Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), Eric Adjei, has escalated the political confrontation involving Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, threatening to expose what he describes as questionable dealings by the Effutu MP while levelling allegations of extortion against him.
Mr Adjei claimed he possesses information about Mr Afenyo-Markin’s dealings during his time in government and warned the Minority Leader against pursuing attacks on officials of the current administration.
Speaking on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo programme, the NEIP CEO said he was restraining himself from disclosing further details as he responded to recent comments attributed to the Minority Leader.
“Don’t go there, Afenyo, don’t go there. If he dares, we’ll dare him again,” Mr Adjei said.
“That man! I don’t want to be emotional this morning,” he added.
Mr Adjei said he had been angered by what he considered attempts to damage the reputations of public officials through allegations of wrongdoing.
“It hurts really badly when someone commits to destroying your name,” he said.
He subsequently levelled a direct allegation of extortion against the Minority Leader.
“We know he is an extortionist, so it is better he keeps mute,” Mr Adjei alleged.
The NEIP CEO did not provide evidence during the interview to substantiate the extortion allegation.
Adjei Raises Questions Over Alleged RTI Team
Mr Adjei further alleged that Mr Afenyo-Markin had established a team that uses Right to Information (RTI) requests to obtain information from public institutions before engaging officials in what he described as negotiations.
“You’ve set up a team, an RTI team, and they go to every office. When that is done, all of you become negotiators,” he alleged.
He did not provide further details about the composition of the alleged team or evidence linking its activities to wrongdoing.
The allegations add another dimension to an increasingly heated political dispute triggered by claims surrounding the operations of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod).
GoldBod Dispute Fuels Political Tensions
Mr Adjei’s intervention follows a public exchange between Mr Afenyo-Markin and GoldBod Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi over the financial performance and operations of the state gold trading entity.
Mr Afenyo-Markin had accused GoldBod of recording losses of about $1.7 billion and raised allegations of corruption surrounding its operations.
He also suggested that Mr Gyamfi could face onerous bail conditions if he were arrested under a future New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
Mr Gyamfi rejected the claims when he appeared at the Government Accountability Series, maintaining that GoldBod’s performance under his leadership would withstand scrutiny.
Responding specifically to the Minority Leader’s comments about his potential arrest and bail conditions, Mr Gyamfi dismissed them as intimidation.
“I will go to prison in his brain and have onerous bail terms in his brain,” he said.
Mr Adjei has now entered the dispute with his own allegations against the Minority Leader, shifting the confrontation beyond questions about GoldBod’s performance to claims concerning Mr Afenyo-Markin’s own conduct.
The allegations made by Mr Adjei remain unproven, and Mr Afenyo-Markin’s response to the specific claims was not included in the account.
