The former Youth and Sports Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak must have agreed to be used as the sacrificial lamb in his party, as he claims, but the young Member of Parliament continues to cry from afar as he feels embittered about the way members of his own party treated him during his ordeal. The former Minister disclosed publicly for the first time that he was totally neglected by people of his own party, including his colleague NDC Members in Parliament, when he got entangled in the alleged cor­ruption charges. Speaking on a Zongo-based radio station in Kumasi, Zuria 88.7FM, which broadcasts in the Hausa lan­guage, the embittered former Minister said a number of govern­ment officials made mockery of him and even pressurized him to resign to save the party from embarrass­ment, even before President Mills commissioned the National Security to conduct investigations into the matter. "Even people I was expecting to support me and offer me the moral support called for my crucifixion long before the investigations were conducted," he said, adding that cer­tain personalities were jealous of him being appointed as a Minister and were bent on seeing his fall. Although the former Minister failed to mention names, he stated that the very people who pushed for him to be allotted the position were the same people who started calling for his head, moments after his predicaments became public. He said he received calls from a lot of high raking personalities in government, who were pressuriz­ing him to quickly resign from the position, even though he insisted he was innocent of all the allega­tions. Alhaji Muntaka, however, said he enjoyed enormous support from the NPP Asahnti Region MPs in Parliament who expressed their solidarity and encouraged him to remain firm in the face of his misfortune. He said all the 36 NPP Members of Parliament rallied behind him and supported him throughout the period of his suffering and said he was very much appreciative of them. Source: The Chronicle