The chaos that has characterised the emergence of an explosive secret recording, which immediately led to the dismissal of Ms Victoria Hammah as Deputy Minister of Communications, took a dramatic, new turn Sunday when the driver of the former minister, Lawrence Quayeson, accused Ms Rachael Appoh, the Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, of being the mastermind behind the recording.
Quayeson, told Accra-based RadioXYZ that Ms Appoh had contracted him through a former Personal Assistant of Ms Hammah, whose name he gave as Ayittey Bastey.
�It�s Ayittey Basty who came to me and told me that I should call Rachel Appoh, yeah, Rachel Appoh, and she�ll tell me whatever I want to do, so she called me and said �have I seen Ayittey Basty?� And I said �no� and she said she�ll call him and talk to him�and see him to come and see me," RadioXYZ quoted him as saying.
Quayeson, who is a also a cousin of Ms Hammah, alleged that Ms Appoh promised him US$2,000 dollars and a US visa in exchange for recordings of Ms Hammah's private conversations.
He said Ms Appoh called him on phone to issue the instructions.
Quayeson expressed regret at the sacking of Ms Hammah, saying he did not think things would turn out that way.
"�It�s the work of the devil�I was used�I never thought that it will go to that extent for my sister to lose her job,� he said.
Quayeson was arrested Friday in connection with the recording, but was granted bail after the police admitted to not knowing what offence to charge him with.
The Public Relations Officer of the Greater Accra Regional Police Command, DSP Freeman Tettey, said the arrest followed Ms Hammah complaint to the effect that her driver secretly recorded her.
Ms Apoh declined to comment when Graphic.com.gh sought her view on the development.
"No comment pls�, she stated.
Ayittey Bastey, on the other hand, has in a series of Facebook posts sought to distance himself from the recording.
�I have never asked anybody to record voice for me�, he posted.
�I want to make it clear here and now; I stopped working with Victoria Hamah, more than a month [before] this said tape. I am informed that, the tape was recorded on last week Friday, he wrote on Saturday. � Last week Friday, I was not in Accra. I return[ed] to Accra on Sunday evening and there are [people] who will bear me out. I will advi[s]e people to seek the facts of the matter before coming out with publications which are not true.�
Ms Hammah was sacked Friday morning by President John Mahama after she was heard in the recording implying that she would not put her political career at risk by engaging in squabbles with political heavy weights until she had made $1 million.
She was making reference to a series of disagreements-which have been reported on by the media- between Ms Appoh and her boss, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur.
In the recording, Ms Hammah could be heard chastising Ms Appoh for daring to pick up a fight with Nana Oye, whom she described as an �institution� with close links to President Mahama and Mr and Mrs Rawlings.
As proof of her argument, Ms Hammah had claimed to have heard that Nana Oye played a fundamental role in securing a favourable verdict for President Mahama in the recently-concluded election petition hearing.
Describing Ms Appoh as �senseless, ugly, loud and egoistic�, she said it was unreasonable on her part to be to be standing up to Nana Oye when she (Ms Appoh) did not even have close to GHS100,000 in her account.
�I�ve not made $1 million dollars and I�m going to fight?�, Ms Hammah said, adding, "If you have money then you can control people."
The recording, which has now gone viral on the internet, is the subject of media discussions across the country.
Source: Daily Graphic
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