The General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has threatened legal action against the former CEO of the Bui Power Authority, Fred Oware, for allegedly “spewing half truths” and “downright lies calculated at tarnishing” his (Nketia) hard won reputation. Mr. Asiedu Nketia who was addressing the media on Thursday reacted to accusations of conflict of interest leveled against him by Mr. Fred Oware last month for selling cement blocks to the Bui Power Authority (BPA) whiles serving as a board member of same. But Asiedu Nketia believes the NPP first Vice Chairman’s accusations were mischievous and has decided to drag him to court. “I have decided that a legal redress offers the best solutions to the unfounded allegations of conflict of interest and insider trading leveled against my person. The only thing I will say at this stage is that, I have not and will not engage in any wrongdoing as far as my duties and obligations as a member of the Bui Power Authority Board are concerned,” he stated. Throwing more light on the challenges facing the BPA, Mr. Asiedu Nketia said the present board has been faced with a difficulty in accessing information on activities that took place during the previous board's tenure. He indicated that “in the absence of minutes covering board meetings which should form the basis of decisions of the BPA and the justification for same, the current board is saddled with issues which require the invitation of, at least, the two gentlemen (President Kufuor and Mr Oware) to clarify.” He further questioned the rationale behind the acquisition of land to include major settlements like Bamboi, Kasilima and Carpenter, when there is no provision in the project to include these settlements in the catchment area. He said even though there was funding for the Bui Hydroelectric and the Irrigation projects, the Bui City project was left out. “Upon taking over, the current board realized with shock that whereas the first two components were covered in the planning and funding arrangements, there were no feasibility studies, no architectural designs and neither was there any financial provisions made for any preparatory work or implementation work of the Bui City project. It could only be described as a Castle that existed on the campaign billboards of the NPP or perhaps in President Kufuor’s head,” he mocked. He revealed that the BPA has an obligation to certify that the quality of materials conform with the specification and standards contained in the project agreement, and went on to accuse the former board of approving substandard materials for the project. Mr. Nketia explained that the BPA has the power to reject any substandard material without attracting additional cost to the project as all the related cost is borne by the contractor per the project agreement. Mr Asiedu Nketia further stated that “Mr Oware made the biggest fool of himself before the Ghanaian media when he tendered in minutes of a so-called “First General Meeting of the Consultative Committee of the Bui City when asked to produce minutes of Bui Board meetings held under his stewardship.” He called on the media to go out and investigate the veracity of issues raised by the two parties in order to identify which group is telling the truth as all the information are a matter of public knowledge. Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana