Member of Parliament for the Efutu Constituency in the Central Region, Alexander Afenyo Markin, says he has forgiven all those who accused him falsely in the Agricultural Development Bank (adb) bribery saga.
Afenyo Markin, who was the lawyer for his colleague MP Mark Assibey in a suit against adb over the bank’s Initial Public Offer (IPO), was accused of withdrawing the case because he received a bribe of more than $900,000 from the bank.
Adb’s letter
However, a letter from the bank dated 4th March 2016, exonerated the Efutu MP in response to a request from lawyers for an anti-corruption advocacy group, the Forum for the Protection of Public Funds, who requested for further details on the alleged corrupt act, so they could pursue it in court.
[contextly_sidebar id=”uqFlYTAhNvrxONMc1tlgg2Fbs81ee7ba”]The Bank in its letter said, “we wish to observe that the contents of your letter are not only disturbing and shocking but appears to be a professionally tabulated pack of half-truths completely in sync with outright lies.”
Afenyo-Markin’s accusers apologize
The group, subsequently apologized for the allegations. Speaking to Citi News, Afenyo Markin, who went quiet in the heat of the allegations, says he bears no grudges against his accusers.
“Let me say that these allegations tested my patience a lot. Over the period, I went through some counseling. I had very responsible and prominent Ghanaians advising me on a whole number of issues that I should take it easy. So I wasn’t surprised when we heard of it that the bank has finally written.”
Simply put it was blackmail
“To me, I’ve forgiven all those who came out with these wild allegations against me. I think it’s part of our body politics that people will come out with issues against an individual, but to the extent that some of these things will be aimed at blackmailing or destroying you without real basis, I think it is most unfortunate. Simply put, it was blackmail. I live it to the conscience of all those individuals who teamed up to do what they thought they were doing to destroy me. In my heart, I will not begrudge anybody. In my heart, I will move on as a Ghanaian and as a Member of Parliament so that the people see my work and retain me to contribute to the development of the nation,” he added.
The Efutu MP also said the trials he went through thought him a number of lessons which will help shape his political career but will not kill the fire in him which is needed for development.
I won’t go solo again
“I’ve learnt also quite a number of things as a politician. I have learnt a lot, and when I say I’ve learnt a lot, I’ve learnt a lot. I will be guided by the lessons I’ve learnt and I will continue to do the things I’ve been doing but not to be acting solo,” he added.
Teamwork in Parliament
Afenyo Markin said his new life will be to work in a team and under the leadership of his party.
“In parliament we work as a group, I will not let my personal initiatives override the collective interest of my group. So I intend like before to continue to work as a back-bencher consulting my leadership in the things that I believe will serve our party’s interest or acting on the instructions of leadership working together with my colleagues in the minority to win power and more seats,” he added.
Background
In 2015, Mr. Afenyo-Markin was contacted by his colleague MP for New Juaben South, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah, who had dragged adb to court over the bank’s IPO launch.
He was of the view that the bank needed parliamentary approval to launch IPO.
The MP had invoked the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to compel the Bank to seek parliamentary approval before it proceeds with the planned public offer.
Questions were raised over why adb went ahead to float its shares when the case was still at the Supreme Court with the Minority’s spokesperson on finance, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei bemoaning the conduct of the bank insisting it was in clear breach of the rules of the court.
But the case was subsequently withdrawn on June 29, a few days before the IPO was launched on Friday July 3, 2015.
–
By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana