His comments were in relation to the formation of a parliamentary committee which investigated claims made by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak that the Millennium Excellence Foundation charged expatriates between $25,000 and $100,000, to sit close to President Nana Akufo-Addo at an awards ceremony.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ZWCoruEULeIr5mC7VT4rkhbsWN25tdsw”]Before the directive to probe the matter, Parliament was recalled from their recess for an emergency sitting, on January 5, in what Mr. Buabeng Asamoah described as an abuse of Parliament’s Standing Orders.

“One would find that the evidence was farcical so probably, there is some abuse there. If a committee is going to be set up every time 15 percent of the people summon us, we would end up chasing after shadows,” he said on Eyewitness News.

“You would find a group privatising the constitutional authority to recall Parliament in pursuit of funny political goals. Therefore, even though it is a mandatory provision, it should be hedged with certain safeguards,” the MP added.

Majority confident in committee’s report

Following the debate on the committee’s report and the Minority’s boycott of proceedings last week, Muntaka Mubarak said that members of the Majority side of the cash-for-seat Committee were being dishonest with its report of the Committee because it neglected the views of Minority members.

But Mr. Buabeng Asamoah said that the Majority side of the ad-hoc committee is unfazed by the minority’s claims.

“He [Muntaka] has all the public space to continue spewing all the things they said before which they never substantiated.”

He added that his side is confident in the report it produced following the sitting.

“I am totally committed to that report and I believe Parliament must stand for something. And parliament should not shoot itself in the foot. I believe that a serious Member of Parliament should act responsibly when acting in the public space; making allegations of extortions and bribery. I am very proud of what we delivered and I believe the house is satisfied.”

Report before privileges committee

The Speaker of Parliament on Wednesday referred the findings of the Committee exonerating the Trades Ministry and the Millennium Excellence Foundation of any wrongdoing to the Privileges Committee.

The Privileges Committee has been tasked in that regard to investigate the source of the allegations and other related matters.

The Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, is of the view the Minority members who championed the recall of Parliament culminating in the setting up of the Committee to probe the allegations have caused financial loss to the state.

He said the emergency recall of the house to discuss the matter was unnecessary.

Controversy over ‘Minority report’

The Minority members on the committee decided to prepare a separate report which was leaked and indicted some key figures in the probe, including the Ministry of Trade and the organizers of the awards scheme, the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

The Minority side of the Committee, comprising of Dr. Dominic Ayine and James Avedzi, concluded that, the Ministry of Trade engaged in multiple infractions including breaches of the public financial management law and multiple ethical violations.

It also said the Millennium Excellence Foundation, among other things, presented forged evidence to the Committee.

Dr. Ayine subsequently called for the withdrawal of the already laid report so that a composite report will be presented to Parliament.

The Minority walked out while the report presented by the Committee was about to be debated in Parliament and have subsequently declared a sit-down protest in the House.

–

By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, the Majority side deliberately acted in a way to prevent the minority from capturing their views in the official report.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Tuesday, Muntaka accused the majority of being “emotional” and trying to cover-up wrongdoing although there is evidence that point to wrongdoing.

Reacting to fallouts from the consideration of the ad-hoc committee’s report on the matter on the floor of parliament on Tuesday, he said, “they [majority] are always acting with emotions… Even if you want to cover up, cover up neatly. On what basis will you refer a committee’s report to the privileges committee?”

“They have started from day 1 with the mindset that they were not interested in what was going to happen. You can see clearly in the way they were asking the question when we appeared before them… When they did all these, you just have these tons of pages of witnesses’ verbatim extracts, you go into a committee and you don’t allow the clerk of the committee who has brought you summaries of the hearing through which you are supposed to do the draft report.. the chairman of the committee vanishes and appears with a draft report to present…. That is why I think the majority was very dishonest in their dealings,” he added.

Despite a walk-out by the minority over the debate of the report on Tuesday, the House considered the report and cleared the Ministry of Trade and the event organizers of wrongdoing.

The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, however referred the report to the privileges committee.

It is unclear the reason for the referral, but some believe it is due to other developments such as alleged peddling of falsehood under oath by Muntaka during his testimony before the committee.

