Atwima-Nwabiagya South Constituency is on fire as more persons including polling station executives who have fallen victim to a recruitment scam involving a Personal Assistant (PA) to the Member of Parliament (MP), Emmanuel Adjei Anywhere continues to show up.
On Tuesday, June 7, 2022, a number of them massed up at the Nkawie Circuit Court where the case was to be held after the suspect Prince Asiedu Afriyie had earlier been remanded but were left disappointed.
This was in view of the fact that the embattled Aide to the lawmaker was not brought to Court, compelling the trial judge his Honour Nana Brew to adjourn the case to June 17, 2022.
Most of them who spoke to the media disclosed that they had been looking for the suspect to refund their monies only to hear of his arrest for which reason they were in court to file complaints.
Spokesperson for the aggrieved victims Mr. Osei Kofi who lost over Ghc9,000, indicates that the MP cannot absolve himself from the blame because he was still working with the suspect during the compilation of their constituency album recently.
He holds the view that the MP should do well to payback their monies or be made to face both parliamentary discipline procedures and Court because the disclaimer he issued, denying his Aide he has been working with is a face saver.
“We will hold the MP for our monies because he only came out with the disclaimer when the issue broke out. Where was he all that while when he stopped working with him? We see the suspect as the mouthpiece and an errand boy of the MP. Whatever we are told is representative of the MPs view so to say you stopped working for him in 2020 is not true”, he disclosed.
Mr. Osei Kofi wondered why the lawmaker was particularly abreast with Kofi’s actions but never cautioned him to desist from them.
“Your PA who was taking instructions from you, therefore, your actions had direct relation to Kofi’s deeds and any implication thereof. Kofi was moving with you anytime you visit the constituency so you created the impression that you’re still working with him that raised the hopes of the indigents to transact business with him. As an MP, how are you helping the affected persons?” he asked demanding he pays victims.
Prince Asiedu Afriyie has nothing to show he received Ghc800,000
Adwoa Adutwumwaa a family relation has revealed that there is no property anywhere to suggest her embattled brother benefitted from the said amount.
According to her, the PA of the lawmaker has neither a plot of land nor a car to prove he indeed received those monies as alleged wondering where the colossal amount would have gone to.
“He is still living with the mother. He has no car, house or even a plot to show for the amount he received. I am wondering if indeed he took those monies as alleged. I am pleading with the MP to get my brother out of jail because for all the over seven years he has been working with him, he has no property to his credit. If you are not helping him to acquire wealth don’t allow him rot in jail. He is all we got”, she pleaded.
Background
Prince Asiedu Afriyie was two weeks ago remanded into prison custody by the Nkawie Circuit Court presided over by his Honour Nana Brew for taking various sums of money from residents in the area amounting to over GHC800,000 with the promise of recruiting them into the various security agencies.
He was charged with defrauding by false pretenses.
A complainant in the case indicated that the suspect took over GHc100, 000 from her alone under the guise of facilitating the recruitment of relations into various security agencies but failed to fulfill his part of the bargain.
Prince Asiedu Afriyie was reported to have taken various sums from different other persons both in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Region after which he was said to have gone into hiding and his whereabouts unknown.
An official complaint was subsequently lodge with the police who declared him wanted and published his image after which he handed himself in and was arraigned before court and subsequently remanded.
Meanwhile the lawmaker has disclosed that the suspect stopped working for him in 2020 when he enrolled into the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) School of Law.
“The issue of Prince Asiedu Afriyie engaging in employment scam, fraud and money extortion came to my attention few weeks ago. Consequently, Mr. Prince Asiedu Afriyie (Kofi Juantuah) has been arrested twice in relation to the subject matter in Accra and Kumasi. Kindly take notice that the aforesaid Prince Asiedu Afriyie does not work under me or under my instructions. Any purported act attributed to me or associated with my name is without my consent and authorisation. The public and especially constituents of Atwima Nwabiagya South are advised to desist from transacting any business with me through the said Prince Asiedu Afriyie”, he said in a disclaimer.
Latest developments reveal that, Hon. Anhwere who is claiming that he stopped working with his Aide since 2020 visited a brother to his Aide called OP demanding corrugated iron roofing sheets and sewing machines, he gave to his Aide recently for onward distribution to the constituents.
Meanwhile, video evidence available to us indicates that His Aide and other young men were part of those engaged by the MP in the constituency album.
