Electrical materials suspected to be state property have been retrieved from the residence of the former Member of Parliament (MP) for Mpohor, John Sennie, following a complaint lodged by the Member of Parliament for the area, Kofi Bentil, and subsequent intervention by the Western regional minister, Joseph Nelson.
Police retrieved the said electrical materials from the residence of the former MP on Monday, last week, around 5pm, The Chronicle can confirm.
According to sources, the materials were originally intended for use on an electricity extension project within the Mpohor constituency, but were allegedly kept in the custody of the former MP.
Acting on the complaints, the Western Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Nelson, intervened to calm rising tension in Mpohor.
The matter was triggered after the sitting Member of Parliament reported, for the second time about concerns over the custody of the materials, which he and others suspected were meant for a government electrification project.
Confirming the story in a telephone interview with this reporter, Mr Nelson said the MP indicated to him (regional minister) that feedback from the Ministry of Energy suggested the items were state property.
The Regional Minister explained that discussions were also held with a Contractor involved in public electrification works, who confirmed that some of the materials in question were linked to ongoing or previous state-supported projects.
However, tension escalated when some individuals attempted to proceed to the private residence of the former MP in an attempt to retrieve the materials without formal authorisation.
“They went to his house and obviously, intruding upon somebody’s private residence was not something that was going to be taken lightly,” Mr Nelson said.
The situation prompted the involvement of the police, with officers deployed to the area to restore calm, as tension mounted around the residence.
The matter later attracted the attention of the Regional Police Command, which invited the parties involved, including the sitting MP, the former MP and Municipal Chief Executive to the Regional Police Headquarters.
Mr Joseph Nelson said he subsequently requested that the meeting be redirected to his office to allow for a more constructive engagement. “At the end of the day, we had a fruitful discussion,” he noted.
According to the Minister, two key issues emerged during the meeting, whether the materials were indeed state property or privately owned by the former MP.
While the former Legislator insisted the items were his personal property, Mr Nelson explained that establishing ownership through a full investigation would have been a lengthy process, with potential consequences.
In a move to de-escalate the situation, the former MP voluntarily offered to release the materials in his custody.
“With that offer, we felt the immediate problem was solved,” Mr Nelson said.
To further ease tension, the Regional Minister ruled that the materials should be placed under police custody.
The Contractor is expected to be invited at a later date to retrieve the items through the appropriate process, which has already been done.
“This was to take away the issue of alleged illegal custody and the tension surrounding it,” he added.
Mr Nelson also suggested that political undercurrents might have contributed to the heightened emotions around the matter, stressing the need for restraint and proper procedure in handling such disputes.
Touching on the broader context, the Minister explained that the materials were linked to an earlier electrification initiative intended to connect some communities to the national grid. Initially structured as a cost-sharing arrangement, with the MP contributing 40 per cent and the Ministry of Energy 60 per cent, the project later stalled.
Following a review, the Ministry eventually agreed to absorb the full cost of the electrification project, Mr Nelson said.
The Regional Minister has since called on all stakeholders to allow due process to prevail and to avoid actions that could inflame tensions or undermine public order.
The Member of Parliament for Mpohor, Kofi Bentil, maintained prior to the intervention by the regional minister that the electrical materials meant for a government-sponsored rural electrification project were being kept in the private custody of a former MP, more than a year, after the project stalled.
Speaking in an interview, the sitting MP said the materials which reportedly included transformers and electrical conductors were procured for a power extension project covering communities along the stretch from Bopp to K-3, K-5 and K-9.
According to him, the electrification project dates back to 2015 and 2016, and was initiated under the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, with continuity under the Akufo-Addo government.
“This is an old project started around 2015 or 2016. It was initiated by the then NDC government and later continued by the subsequent administration,” the MP explained.
While acknowledging that the former MP was in office when the project was ongoing, the sitting legislator clarified that he was not suggesting the former MP initiated the project.
However, he maintained that there was evidence the materials were being kept at the former MP’s residence.
“I am not making an allegation. The materials are there. I have pictures and videos to prove that transformers and conductors meant for the project are in his house,” he said.
He further claimed the items have remained in private custody for more than a year after the former MP lost the election.
“The materials have been there for over a year after they lost the election,” he stated.
The MP denied claims that party supporters attempted to forcibly retrieve the materials from the former MP’s residence, describing such reports as false.
“That is not true. Nobody decided to besiege his house or take the law into their own hands,” he said.
He explained that he formally reported the matter to the police and later escalated it to the Western Regional Minister after initial efforts failed to resolve the issue.
“I called the police to engage him and requested the release of the items. After that, I reported the issue to the Regional Minister, who invited us for discussions,” the MP said.
The Regional Minister’s intervention, he noted, helped de-escalate tensions and ensure that the matter was handled through appropriate administrative channels.
Speaking in a telephone interview, former MP John Sanie confirmed the electrical materials were lodged in his residence by the contractor working on the electrical extension project.
He said, as and when the contractor needed the materials, he came for them. He told this reporter it was not correct he deliberately kept the materials in his residence exactly a year after losing his seat as MP.
He said he initiated the electricity extension project as an MP, first on cost sharing until he became a legislator when the project was fully absorbed by the state.
He contended that he had not obstructed the contractor from working after losing his seat and that the contractor could confirm what he was telling the reporter.
He expressed disappointment in the sitting MP, NDC party and Assembly Members in the Mpohor for attempting to invade his residence to take custody of the materials.
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