Meanwhile, Yaw Boabeng Asamoah, the spokesperson for the committee and Member of Parliament for Adenta, has said that the majority members on the ad-hoc committee is unfazed by the minority’s claims that its views were deliberately taken out of the report.

“He [Muntaka] has all the public space to continue spewing all the things they said before which they never substantiated.”

He added that his side is confident in the report it produced following the sitting.

“I am totally committed to that report and I believe Parliament must stand for something. And parliament should not shoot itself in the foot. I believe that a serious member of parliament should act responsibly when acting in the public space; making allegations of extortions and bribery. I am very proud of what we delivered and I believe the house is satisfied.”

Minority caused financial loss – Alan

The Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, has suggested that members of the Minority who championed the recall of Parliament culminating in the setting up of a bi-partisan Committee to probe the cash-for-seat allegations have caused financial loss to the state.

He said the emergency recall of the house to discuss the matter was unnecessary as their claims were determined to be unsubstantiated following the ad-hoc committee’s work.

“It may be possible that the associated cost for recalling this may be a case of causing financial loss,” Kyerematen said on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday.

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Cash-for-seat: Majority being ‘very dishonest’ – Muntaka appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Privileges Committee has been tasked in that regard to investigate the source of the allegations and other related matters.

[contextly_sidebar id=”OfxxBRQmvuZJpSXfEDx4ImfM5T6bB1kh”]This follows the adoption of the 146 page report of the committee chaired by Majority Chief Whip, Kwasi Ameyaw Cheremeh, which exonerated the Trades and Industry Ministry and organizers of the awards of any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, the Minority has said the adopted reported is far from the truth.

Addressing the media, Minority Member of the committee, Dr. Dominic Ayine described the Majority’s decision to ignore the Minority’s perspective on the probe as undemocratic.

“We would have loved the situation where the content of the report would have reflected in the official records of Parliament for posterity. What they have done is to endanger the fledgling democracy that we have been experimenting with since 1992, and it saddens me that the views which have just been outlined were not taken into account.”

Minority stage walkout

The Minority had earlier staged a walkout from Parliament over the committee’s report.

They said the 148-page document was not made available to MPs for prior reading before it was put before the House for debate.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, held that under the circumstances, his side could not take part in the deliberations.

Background of “cash for seat” saga

The Ministry of Trade, which partnered the event organizers, Millennium Excellence Foundation, is alleged to have charged between $25,000 and $100,000, to enable expatriates to sit close to the President at the awards ceremony.

The allegation was first made by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak in Parliament in December 2017. He was backed by North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

Mr. Mubarak said the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards were not approved by Parliament, adding that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry’s accounts.

The allegation was further reinforced by Mr. Ablakwa, who suffered verbal assaults from Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah over the matter.

The Ministry of Trade said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event, and clarified that it only facilitated the implementation of a new initiative by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

But the Ministry after an order from the President to probe the matter clarified that an amount of GHc2, 667,215 was realized from the event.

This was made known only after the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had asked the Trade Minister, Alan Kyerematen, to investigate the matter and report to him.

The organizers of the Awards had also explained that no one paid to sit close to the President and that the amount was raised from sponsorship through a fundraising at the event.

Parliament subsequently formed a five-member bi-partisan committee to investigate the matter.

The Committee held several public hearings and a few in-camera sessions that featured all parties named in the allegation, and those who made the allegation.

The Trades Ministry and the Foundation maintained their innocence in the matter and insisted that due process was followed in soliciting funds for the awards scheme.

–

By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Speaker refers ‘cash-for-seat’ report to privileges committee appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the lawyer for the foundation, Peter Zwennes, the MPs – Muntaka Mubarak and Okudzeto Ablakwa should be stripped of any parliamentary immunity to enable them drag them to court, because their actions were “irresponsible.”

“The propagation of such irresponsible and destructive falsehood made against my client should not be availed the cloak of parliamentary immunity which if had been said in anywhere else in the open will certainly be giving rise to a meritorious court action in defamation. The foundation is still considering its options and they are still available to us,” the lawyer stated at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ee0cs4ptSzuYatZEo3YGpUIA6fxCKxsc”]The Foundation’s press conference comes after a committee set up to investigate the claims exonerated them and the Trade Ministry.

