Joseph Afankwah, the Agona West Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has been suspended over the alleged secret video recording of Professor Frimpong-Boateng in a conversation with Horace Ekow Ewusi who is under investigation over missing excavators.
The Central Regional Executives of the party took the decision during a meeting in Cape Coast on Monday, February 24, 2020 and the issue has subsequently been referred to the Regional Disciplinary Committee for consideration.
Mr Afankwah appeared in the video which he is alleged to have discretely captured in the office of Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, the Minister of Environment Science Technology and Innovation and the Chairman of the Inter Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
In the video that went viral weeks ago, a voice purported to be that of Professor Frimpong-Boateng was heard discussing ways to allocate concessions to members of the NPP ostensibly to raise funds for the party.
The video surfaced following the arrest of Mr Ewusi, an official of the IMCIM, in February on the orders of Prof. Frimpong-Boateng for allegedly trading in seized galamsey excavators and he is the suspended Vice Chairman of the NPP in the Central Region.
Mr Afankwah mounted a strong defence on behalf of Mr Ewusi as he went on several radio stations accusing some functionaries of the party of orchestrating evil against embattled Mr Ewusi saying that “the arrest of Ekow Ewusi is a “game plan” to portray me as a “criminal”.
It is alleged that the suspension of Mr Afankwah was influenced by a petition by Idriss Musa Issaka, a polling station executive of the party, who wanted the constituency chairman suspended or expelled from the party for misconducting himself within Article 4(7) (1) of the NPP constitution as amended.
He accused Mr Afankwah of recording and publishing the video with malicious intention to incriminate Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, recorded the video with intention of bringing in the minister and all persons the video captured orally into the alleged criminal activities which the police are investigating,
recorded and published the video to tarnish reputation of the minister, NPP, the government and persons mentioned including John Boadu, the General Secretary of the NPP party -3news.com
