The Western Regional Coordinating Council has stated that Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the Regional Minister and Member of Parliament for Takoradi, has not instructed the region’s Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies to contribute various amounts towards his father’s impending final funeral rites.
This comes after a letter purporting to be from the Western Regional Coordinating Council was circulated, asking 14 Assemblies in the Western Region to donate GHS 49,000 to the burial.
According to a portion of the purported letter signed by Frederick Agyemang, Chief Director of the Western Regional Coordinating Council (WRCC), “Following a decision with the dean of MMDCEs and MMDCES… it has been decided that your MMDA is to contribute the following amount towards the final funeral rites of the late father of the regional minister…”
The Sekondi Metropolitan Assembly, Prestea Huni Valley Municipal Assembly, Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipal Assembly, Ellembelle District Assembly, and Effia Kwesiminstim Municipal Assembly were each requested to pay GH5,000, while the Ahanta West, Wassa Amenfi East, and Jomoro were each told to pay GH3,500.
Wassa East, Shama, Wassa Amenfi Central, Nzema East, and Mpohor were each required to contribute GH2,000.
The Chief Director allegedly told the assemblies to deposit the funds in Room 19 of the regional account by the end of business on Monday, September 20, 2021.
The Western Regional Coordinating Council, on the other hand, has denied the report.
“He [Minister] has not directed any of the Hon. Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Executives (MMDCEs) to make any payment in support of his father’s or any other funeral. Please discard and consider any such information to be false, as the supposed letter did not bear the seal of the Regional Coordinating Council,” according to a document written by the Western Regional Coordinating Council’s Public Relations Officer.