BABA JAMAL, a Deputy Minister of Information, has accused the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) of engineering a tape recording which allegedly captures his voice luring a group of journalists to �kill� stories which will negatively affect the government and rather highlight the positive ones.
The former Eastern Regional deputy minister said he had no doubt that the country�s largest opposition party was the brain behind the purported secret tape recording.
This, according to him, was because the NPP was envious of the dexterity at which he had been able to strengthen the Information Ministry since he joined the ministry a couple of months ago.
He told Adom Fm in an interview that �because I have been able to stabilize the Information Ministry and now government information was flowing in the right direction, they the (NPP) want to destroy me�.
The deputy minister, who came under intense criticism after declaring Jihad ahead of the Akwatia by-election, contended that the NPP had realized that if they did not destroy him, its dream of coming back to power in the 2012 polls would not be a reality. �They know that if they allow Baba Jamal to continue what he is currently doing, government information would be managed effectively to the extent that their lies and propaganda cannot work,� he boasted.
Baba Jamal indicated that it was not the first time the NPP had tried to destroy and also discourage him from performing his duties to satisfaction. He said when he was the Eastern regional minister, the party did whatever it could to bring him down.
As part of the ploy to smear his character, he claimed, the NPP concocted a story that he was a sponsor of illegal mining activities in the region but when he challenged his accusers to provide the evidence, they failed woefully. The deputy minister therefore entreated the citizenry to downplay the said tape recording, reiterating he had never held a secret meeting with journalists since he assumed his office.
Stressing that he would go to court and clear his name, Jamal noted that the government had information about the alleged plot and was investigating it when the said tape was made available.
He contended that a series of such tapes which were the handiwork of the NPP, would be circulated to impugn the dignity of some government officials and the government itself, warning the public to beware.
The dust surrounding a secret recording which purportedly captured the voice of Baba Jamal promising some journalists huge sums of money to do the government�s public relations gimmick is yet to settle.
Allegedly recorded at Bolgatanga, the Deputy Information Minister was supposedly heard telling the journalists that they had been put on National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) payroll and that they would be paid monthly for dancing to the tune of the government.
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