It has emerged that some employees under the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) in the Bimbilla in the Northern region are making a monthly contribution to raise funds to support the campaign of the Defense Minister and incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the Bimbilla Constituency, Dominic Nitiwul.
This was earlier reported by one Hawah Chentiwuni Umar as an exercise sanctioned by the Minister of State to levy all the NABCO employees in the area an amount of GH¢100 each for his campaign.
Madam Hawa alleged in a Facebook post which was later published online that the NABCO beneficiaries were levied GH¢10 each every month since August 2019, and GH¢100 each for October to December 2020.
According to her, the total amount which will accrue from the levies will be GH¢154,000, funds she claims are intended for the MP’s fifth parliamentary bid.
But Mr. Nitiwul, through his lawyers has taken an exception to the publication and demands “retraction and an unconditional apology” from Madam Hawa within Seven days or face a tortuous suit of defamation.
NABCO employees’ contributions for Nitiwul’s campaign
A letter date October 15 from the lawyers dismissed portions of the publication out rightly stating, “our client has not, even remotely sanctioned the levying of any Nabco employee for his campaign”.
They however concede that there indeed is an ongoing contribution by some NABCO beneficiaries to support the campaign of Mr. Nitiwul, except that the minister has no hand in it.
“What has come to the knowledge of our client since your publication is that a group of women working with NABCO had agreed to make monthly contribution to support our client.
“You must realize that even though there is generally speaking, nothing wrong with a group of people coming together to raise funds to support a cause, our client would certainly have out rightly discouraged such a venture,” the lawyers explained.
Claims of defamation and threat of suit
The lawyers for Mr. Nitiwul insist that the publication was born out of ill-will and malice and has caused damage to the reputation of their client.
“To conclude that our client masterminded the levying of anyone for his benefits was actuated by malice since a fact check by you would have left you in no doubt that our client was never involved, and indeed never even knew about it.
“Your unprovoked publication, reckless as it is, was intended, in this era of competitive politics, to give an urge to his political opponent, and lower him in the estimation of right thinking members of society as a public officer…
“You have by your defamatory conduct inflicted incalculable harm to the reputation that our client had painstakingly built over a considerably long period of time.”
Disagreement among NABCO employees over contribution
Meanwhile, 3news.com has seen WhatsApp conversations (Nanumba North NABCO) where there was a seeming disagreement among the NABCO employees at the time the decision was being taken to make the contribution.
When some of them demanded to know how exactly the funds were going to be used, others, who seem to be leaders in the group said they could not give the details because it had already been discussed and settled. When others insisted on the details, one of the leaders identified as ‘Suale Nabco’ said they could choose to pay or not, making it clear that the contribution was not compulsory.
Another person in the group, identified by his WhatsApp username as Aminu Ibadu, put out an MTN number requesting that the contributions be sent to it. He was quick to add that others had already sent their contributions. He also mentioned that the GH¢100 contribution was for only men and that “the women have their way of doing things”.
In the conversation, another person was seen encouraging them to support the party for “Nana Addo and Dominic Nitiwul to come to power on December 7”.
Mr. Nitiwul has been an MP for four terms and will be seeking a fifth term come December 7.
By 3news.com|Ghana