A salesman who embezzled 93, 587 Ghana cedis belonging to his employer to finance the political activities of the NPP in the northern region, was on Monday granted bail in the sum of 30,000 Ghana cedis by a Tamale High Court presided over by His Honor William Joseph Twumasi Appiah.
The salesman, Mr Alhassan Hafiz Sibdoo, an NPP activist, worked with As-Sahabah company limited dealers in detergents and kids soap.
Earlier this year, the company’s Chief Executive, Prince Osman Sahabi caused the arrest of Mr. Sibdoo after he found that an amount of 93,587 was missing and couldn’t be accounted for by the salesman.
Mr. Sibdoo admitted to stealing the money, but he had an explanation that immediately raised eyebrows. He subsequently claimed in court that he had used a large fraction of the money to finance the activities of the ruling NPP in the northern region during the 2016 elections, and that the party had promised to reimburse him.
At the first hearing the court directed the police to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of Mr Sibdoo’s claims that the northern regional minister, Mr Salifu Sa-eed assured him of paying him the money he invested in the NPP’s 2016 election victory.
The convict told an open court that he was expecting the money from Mr Sa-eed as promised but the minister did not keep his side of the bargain. Mr Sibdoo said he bought cell phones which he distributed to members of the NPP’s regional communication team to propagate the party’s campaign message. He also organized Quranic recitations to ensure the party’s victory.
Some of the communication members including the regional youth organizer, Alhaji Abdul Rashid Salifu C.O. P according to Prince Osman Sabih confirmed that Mr Sibdoo supported the party but did not know that the money belonged to his employer.
Prince Osman Sahibi told Zaa News after the court hearing that he uncovered the rot on his records and upon questioning, Mr Sibdo confessed he used the money for political activities.
On Monday, August 28, 2017 when the case was called again prosecutors did not go into the suspect’s claims that the minister had promised to reimburse him, but handed a report regarding the minister’s involvement to the judge.
The suspect got up immediately after the court clerk mentioned the case which drew the attention of the judge who then proceeded to grant him a hearing. Hafiz subsequently pleaded guilty to the charges and begged not be sent to jail after pledging to refund the all money.
A number of NPP regional communication members including Mr. Adam A. Gafaru, and Mr. Gazale Mankarigu were in the court to support Sibdoo. His family and friends also flocked to the court in their numbers and some verbally attacked manager of the company describing his as wicked for jailing his own worker.
Communication team disappointed
Some of the communication team members were shocked and disappointed at the turn of events. According to them, the claims by Mr Sibdoo can’t be true because they have a source of funding for their activities. They also disputed claims that the money was given to the regional minister personally. The minister is reported to have said that he has no idea of the money in question being given to him.
