Former Member of Parliament for Suame and ex-Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has dismissed claims that Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, as Board Chairman of the Ghana National Gas Company, gifted him two Astro Turfs.
The denial follows allegations by Ernest Owusu Bempah, a former Communications Director of Ghana Gas and member of Kennedy Agyapong’s 2024 presidential campaign team, who accused Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu of being ungrateful.
According to Owusu Bempah, the former Suame legislator betrayed Agyapong by supporting another candidate during the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primaries despite benefits he allegedly received from him.
Speaking in an interview on Pure FM with Kwame Adinkra, Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu described the allegation as unfounded and damaging, stressing that Owusu Bempah’s claim amounts to a serious indictment on both Agyapong and Ghana Gas.
“You see, the statement he made suggests that as Board Chairman of Ghana Gas, Kennedy Agyapong was gifting Astro Turfs to people he favored. That is a serious indictment,” he noted.
“He said Ken gifted me Astro Turfs, what that means is that the Board Chairman was distributing state projects to his loved ones, which is simply not true.”
The veteran politician explained that the two Astro Turfs in question were allocated to his constituency through formal procedures and not personal favors.
“I applied for the Astro Turfs from Ghana Gas through the Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Ben Asante,” he clarified.
“He(Dr. Ben Asante) assured me that a school and Astro Turf facilities would be provided for my constituency. The school didn’t come, but the Astro Turfs did. One was built at Bremang, and the other at New Suame,” he said.
When asked whether Kennedy Agyapong influenced the allocation in any way, Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu maintained that he was unaware of any such intervention.
“I believe it was a normal process. I had earlier led some MPs in the energy sector to visit Ghana Gas headquarters in the Western Region, during which I reminded Dr. Asante about my earlier application. He later followed up, and about three to four months after our visit, the first Astro Turf project commenced,” he explained.
“Before God and man, if Kennedy Agyapong had any influence on it as Board Chairman, I wouldn’t know and he never told me anything about it,” he added.
Source: www.Kumasimail/Kwadwo Owusu
