‘REV’ NKANSAH IN THE COOLERS Over Electoral Commission bribery allegation
By Dora Akyaa Asare
He made history in 2008 as the first ‘Prophet of God’ who made an attempt to have a shot at the presidency. His hope was however, dashed when the no nonsense Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, disqualified him after failing to meet the criteria set for the election.
He quickly tiptoed out of the EC’s offices with his bearded Imam, who was to be his running mate, in tow.
Unfortunately, this embarrassment did not scare Prophet Nkansah, who decided to once again contest the December presidential election on the ticket of the New Vision Party (NVP), a party he founded.
This time, not only was the ‘man of God’ disqualified, he has also found himself on the wrong side of the law, after he reportedly paid a bribe of GH¢1,600 to some top officials of the EC, a claim the affected officials have also denied.
Relying on the strength of the Criminal Code, which makes both the giver and the receiver of a bribe guilty of a crime, the police mounted a search for Prophet Daniel Nkansah to answer why he paid the money to the said officials, after the latter had been arrested, interrogated and later granted bail.
When all efforts by the police to locate the man to help in investigations into the case failed, the law enforcement agency threatened to use brute force to arrest him.
Fearing the consequences of that action, Prophet Daniel Nkansah was left with no option than to surrender himself to the police yesterday.
He first reported himself to the Greater Accra Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service, before he was escorted to the National Headquarters for interrogation.
The Public Relations Officer in charge of the CID, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Joseph Darkwa, told The Chronicle that even though the CID had taken over the case, they were still investigating the matter.
Prophet Nkansah himself told The Chronicle in a short interview at the CID headquarters yesterday, that he still stands by his allegation that the EC officials demanded money from him to facilitate the approval of his nomination.
According to him, the fact that he paid GH¢1,600 to the officials, and they returned the bribe which is in the possession of the police, was enough to justify his claim. As the time of going to press, Prophet Nkansah was still being interrogated by the officials at the CID headquarters.
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