Gyarko, so that he goes to distribute or fix them in his name for him to be seen as doing all the work, to give him political advantage.

“You will wake up and hear Hon. Martin Oti Gyarko is fixing bulbs; Hon. Oti Gyarko is doing this, but they are all lies.

“Those things are for the assembly members, which have been illegally diverted to him,’’ Richard indicated.

Source: Anchorghana.com