Bribery scandal: You’ve two weeks to resign – Talensi Youth to Paramount Chief

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A group of concerned citizens of Talensi, a district in the Upper East region, has given the Paramount chief of the area two weeks to resign from the Council of State and board of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) for his alleged involvement in a bribery scandal or they will initiate an absolute vote of no confidence against him.

The concerned youth have also asked the Paramount Chief to desist from giving protection to the Shaanxi Mining company, a Chinese firm operating in Gbani, a suburb of Talensi.

The Paramount Chief of the Talensi traditional Area, Tongorana Kugbilsong Nanlebgtang, came under heavy criticism after his name popped up in a leaked telephony conversation between Mr. Rockson Bukari, a former Upper East Regional Minister and Starr FM Reporter, Edward Adeti, as one of the people giving support to the Shaanxi mining company.

In the widely circulated audio tape, Mr. Rockson said the Tongo Chief was uncomfortable with an exposé the Journalist had conducted on some illegal activities of the Shaanxi mining company and begged him to drop the damning investigative piece, with a promise to “find him something”.

Following mounted pressure on the chief calling for his resignation from all national positions, the Tongorana released a statement to disassociate himself from the comments of the Minister who was prior to his resignation, in charge of special duties at the Presidency.

But the concerned citizens say his statement cannot save him from the “embarrassment he caused himself and the good people of Talenteng”.

At a press conference held in Bolgatanga on Monday, the group vowed to start a vote of no confidence against him if he fails to resign within the two weeks period.

“We understand Tongorana has released a press statement trying to disassociate himself from the expose. However, we are yet to witness how a tortoise can be a tortoise without its conspicuous and self-defining shell. Before he can disassociate himself from Adeti’s expose, we call on him, the Tongorana to first ask Rockson Bukari to publicly retract his involvement in the act suppressing justice and aiding and abetting the plunder of Talenteng and Ghana.

“We the concerned youth of Talensi therefore call on him to resign from the Council of State and the Board of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) within two weeks. We will initiate an absolute vote of no confidence on him by the electorate if he does not resign from the Council of State,” the group said.

The group members questioned how he would advise the President with the taint of corruption all over his hands. They called on President Akufo-Addo to remove the Tongorana from being the chair of the TOR board.

“How can someone who has corruption all over him, someone who suppresses justice and encourages all forms of corrupt acts advise the first gentleman of the land on key issues affecting the people of Ghana? All we want is for the President to act swiftly and remove him from the Tema oil refinery board chair,” the concerned youth added.

They reiterated their call on authorities to revoke the licenses of the Shaanxi mining company and do proper investigation into their operations.

“Due to these illegal activities of Shaanxi mines, we the concerned citizens of Talensi are again calling for the revocation of all of licenses of Shaanxi mines before they cause further deterioration to Talengteng and the entire nation.”

By Senyalah Castro, Daily Mail GH