The Millennium Excellence Foundation, together with the Trade Ministry were alleged to have charged between $25,000 and $100,000, to enable expatriates to sit close to the President at the Ghana Expatriates Business Awards held in December 2017.

A parliamentary committee investigating the matter subsequently cleared the indicted stakeholders  of any wrongdoing, but the Minority insisted that something untoward happened.

The two minority members on the five member committee also released their version of report claiming the Majority tried to suppress the truth in the matter.

The Foundation’s lawyer said despite the exoneration of the foundation, its president, Ashim Morton, feels the reputation he has built for himself within a period of twenty years has been affected.

“Despite the untruths now having been laid to rest and though much gladdened by his exoneration, my client has found that this acquittal has come at a heavy cost to his hither to unsullied and unquestionable reputation. This not to mention the heavy cost that these false allegations have caused the country also to suffer in terms of the commitment of foreigners towards foreign direct investments, market confidence, and the image of the leadership of the republic of Ghana on the international scene”

“After steadily building up his reputation of integrity…over a period nearing two decades, it is an abysmal shame for the foundation to realize that some choose merely to see it as an institution worthy of sacrifice on the altar of common mischief for the sake of what they see as political expediency,” he added.

Minority caused financial loss – Alan

The Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, says members of the Minority who championed the recall of Parliament culminating in the setting up of a by-partisan Committee to probe the cash-for-seat allegations, have caused financial loss to the state.

He said the emergency recall of the house to discuss the matter was unnecessary.

“It may be possible that the associated cost for recalling this may be a case of causing financial loss,” he told Parliament on Tuesday.

Minority storms out of debate on Cash-for-Seat c’ttee report

In a related development, the Minority staged a walkout from Parliament prior to the debate of the “cash for seat” Committee report.

Members of the minority claimed that most of them had not read the 146-page report that was put before them to be debated.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Cash-for-seat saga: Ashim Morton considers suit against Ablakwa, Muntaka appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He said the emergency recall of the house to discuss the matter was unnecessary.

[contextly_sidebar id=”obS2DHLXHK9xQuxerHP5jojnDbZeM1Tt”]“It may be possible that the associated cost for recalling this may be a case of causing financial loss.”

The Minister’s comment comes after a committee set up to investigate the infamous cash-for-seat saga exonerated him in its report.

The Committee, chaired by the Member of Parliament for Sunyani East constituency, Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, presented its report to the house on Tuesday after taking evidence from all witnesses in the matter.

Alan Kyerematen in a statement after the House considered the report, despite a minority walk-out, said the minority could be cited for causing financial loss to the state since all their evidence turned out to be false.

He chided MPs such as Muntaka Mubarak, Dominic Ayine, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa for peddling falsehood.

He further called on parliament to investigate the case of the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, who he said presented a fake document as an exhibit before the ad-hoc committee.

“If an Honourable Member submitted a document which has been proven to be fraudulent and this was submitted under oath, it may be a case that needs to be properly investigated. Mr. Speaker, it is also on record that during the session of Honorable Muntaka, he submitted evidence of a document that has been proven to be fraudulent because an invitation that was supposed to have been authored by the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry now had photocopies on that back of that letter, a sponsorship package.”

“The recipients of this document have given evidence on oath that they received the sponsorship package separately from the letter of invitation.”

While commending the Committee for the “excellent” and “comprehensive” work, Alan Kyerematen expressed regret about what the brouhaha over the matter had done to Ghana’s image to sink.

Minority stage walkout 

The Minority has staged a walkout from Parliament over the “cash for seat” committee report on the probe into claims that the Trade Ministry extorted $100,000 from expatriates to allow them to sit close to the President during the Ghana Expatriates Business Awards in December 2017.

They said the 148-page document was not made available to MPs for prior reading before it was put before the House for debate.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, held that under the circumstances, his side could not take part in the deliberations.

Background of “cash for seat” saga

The Ministry of Trade, which partnered the event organizers, Millennium Excellence Foundation, is alleged to have charged between $25,000 and $100,000, to enable expatriates to sit close to the President at the awards ceremony.

