Convener of the Fixing the Country movement, Ernest Owusu Bempah has accused the main opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) and former President John Dramani Mahama of being behind the lie told by 28-year-old Takoradi woman Josephine Panyin Mensah that she was kidnapped and was also pregnant.

At a press conference in Accra on Sunday, Owusu Bempah indicated that the current National Chairman of the NDC is caught on tape allegedly plotting with some bigwigs of the party regarding how they are going to destabilise the country and make it ungovernable through actions such as kidnapping.

Panyin Mensah was found a few days after reportedly going missing.

Earlier official complaints lodged by Panyin Mensah’s husband at the police station on Friday, September 17 indicated that she was heavily pregnant and had been kidnapped.

But after being found at Tolanu, a suburb of Axim, exactly five days later, she was without her supposed nine-month pregnancy.

This heightened fears about the turpitude of her alleged kidnappers in the Western Region.

The Ghana Police Service announced that Panyin Mensah pleaded not to be prosecuted after confessing she was not pregnant and not kidnapped.

The Police in a statement on Friday September 24 said “The suspect, Josephine Panyin Mensah, 28, has confessed to the Police during further investigations and stated that neither was she pregnant nor ever being kidnapped. The public will be updated with further details.”

Reacting to this news, Ernest Owusu Bempah said ” The National Chairman of the NDC, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, in the run up to the 2020 elections was caught on tape hatching an evil plot against the state. Per the voice on the tape, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo is allegedly heard talking about planning a road-map of criminal activities targeted at the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Chairman of the National Peace Council, among others.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the media, isn’t it interesting to note that these occurrences are happening in a fashion akin to the directives contained in the Ofosu Ampofo tape? The Fixing The Country Movement is not unaware of the political machinations of the NDC and how they are desperate to plunge this country into chaos. It is quite clear that this is the handiwork of those who are desperate for power and will do and employ any tactic fair or foul to achieve their selfish ambition. And this their latest shenanigan has back fired.

“As a matter of fact, we have been told by former NDC Flagbearer aspirant, Stephen Atubiga that the lady in the centre of this fraudulent hoax is a member of the NDC. Indeed, a careful reading of the history would point to the establishment of certain incontrovertible facts that underscored the culpability of the Mahama led NDC in this fake abduction/kidnapping story even before the conclusion of Police investigations. It was meant to cause dissatisfaction for the ruling regime and to incriminate the government for electoral advantage.”

Below is the full statement…

STATEMENT BY FIXING THE COUNTRY MOVEMENT AT A PRESS CONFERENCE HELD ON SUNDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER, 2021 IN ACCRA ON MAHAMA AND NDC’s INVOLVEMENT IN TAKORADI HOAX KIDNAPING SAGA

Ladies and gentlemen of the Press, it is my pleasure to once again welcome you to yet another edition of FIXING THE COUNTRY MOVEMENT media interaction.

Today our searchlight is focused on the issues surrounding the fraudulent hoax of the kidnapping of a so-called pregnant woman in Takoradi. Over the last couple of days, the airwaves have been inundated with claims and counter claims of an abduction of a pregnant 28 years old Josephine Panyin Mensah in Takoradi.

As it were, the police response to the matter has been very swift, and it is no surprising that the pregnancy and the kidnapping turned out to be a fraudulent hoax.

Ladies and gentlemen of the press, the latest police report on the matter indicates that, Josephine Panyin Mensah, the woman currently being detained in the Western Regional police command alleged kidnapping, has confessed that she was neither kidnapped nor pregnant.

This was announced in a brief statement released by the Ghana Police Service on Friday, September 24, 2021.“The suspect, Josephine Panyin Mensah, 28, has confessed to the Police during further investigations and stated that neither was she pregnant nor ever being kidnapped.

The public will be updated with further details,” police added in the statement.Ladies and gentlemen, this Takoradi incident is coming at the back of the Ofosu Ampofo leaked tape.

The National Chairman of the NDC, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, in the run up to the 2020 elections was caught on tape hatching an evil plot against the state. Per the voice on the tape, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo is allegedly heard talking about planning a road-map of criminal activities targeted at the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Chairman of the National Peace Council, among others.

Excepts: “People will start capturing their mothers and fathers and keeping them hostage till they show up”.The voice also stated, “The EC chair, we must wage a relentless war against her. We need to take her to the cleaners.”It is further heard saying, “We will go after them. We will not go after them face to face. We will target some people to make them feel their lives are in danger. We should also not spare the CSOs and religious groups. Especially the peace council chairman. For the first time, I will endorse insults”

Ladies and gentlemen of the media, isn’t it interesting to note that these occurrences are happening in a fashion akin to the directives contained in the Ofosu Ampofo tape? The Fixing The Country Movement is not unaware of the political machinations of the NDC and how they are desperate to plunge this country into chaos. It is quite clear that this is the handiwork of those who are desperate for power and will do and employ any tactic fair or foul to achieve their selfish ambition. And this their latest shenanigan has back fired.

As a matter of fact, we have been told by former NDC Flagbearer aspirant, Stephen Atubiga that the lady in the centre of this fraudulent hoax is a member of the NDC. Indeed, a careful reading of the history would point to the establishment of certain incontrovertible facts that underscored the culpability of the Mahama led NDC in this fake abduction/kidnapping story even before the conclusion of Police investigations. It was meant to cause dissatisfaction for the ruling regime and to incriminate the government for electoral advantage.

Ladies and gentlemen of the media, as a student of Cicero, Machiavelli, Plato and all the 16th century political philosophers, we believe in white and black propaganda as a tool for gaining electoral advantage. However, when the largest opposition party in the country become neck-deep in realist partisan political strategies, we ends up being in a state of political dystopia and zombie apocalypse.

As for media practitioners like Godsbrain Smart, otherwise known as Captain Smart who waded into this matter without the benefit of the facts and shouted on top of their voices, seeking to blame it on government, we have no words for them. The magnitude of the embarrassment, the hysteria they generated on social media and mainstream news, the level of journalistic recklessness that corroborated this story, and the amount of damage and danger they caused is quite staggering.

Even when the woman herself finally finds her tongue and confess she was never pregnant, sections of the media still insisted she was pregnant. Indeed, the entire kidnap scenario looked too contrived and yet the NDC and its media collaborators were on rampage.It’s inevitable that media outlets will make mistakes on complex stories. If that’s being done in good faith, one will give them the benefit of the doubt in terms of the agenda served by the false stories. That is most definitely not the case here, and it is very disheartening.

This fake abduction story has once again highlighted another monstrous media failure in this country.The confession statement of this woman should be a lesson to unprincipled journalists and politicians in the NDC. To this end, we call on the Inspector General Of Police (IGP) to cast his investigative tentacles wider to ensure a criminal investigation process is activated in a prompt and impartial manner to fish out all the NDC politicians behind Josephine Panyin Mensah and her fake abduction, kidnapping and pregnancy story.

Criminal misdemeanour should be accorded the seriousness it deserves by allowing the criminal justice system to interpret and assess its social impact and apportion punishment as prescribed by law. The impression of impunity may encourage others to take the same route and it may ultimately lead to the destruction of the fabric of the State. Let the skeptics and cynics have their day. It is their right to remain skeptical and cynical about governance.

President Akufo-Addo will continue to fix the Country regardless. Thank you for your time.

(Signed)

Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah