Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has come to the defence of embattled acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, amidst the growing controversy over the gifting of dollars to a controversial preacher.

According to him, the constitutional right to privacy of the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was violated.

He explained that Mr Gyamfi counted the money privately in his car, not in public, and therefore had no reason to be recorded.

“I will describe it as a breach of his constitutional right to privacy. Article 18 of the Constitution is clear that everyone has their privacy. So why would someone go into his car to count money, and there would be a paparazzi to capture it?

“We must be careful about these things. If he wanted to do it openly, he would have done that because he even took pictures with Agradaa, but the moment he went into his car, it was private. Agradaa was the one to receive the money and she was standing there, so if she wasn’t then we would have said he was reckless,” he stated.

In an interview on Adom FM Dwaso Nsem, Mr Kpebu argued that the issues are being exaggerated, stressing there are deliberate attempts to equalise it with Cecilia Dapaah’s case.

“People are just trying to equalise this to Cecilia Dapaah’s case, but they are nothing alike, so we should stop. There are about seven cases I criticised the government over the way it was handled, but this Sammy Gyamfi’s issue is nothing.

“We are creating a mountain out of a molehill and making a storm in a teacup. NPP has lost the election; they must be calm, patient, and be a constructive and responsible opposition,” he added.

The controversy ignited after a video surfaced on social media showing Gyamfi presenting an undisclosed amount of money, reportedly in dollars, to Nana Agradaa at a public event.

Following public outcry, Sammy Gyamfi, who issued a public apology, was subsequently summoned by the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah. It remains to be seen whether the President will take an action against him or not.