A former Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, has subtly criticized the government for cancelling the ‘The Convention’, a Pan African event at the last minute on Sunday, January 7,2024.
The event was organized by The New Africa Foundation, founded by leader of the New Force Movement, Nana Kwame Bediako, popularly known as Cheddar.
Mr Blay’s comment comes days after massive criticism of the government for cancelling an event it had given prior approval to. Critics say the government could have cancelled the event before the scheduled date.
The man behind the event, Cheddar has also accused the government of reimbursing only GHC10,000 of the GHC30,000 paid for the venue.
In an interview with 3News’ Beatrice Adu, the former chairman of the NPP said that although he would not condemn the government, because the organizer was economical with the truth, he would have allowed the event to go through.
“The guy did not come forward to put his name behind the application form, the space, which is a national asset and for that matter misrepresented his intention to the authorities ….that indeed it was to launch a political event,…. that is to launch himself as a politician or somebody who would bid for an office…..but left to me, I would have allowed him……..but, there is always room for improvement, looking back, you could always say that I could have done it some other way….but I wouldn’t condemn government,” he stated.
The organizers of the programme confirmed the cancellation of the event in a press release on January 7. In that release, it said “We regret to inform you that the Government has cancelled the above Pan African Event which was to take place today at the Independence square in Accra, Ghana. All the special guests have arrived and thousands of people have come from all over Ghana as well as around the globe for this historic event. We have just been informed of the cancellation of this event a couple of hours before its commencement. This event was approved by the Government in November of 2023. This came as a shock to us and a devastation to our dignitaries and special guests who flew in from around the world.”
A statement signed by the Deputy Director of the Diaspora Affairs Directorate, at the presidency, Dr Nadia Adongo Fynn, however said that the event was cancelled because of “unforeseen” state event scheduled to take place at the same venue.
Mr. Blay thinks that the statement did not also address the real reason for the cancellation of the programme.
“The narrative, I would have maybe done it, different way. I would have said that those who applied for it, misinformed government,” he explained.
By Beatrice Adu