The Deputy National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress, Malik Basintale, clashed with the former Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Pius Enam Hadzide, on live TV on Wednesday, October 25, 2023.
The two men were discussing the recent claim by the former Chairperson of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Prof Stephen Adei, that government officials demand “1 million before giving out road contracts’, during a panel discussion on TV3.
Pius Hadzide, the CEO of the National Youth Authority (NYA), argued that the claim by Prof Adei cannot be wholly accepted because they were mere allegations.
But his use of corruption allegations that implicated former President John Dramani Mahama to make his point did not sit well with Malik Basintale.
Pius Hadzide said that all the corruption allegations made against Mahama including the Airbus scandal cannot be accepted as the truth but must be investigated.
“When Mr. Mahama was accused in the Airbus scandal that he took monies and that there were allegations that he, as vice president, was being investigated by his president, Prof Mills, very shortly before the unfortunate death… I believe that we ought to interrogate these matters. We ought to investigate them,” he said.
“But if the suggestion from Basintale is that once it is said let us believe it, then he should be the first telling us that Mr John Dramani Mahama is criminal because allegations have been made,” Hadzide added.
In response to the submission by his co-panel, Malik Basintale resurrected the issue of the Australian visa scandal which had Pius Hadzide investigated and cleared by the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service.
Basintale was shocked by Pius Hadzide’s reference to John Mahama as a person of interest in some corruption-related activities as he believes the former Sports Minister is a ‘colossus of corruption’.
“The discussion has to do with the fact that you are a walking colossus of corruption. You turned yourself into a goro boy and took over 200 persons to Australia. You thought because you had beaten the immigration in Ghana, Australian authorities would allow them to pass. They deported over 200 of them in the name of journalists. When one of the persons was asked what a recorder was, he didn’t know. They realized that a deputy minister like you had reduced yourself to a connection man,” he said.
While Basintale was making his submissions, Pius Hadzide charged in “I’m not going to sit here for this ignorant narrative to be spilled across. I’m not going to take it.”
Basintale jabbed again, saying, “You think you can say anything and get away with it. You are crying. You want to cry.”
Pius Hadzide directed his rage at Naa Ashorkor, the host, fuming that, “I cannot take that.”
Basintale then mocked him more: “Your eyes are red. You want to cry. An investigation was conducted and the president went to your congress in Ho to clear you. Have you seen the report of the CID?”
Hadzide directed him to get the report that cleared him stating, “Go and get the report”.
Source: ghanaweb.com
