NDC race: Koku Anyidoho begged me after claiming I endorsed him – Asiedu Nketia

General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has revealed, for the first time in public, that his deputy, Mr Koku Anyidoho, sent a high-powered delegation to apologise to him (Asiedu Nketia) on his behalf, for having said that he, Mr Nketia, had given him his blessing to run for the General Secretary slot, since he (Nketia) was stepping down.

Mr Anyidoho had said on Accra-based Neat FM on 18 October 2017 that Mr Nketia had given him his blessing and also endorsed him for the position.

“The beautiful thing is that he [Asiedu Nketia] gave me his endorsement that he’ll not contest again, and that is the beauty of it,” he said.

“He’s given me his blessing to contest as General Secretary. I’m going in continuity and Asiedu Nketia’s legacy shall forever remain strong in the NDC.”

Days later, Mr. Nketia, came out to deny ever endorsing Mr Anyidoho and also refuted his deputy’s claim that he had decided not to seek re-election.

“Everyone should have known that the claim by Koku Anyidoho is not true. I’m not a kingmaker to decide who succeeds me, even if I decide not to contest,” Mr Nketia rebutted, adding: “I was shocked when I saw the story online. I thought it was fake but Koku is not my personal secretary so he cannot make decisions for me”.

Just recently, Rainbowonline reported that Mr Nketia had begged Mr Anyidoho to step aside from the race – a claim ‘General Mosquito’, as Mr Nketia is affectionately called, denied when he spoke to Chief Jerry Forson on Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Wednesday, 29 August 2018.

It was during that interview that he revealed publicly that Mr Anyidoho rather had been the one who begged him after his October 2017 claim.

He said: “I saw a headline on one of the portals that I have pleaded with Koku Anyidoho to step down for me to go unopposed. I called that radio station, Rainbow Radio, and asked them where they got that story and also expressed my reservations about it since the headline and body of the story did not match. They gave me the opportunity to give my side of the story.

“I explained to them that it was rather Koku Anyidoho who asked some prominent people in the NDC to come to my house to apologise to me for indicating that I have blessed him for the General Secretary position because that was not true. Koku Anyidoho rather came to apologise to me not the other way around.

“He sent Dr Carl Max, Hon. Kofi Attoh, Vida Addei, who is the Deputy National Treasurer, to apologise to me. He also asked Mr Yaw Boateng Gyan to join them but Yaw couldn’t come, and, so, it was Koku who apologised to me for that falsehood.

“These are confidential matters that I would have kept to myself, but due to the controversies that are emerging, I am forced to come out and set the records straight.”