The Head of Communications of the Tobinco Group, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, has won the presidential elections of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), following allegations of bribery.
He was elected on Friday, June 24, 2022 in the Elections that took place across Ghana and will take over from Roland Affail Monney as President.
Mr. Dwumfour garnered 233 votes while David Agbenu, Editor of state-owned media outlet, the Ghanaian Times, polled 142 votes and Gayheart Mensah, a communications consultant garnered 181 votes.
Bribery scandal
But www.africanentertainment.com can confirm that prior to the elections, there were allegations of bribery leveled against the Tobinco Group boss.
The GJA elections had been delayed for two years due to disruptes and a total 559 out of the over 800 registered members of GJA voted for a total of 46 candidates.
The elections were supposed to have been held in 2020, but the disputes delayed it.
And ahead of the elections, a member of the GJA in the Western Region, Dotsey Koblah Aklorbortu, petitioned the election committee of GJA to investigate and act on the conduct of one of Albert Kwabena Dwumfour.
In the petition, Mr. Aklorbortu had alleged that Mr. Dwumfour “with tacit support from the Chairman of Tobinco Group of Company, Mr. Amoh Tobbin, offered members of the GJA in good standing [at a meeting], in addition to the buffet, an amount of ¢500 to vote for Mr. Albert Dwumfour.”
Mr. Aklorbortu also alleged that “Mr. Amoh Tobbin, in the said meeting at the Atlantic Hotel in Takoradi, told journalists to vote for Mr. Dwumfour in order to protect and promote his business.
“He said during the previous administration (government), his business suffered under Mr Opuni and that he used the media to protect his interest. Therefore, voting for Mr. Albert Kwabena Dwumfour to become the GJA President will mean protection for his business interest.”
Short videos that went viral Samuel Amoh Tobbin of the Tobinco Group of Companies and Albert Dwumfour in a meeting with some journalists in the Western Region.
Mr Tobbin is heard in the video saying if it were a political thing, he would ask, “Should I give a TV [set] or this or that?” which was greeted with laughter from the journalists present at the meeting.
According to him, “I will be of help because I’m in the industry and more so, I’m a businessman. So, I’ll need you tomorrow. If you come tomorrow after voting for him and I turn you down, Tobinco is a household name. Who knows tomorrow?”.
The Tobinco boss added that “I’m not a politician, who will say it and just go away. I’m a businessman. I’m in a lot of businesses. So do him [pointing to Albert Dwumfour] a favour. Do me a favour by bringing him. When you bring him… why I want you to bring him on board is to support my business as well. He’s my corporate person. He does all my social [activities].”
Mr. Aklorbortu noted that the actions of Albert Dwumfour contravene “Article 52 (b) (c) and (d) GJA constitution 2004. It states ‘52 (b) it shall be an election offence for any candidate to directly or indirectly offer cash, favors, any incentives, or apply threats with the intention to influence the election results. (c) Any candidate found contravening the provisions of Article 52 (b) shall be disqualified after due investigation by the elections committee and (d) if found guilty, the candidate shall be barred from standing for any GJA elections for the next two (2) subsequent general elections.’”
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