National Democratic Congress (NDC) stalwart, Inusah Fuseini, has revealed that former President John Mahama distanced himself from Stan Dogbe after the Ghana@59 brochure scandal.
This revelation on Thursday evening is contrary to widespread perception at the time that Mr Mahama was protecting Stan Dogbe, a controversial political appointee in the then Mahama-led administration.
“After the Independence Square brochure brouhaha, I was privileged to meet the President…he told me what he was trying to do and he did it. But people simply did not appreciate what he had done. Stan Dogbe, before the Independence Day celebration thing, was always with the President [but] after that Stan Dogbe was never with the President,” Inusah Fuseini, Tamale Central MP, said on PM Express.
Photo: Inusah Fuseini
Show host, Nana Ansah Kwao IV, had asked the NDC MP if John Mahama had taken steps to deal with controversial characters like Stan Dogbe, who had earned a lot of public disaffection but still remain close to the Presidency.
Brochure fiasco
Grave grammatical and factual errors inundated a 30-page brochure that was distributed to dignitaries to celebrate Ghana’s 59th Independence Day anniversary in 2016.
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The disgraceful incident caused many critics – both home and abroad – to pick apart government on many media platforms, especially on social media.
For instance, Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, one of two African Presidents invited to the March 6 anniversary, was designated as the President of Ghana in the error-ridden brochure.
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Stan Dogbe was believed be deeply involved in the processes that led to the printing of the embarrassing brochure, however, acting Director of the Information Services Department (ISD) at the time, Francis Kwarteng Arthur, was fired after coming out to take responsibility for the errors in the brochure.
Photo: Stan Dogbe, a Presidential Staffer during the Mahama-led administration, wielded unbridled power at the Presidency.
Protection
Stan Dogbe remained a presidential staffer days after the incident, stoking public speculation of a deliberate attempt to protect him again.
One communications expert, Dr Eric Opoku, even suggested that President John Mahama was covering up for Stan Dogbe after Mr Mahama described the errors in the brochure as ‘printer’s devil.’
“If you listen to the president, he is trying to enlarge the blame and shift it entirely away from Stan Dogbe. I think that is quite unfortunate. I don’t see why the president couldn’t be bold and say that: ‘This person did this, this person did that, and I am getting them out of my office,’” Mr Opoku told Accra-based Class FM.
Watch Thursday’s PM Express show below.