Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur
VICE PRESIDENTIAL nominee Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur yesterday denied allegations that he once practised homosexuality.
In a three-hour grilling but rather decorous encounter with the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Mr. Amissah-Arthur vehemently dismissed allegations that he was a gay, insisting it was a complete fabrication disseminated in the media by somebody who wanted to blackmail him.
“A number of people think since I’m the boss and I have access to government vault, I can just dip my hands into government purse. They think I have access to unlimited resources and when they come to me I should give them money,” he explained.
According to him, the allegation was masterminded by an old school mate who fell out with him after he (Amissah-Arthur) refused to give him money because of his lifestyle.
Mrs Amissah-Arthur
The issue cropped up when the Member of Parliament for Bekwai, Joseph Osei-Owusu, asked the nominee to comment on the allegation of being a homosexual if he wanted to.
“It is not true, it is absolutely not true. I have not seen this gentleman for 40 something years now. I saw him once just for about two minutes. He came to my house to ask for money and I gave him a little money and I have not seen him again.
“It absolutely cannot be true of the claims that are being made,” he stated, stressing he would never give money to anybody to stop such a fabrication.
He said it was his children who drew his attention to the publication which was published in January 2012 when the issue of his nomination as vice president was not on the table.
“It was my children who drew my attention to the fact that we’ve never lived in a house that had a garage. We lived at Ayido flats at Legon and those of you who know Ayido flats you’d know that there is no garage there,” Mr. Amissah-Arthur emphasised.
“In our second house, too, we did not have a garage so it’s absolutely not true to say that I had an affair in a garage, it is not true. We have also never had house boys; it’s been house girls throughout, a series of them. I take it as part of the problems of the office,” he claimed.
Denying the allegation, Mr. Amissah-Arthur indicated that it was difficult to take a legal action because the reports of his alleged homosexuality did not make emphatic reference to him but only made innuendos such as “the person is the currently the Governor of Bank of Ghana.”
He was quizzed mainly on the economy including the free fall of the cedi against the major foreign currencies such as the dollar and high commodity prices.
He was also asked about the GH¢51.2million doled out to businessman and ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier Alfred Agbesi Woyome as judgment debt.
Mr. Amissah-Arthur indicated the Bank of Ghana never received instructions not to pay Woyome, contrary to claims that the late President Atta Mills had on two different occasions instructed that the NDC financier should not be paid the money.
BoG, he explained, held Government’s account and made payment as and when it was authorised by the Controller and Accountant General.
Mr. Amissah-Arthur said even though as vice president his job would be a supportive one, he would be diligent in the discharge of his duties.
“The role of vice president is a supportive one and I have committed myself to support the president to succeed,” the vice presidential nominee indicated.
He thanked the president for nominating him as his vice, pointing out that “even one day on this job is an honour”.
By Awudu Mahama