The allegation was first made by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak in Parliament in December 2017.

Mr. Mubarak said the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards were not approved by Parliament, adding that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry’s accounts.

The allegation was further reinforced by Mr. Ablakwa, who suffered verbal assaults from Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah over the matter.

The Ministry of Trade said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event, and clarified that it only facilitated the implementation of a new initiative by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

But the Ministry after an order from the President to probe the matter clarified that an amount of GHc2, 667,215 was realized from the event. This was made known only after the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had asked the Trade Minister, Alan Kyerematen, to investigate the matter and report to him.

The organizers of the Awards had also explained that no one paid to sit close to the President and that the amount was raised from sponsorship through a fundraising at the event.

Parliament subsequently formed a five-member bi-partisan committee to investigate the matter.

The Committee held several public hearings and a few in-camera sessions that featured all parties named in the allegation, and those who made the allegation.

The Trades Ministry and the Foundation maintained their innocence in the matter and insisted that due process was followed in soliciting funds for the awards scheme.

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Cash-for-seat: Minority caused financial loss – Alan appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Minority members on the committee, Dr. Dominic Ayine and James Klutse Avedzi, contend that the “Ministry of Trade and Industry failed or neglected to take account of possible violations of foreign corrupt practice laws and regulations in the conception, design and organization of the Expatriate Business Awards.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”eqfaayuIvmDizFptdzTWycgfNpBZMfsV”]The committee was tasked by Parliament to investigate the alleged extortion of expatriates to allow them to sit close to President Akufo-Addo during the Ghana Expatriates Business Awards ceremony in December 2017 organised by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

The committee delayed in the submission of its report reportedly because Dr. Ayine, was fighting to ensure the Minority’s input was integrated into the final committee report which was laid before Parliament on Friday.

In the report, which has been sighted by Citi News, they contend that the Ministry of Trade compromised its credibility by using the President’s presence at the event to solicit profits for a private entity.

“The Ministry of Trade and Industry contravened existing law on public financial management, particularly the Financial Administration Regulations, by allowing the use of an existing account for the receipt of monies that it claimed were private funds.”

“The Ministry of Trade and Industry engaged in serious ethical violations by allowing its credibility as a public agency to be used to amass profit for a private non-profit organization which it cannot hold to public standards of accountability as well as by using the name of the President of the Republic as a means to make such profit.”

Foundation deceived committee

The Minority side of the committee also said the Millennium Excellence Foundation went as far as forging documents to deceive the committee.

“The MEF engaged in deceitful practices in the process of the organization of the awards event by selecting companies for awards even when the companies had not submitted information meeting the designed criteria and also forged documents meant to deceive the Committee and Parliament as a whole,” they said in their report.

Find below their conclusions

In light of the evidence adduced before the Committee, we are convinced that:

1. In the overall circumstances surrounding the organization of the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards, whilst the proponent of the motion could not justify his use of the word “levy” from a legal-technical point of view, it cannot be denied that, from the evidence on record, the Ministry of Trade and Industry played a pre-eminent role in the determination of the amounts ‘solicited’ by the MEF. In short, the manner in which the sponsorship package was designed and executed conforms to Honourable Muhammed-Muntaka Mubarak’s conception of a levy as “money that you have to pay.” The pre-determined sums of money were paid with the backing of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the agency with oversight responsibility for the business sector of the economy;
2. Notwithstanding denials to the contrary, there is evidence on record to the effect that, in its initial conception, the event had the President of the Republic as the center of attraction and that payment for seats bore a direct relationship to the distance of the payor’s seat from the presidential high table. Furthermore, the evidence shows clearly that Mr. Ashim Morton forged documents in a desperate attempt to cover up this blatant fact;
3. The Ministry of Trade and Industry contravened existing law on public financial management, particularly the Financial Administration Regulations, by allowing the use of an existing account for the receipt of monies that it claimed were private funds;
4. The Ministry of Trade and Industry engaged in serious ethical violations by allowing its credibility as a public agency to be used to amass profit for a private non-profit organization which it cannot hold to public standards of accountability as well as by using the name of the President of the Republic as a means to make such profit;
5. The MEF engaged in deceitful practices in the process of the organization of the awards event by selecting companies for awards even when the companies had not submitted information meeting the designed criteria and also forged documents meant to deceive the Committee and Parliament as a whole; and
6. The Ministry of Trade and Industry failed or neglected to take account of possible violations of foreign corrupt practice laws and regulations in the conception, design and organization of the expatriate business awards.

