Frederick Worsemao Armah Blay, a former Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), has said the letter from the Presidency which stated the cancellation of ‘The Convention’, a Pan African event, did not address the real reason for the decision.
Rather than saying the event was cancelled as a result of an “unforeseen” state event, the Board Chair of GNPC said government should have said it was informed on the programme that was communicated to them.
The event, organised by The New Africa Foundation, founded by leader of the New Force Movement, Nana Kwame Bediako, popularly known as Cheddar, was to take place at the Independence Square Sunday, January 07, 2024, but was cancelled at the last minute.
A statement signed by the Deputy Director of the Diaspora Affairs Directorate, at the Presidency, Dr Nadia Adongo Fynn, however, said that the event was cancelled because of “unforeseen” state event scheduled to take place at the same venue.
But Mr. Blay thinks that the statement did not address the real reason for the cancellation of the programme. “The narrative, I would have maybe done it, different way. I would have said that those who applied for it, misinformed government,” he noted.
The comment comes days after massive criticism of the government for cancelling the event it had given prior approval to. Critics say the government could have cancelled the event days ahead of it.
The man behind the event, Cheddar, has also accused the government of stating only 10,000 Cedis as the amount it is going to reimburse the organisers instead of the 30,000 Cedis paid for the event.
Speaking with 3News’ Beatrice Claire Adu, the former Chairman of the NPP said although he would not condemn the government because the organiser was economical with the truth, he would have allowed the event to go through.
“The guy did not come forward to put his name behind the application form, the space, which is a national asset and for that matter misrepresented his intention to the authorities ….that indeed it was to launch a political event,…. that is to launch himself as a politician or somebody who would bid for an office…..but left to me, I would have allowed him……..but, there is always room for improvement, looking back, you could always say that I could have done it some other way….but I wouldn’t condemn government,” he noted.
The organisers of the programme confirmed the cancellation of the event in a press release on January 07. The release said “We regret to inform you that the Government has cancelled the above Pan African Event which was to take place today at the Independence square in Accra, Ghana. All the special guests have arrived and thousands of people have come from all over Ghana as well as around the globe for this historic event. We have just been informed of the cancellation of this event a couple of hours before its commencement.”
It continued that “this event was approved by the Government in November of 2023. This came as a shock to us and a devastation to our dignitaries and special guests who flew in from around the world.”
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