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Kufuor is more NDC than I am – Pianim
It has emerged that the relationship between former President John Agyekum Kufour and Kwame Pianim, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is not the best.
Mr. Pianim, under the Kufour presidency was appointed as the chairman of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).
In an interview published in the current issue of the Africawatch magazine, Mr Pianim said ex- President Kufuor telephoned him about proposed increases in tariffs and more or less, accused him “of working for and being a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)”.
It has emerged that the relationship between former President John Agyekum Kufour and Kwame Pianim, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is not the best.
Mr. Pianim, under the Kufour presidency was appointed as the chairman of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).
In an interview published in the current issue of the Africawatch magazine, Mr Pianim said ex- President Kufuor telephoned him about proposed increases in tariffs and more or less, accused him “of working for and being a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)”.
Mr. Pianim told the magazine that he pointed out to President Kufuor that the post (Chairman of the PURC) “was not his to take away as it is the creation of Parliament. And that accusing me of being a member of the NDC was like rubbing salt into my wound. I told him never to identify me with the NDC again."
The distinguished Economist, according to the interview told then President Kufuor that "he worked for Rawlings as a Member of the PNDC, and he has no right to call me - a man who suffered under the Rawlings regime - a member of the NDC."
Mr. Pianim also gave a background to the telephone call from President Kufuor: "I wanted President Kufuor to support a move to increase these tariffs to realistic levels. Because he had claimed on previous occasions that he had not been consulted on tariff adjustments, we sent a memo to the cabinet on what PURC proposed to do.
"The cabinet approved the proposal and the tariffs were duly gazetted and published in the press.
“President Kufuor then called me on the phone. And this was the second time he ever called me throughout his eight-year presidency. At the time, I was having dinner here in my house with some of the aspirants for the 2008 NPP flagbearership.
“These were the people whom I considered as having helped to build the party from the beginning. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey was here, Owusu Adjepong was here, Yaw Osafo-Maafo was here, and so were Nana Akufo-Addo and Dan Botwe.
“Also present were Hackman Owusu-Agyemang and Professor Mike Ocquaye. Dr. Kofi Apraku was in the field campaigning and could not attend.
“I had invited Prof. George Ofosu-Amaah and Prof. Adjei Bekoe, seasoned and astute members of the NPP tradition, to act as facilitating and honest brokers.
“The idea of this "get-together dinner" was to persuade some of the aspirants to step down and leave only two in the race. Surprisingly, all of them were convinced that they were going to win on the first ballot! President Kufuor had apparently been informed of the get-together and that I was undermining his preferred candidate.
“So he called me ostensibly to complain about some news which claimed that the PURC had increased tariffs by some outlandish percentage.
He complained he had not been informed about the proposed tariff adjustment. He said he had a lot of respect for me, but that it seemed whenever his back was turned, I was always trying to stab him in the back," he narrated.
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