Background of “cash for seat” saga

The Ministry of Trade, which partnered the event organizers, Millennium Excellence Foundation, is alleged to have charged between $25,000 and $100,000, to enable expatriates to sit close to the President at the awards ceremony.

The allegation was first made by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak in Parliament in December 2017.

Mr. Mubarak said the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards were not approved by Parliament, adding that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry’s accounts.

The allegation was further reinforced by Mr. Ablakwa, who suffered verbal assaults from Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah over the matter.

The Ministry of Trade said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event, and clarified that it only facilitated the implementation of a new initiative by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

But the Ministry after an order from the President to probe the matter clarified that an amount of GHc2, 667,215 was realized from the event. This was made known only after the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had asked the Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen, to investigate the matter and report to him.

The organizers of the Awards had also explained that no one paid to sit close to the President, and that the amount was raised from sponsorship through a fundraising at the event.

Parliament subsequently formed a five-member bi-partisan committee to investigate the matter.

The Committee held several public hearings and a few in-camera sessions that featured all parties named in the allegation, and those who made the allegation.

The committee was supposed to present its report on January 24, 2018 but was subsequently given a one-week extension which was supposed to have elapsed on Wednesday, January 31, 2018, but failed to do so.

–

By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Cash for Seat’ saga: Trade Ministry broke the law – Minority report appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Dr. Ayine is pushing for a withdrawal on grounds that the report, which was presented to the House on Friday, did not include the final input from Minority members.

[contextly_sidebar id=”3y7BeJvYHdXYyntlNsmg7SkCh4PsoMwu”]According to Dr. Ayine, though Minority members including himself and Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzi had detailed their perspectives on the saga, the Majority side had refused to integrate them before presenting the document to the house.

“I was expecting the committee chairman to integrate the report I had prepared with what he had prepared but he stated that he would not integrate my report since it was titled ‘Minority report’,” Dr. Ayine stated on Eyewitness News.

Dr. Ayine, therefore, demanded that the Minority’s views be integrated in the final report, saying “I have made a complaint to leadership and they are working on it but I do not pre-empt the steps that they will take. The report should be withdrawn and the proper thing should be done in the sense that the Minority’s views should be filed and integrated as a composite document.”

Confusion rocks committee

Dr. Ayine had raised similar concerns on Thursday which, according to the Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah- Bonsu, led to the committee’s failure to present the report, despite having had its deadline pushed back twice already

The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu had told Citi News on Thursday that the laying of the report had been postponed several times because Dr Ayine had wanted to present a separate report capturing the Minority’s conclusions on the matter.

Background of “cash for seat” saga

The Ministry of Trade, which partnered the event organizers, Millennium Excellence Foundation, is alleged to have charged between $25,000 and $100,000, to enable expatriates to sit close to the President at the awards ceremony.

The allegation was first made by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak in Parliament in December 2017.

Mr. Mubarak said the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards were not approved by Parliament, adding that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry’s accounts.

The allegation was further reinforced by Mr. Ablakwa, who suffered verbal assaults from Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah over the matter.

The Ministry of Trade said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event, and clarified that it only facilitated the implementation of a new initiative by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

But the Ministry after an order from the President to probe the matter clarified that an amount of GHc2, 667,215 was realized from the event. This was made known only after the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had asked the Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen, to investigate the matter and report to him.

The organizers of the Awards had also explained that no one paid to sit close to the President, and that the amount was raised from sponsorship through a fundraising at the event.
Parliament subsequently formed a five-member bi-partisan committee to investigate the matter.

The Committee held several public hearings and a few in-camera sessions that featured all parties named in the allegation, and those who made the allegation.

