Courier With �The Tape� Runs Off On Sight

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, former Asante Kotoko Chief Executive, Herbert Mensah, will take up the challenge thrown by the Get Atta Mills Endorsed (GAME) group to either put up or shut up, by releasing the much talked about GH�90m Campaign Budget Security tape today. He is set to play the recording to the hearing of some selected journalists from Peacefm, Adomfm and other media houses, Peacefmonline.com can confirm. But the venue and time for the airing of the tape is being kept close to our chest. Speaking in an exclusive interview with peacefmonline.com from Ethiopia, Herbert Mensah affirmed that the duration of the said tape is two hours but the discussion about the GH�90m covered just nine minutes of the controversial tape. On Monday, May 9th, Herbert Mensah, the self-confessed �radical individual� and a staunch supporter of the Rawlingses, told Kwami Sefa Kayi on �Kokrokoo� on PeaceFM, that he and former President Jerry Rawlings had discovered from security tapes that President Mills� campaign team planned to use about GH�90m million to fuel his campaign for flag bearer of the NDC. That disclosure elicited a raucous outburst of hilarity from President Mills who later swore heaven and earth on Radio Gold and AsempaFM that he had no such budget for his re-election bid. �Where I have reached in my career, it is not the time for me to disgrace myself. I have therefore ordered our agencies to conduct investigations into the allegation so that Ghanaians would know the truth�I have also heard about the allegation that I am going to use that huge amount for my campaign. I do not know where it is coming from. I heard they brought me a budget but nobody has presented to me any budget and I have also not given any approval�Atta Mills has no budget for campaign - it is well-wishers (people) who are bringing it,� he said. The former Country Manager of MNET West Africa will jet down today (Sunday) from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he together with General Arnold Quainoo accompanied former President Rawlings who participated in the AU Panel of the WISE Meeting. Meanwhile, there was drama at the studios of Tema-based AdomFM on Friday, May 13th, when host of �Dwaso Nsem�, the station�s morning show programme, Adakabre Frimpong Manso, disclosed that he would play back on his show on Monday, May 16, 2011, the controversial tape, notably the portion relating to the GHC90 million. Peacefmonline.com can reveal that a courier on his way to deliver the �famous� recording to the offices of Adom FM in Tema, disappeared following a raid on the radio station by operatives of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI). The man apparently had been tasked to deliver the recording to Adom FM to enable Adakabre air the recording on Monday, when on his arrival he became aware of the presence of BNI officers at the station. Following a series of highly publicized events, the BNI stormed the offices of Adom FM on Friday morning ostensibly to prevent the tape suggesting financial and physical intimidation on the part of persons close to or a part of the President�s re-election team from being aired. On Friday morning after announcements by the host that the tape will be played to the hearing of listeners as assured by Herbert Mensah, the response was significant and this clearly prompted the BNI action whose operatives aggressively stormed the premises of AdomFM, alarming staff of the station. Panic was clearly written on the faces of some staff of the radio station. �They (BNI) thought we already had the tape so they wanted to come for it, so when they were told that we don't have it yet, they then requested for a copy of your interview with us�we were all surprised and shocked! We are not sure that it is safe for us to play the tape,� a staff of AdomFM who wants to remain anonymous told peacefmonline.com. So, will Mr Herbert Mensah make good his word and give journalists the opportunity to listen to the tape? And what happens when the contents of this controversial recording is made public? Just stay tuned.