Edward Ennin, former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Obuasi East, has disclosed what he called a regrettable incident from his political career.
He admits that his decision to prioritize his party's interests over the wellbeing of the nation has led to personal consequences he now considers a divine punishment.
Speaking in an interview on Okay FM's Ade Akye Bia on August 23, 2023, Ennin recounted an incident that transpired in 2015 when he was entrusted with overseeing a government contract for the construction of a constituency building in the Ashanti region.
The contract according to him, was awarded by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government. He explained that driven by his allegiance to the NPP, he deliberately orchestrated a ten-month delay in the project's execution.
This delay, he acknowledges, was motivated by a desire to deny the NDC an opportunity to utilize the government facility as a campaign tool during the forthcoming 2016 elections.
The former MP further asserted that his actions had repercussions on his personal finances after the NDC lost the election.
He stated that after the said election he wanted to demonstrate his support for his party by purchasing cement for the building project from the NPP's own chairman, who is now an MP and a deputy minister, however, his efforts were met with setbacks as he faced difficulties in obtaining the cement and the money he used to order same.
He attributed this to his perceived failure to put the nation's interests first.
Read how he recounted the incident below
“I did something for which I have even gone to church to ask for forgiveness and confessed. But I must share it, Kwame. In 2015, I was there when a particular minister approached me and informed me that he had awarded a contract and after granting the contract to this particular contractor, he got married and used part of the money to buy a Land Cruiser.
"So, the progress of the project came to a halt, and he intended to reassign the task to someone to do it for him. He sought my assistance, and I agreed to arrange for one of my nephews to take on the responsibility of constructing the building for him.
"So, he (nephew) came for the contract, and it was about ten months prior to the 2016 elections, I encountered pressure from individuals associated with the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“They implored me to allow my nephew to expedite the project's completion so that they could inaugurate and pay me, but I was like these people want to use the building as their campaign message, so let me allow my nephew to delay them… so my nephew also delayed till the election and NPP won the election.
"During this period, the Member of Parliament representing the constituency also served as the party's chairman. Presently, he holds the position of an MP and he used to sell cement.
"Hence, I decided to buy all the cement from him to support both him and the party. However, by that time, we had already bought 900 bags of cement. So, I suggested buying an additional 100 bags from him, but he only delivered 40 bags.
"The remaining 60 bags, as of now, have not been supplied. He currently holds the position of an MP and is a deputy minister following Bawumia.
“…and the last time I said that a thief like this following Bawumia…so they were giving me pressure and I gave my nephew money to use to complete the building and it has been more than two and half years they haven’t paid my nephew for him to pay me back.
"But for me, it is God who has punished me because if I had put Ghana first, I would have completed the work long for them to pay my nephew but because I didn’t think about the nation and considered my party first that was my end, and with my own party, I didn’t get the money.”
AM/SARA
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