The Acting Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Gaming Commission of Ghana, Lamtiig Apanga, says the sexual misconduct allegations against Obuasi SHTS headmaster Zakaria Abdulai have affected the public image of the NDC, but should not be used to disqualify him from contesting the Juaben Constituency Chairmanship election before investigations are completed.
Speaking on Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV on Tuesday, October 20, Apanga acknowledged that the controversy was generating negative publicity for the party because one of its members was facing the allegations.
“For NDC or any other party, this particular complaint issue is giving us some bad PR that a member of our party is facing this allegation. It is not something that we can take pride in. It takes away some goodwill, some positive PR away from us,” he said.
However, Apanga argued that the allegations alone did not provide sufficient grounds to disqualify Abdulai, noting that no court or tribunal had found him guilty of an offence.
“The set of rules has been put out there. If it is established that the person is a convict, then you can use that as a basis to disqualify the person. But the investigation has not ended yet. No court or tribunal has found him guilty of any offence. On what basis are you going to disqualify him?” he asked.
He said allegations against political figures must be investigated and conclusions reached before decisions are made, adding that Abdulai had met the requirements for the contest during vetting before the allegations emerged.
Apanga stressed that his position did not mean the NDC supported or endorsed Abdulai, but maintained that the party should not condemn him before the investigations were concluded.
“This is not to say that my party or the NDC in any way supports or endorses him, but we cannot condemn the man before investigations are concluded,” he said.
He added that disqualifying Abdulai based on allegations that had not been established would conflict with the standards the party had set for itself.