The committee was supposed to present its report on January 24, 2018 but was subsequently given a one-week extension which was supposed to have elapsed on Wednesday January 31, 2018, but failed to do so.

–

By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post Withdraw ‘cash-for-seat’ report from Parliament – Ayine appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Committee had its mandate extended after it failed to meet the initial deadline of 24^th January.

[contextly_sidebar id=”LugIEySPdBDoxXoZmuuAnQ5Z9opzaeVl”]The five-member Committee was set up on the 5^th of January, after an urgent sitting of Parliament, where Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, and North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, alleged that expatriates businessmen were made to pay to sit close to the President during the Ghana Expatriates Business Awards ceremony.

The Committee held four public hearings and a few in-camera sessions that featured all parties named in the allegation, and those who made the allegation.

MP for Adenta, Yaw Buaben Asamoah, who speaks for the Committee, told Citi News that they have gathered enough information to allow them to present a fair and accurate report to the House.

“All has come to an end we are grateful to God that we appear to have collected sufficient information. The Committee will now to go the backroom, sit down and sift through the evidence and go through the business of report and we hope to meet the deadline” he said.

Ghana may lose investors over cash-for-seat probe

The Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, expressed fears that the ‘cash for seat’ scandal could threaten Ghana’s attempts to mobilize investments from the international community.

In his concluding statement when he appeared before the committee probing the matter, Mr. Kyerematen said Ghana’s reputation risked incurring serious damage because of the allegations that his Ministry charged expatriates to sit by the President at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards (GEBA) in December 2017.

Background of “cash for seat” saga

The Ministry of Trade, which partnered the event organizers, Millennium Excellence Foundation, is alleged to have charged between $25,000 and $100,000, to enable expatriates to sit close to the President at the awards ceremony.

The allegation was first made by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak in Parliament in December 2017.

Mr. Mubarak said the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards were not approved by Parliament, adding that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry’s accounts.

The allegation was further reinforced by Mr. Ablakwa, who suffered verbal assaults from Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah over the matter.

The Ministry of Trade said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event, and clarified that it only facilitated the implementation of a new initiative by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

But the Ministry after an order from the President to probe the matter clarified that an amount of GHc2, 667,215 was realized from the event. This was made known only after the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had asked the Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen, to investigate the matter and report to him.

The organizers of the Awards had also explained that no one paid to sit close to the President, and that the amount was raised from sponsorship through a fundraising at the event.

Parliament subsequently formed a five-member bi-partisan committee to investigate the matter.

–

By: Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Cash-for-seat c’ttee to submit report today appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Committee is now expected to submit its findings on January 31, 2018, instead of the initial date of January 24.

Minority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, who made this known, said this had become necessary following a request by the Committee for Parliament to give them ample time to complete their work.

[contextly_sidebar id=”44OL7IQ6DEy43wpOcwdpMGSX3LlLgYH4″]According to Mr. Mensah-Bonsu, the expatriates who were asked to appear before the Committee requested for in-camera meetings, thus prompting an extension of the deadline.

““The Chief Whip for the Majority who’s the chairman of the Committee, informed myself and the Minority Leader that they had run into a bit of a roadblock, in the sense that, some of the businesses that they invited, had indicated that they wouldn’t want to sit in public, and they would want some in-camera meeting. It’s for the Committee to determine, and the Committee I think has agreed they will meet them in-camera and hear from them, which is why when we met this [Tuesday] morning at the business committee level, I informed the Minority Leader of the Committee’s application, and we all agreed that we should grant them an extension in order for them to be able to report by latest Wednesday, 31st of January”.

‘Cash-For-Seat’ C’ttee ‘secretly’ interrogates expatriates

Meanwhile, Citi News can confirm that ten of the expatriates have been interrogated in-camera by the 5 member ad-hoc bi-partisan committee probing the ‘Cash-For-Seat’ allegations.

According to Citi News’ Parliamentary Correspondent, Duke Mensah Opoku, the expatriates appeared before the Committee today, [Tuesday], and were grilled for close to three hours.

Duke says for now, the content of the interrogation is unknown, and may only be available when the Committee finally presents its report. He added that, about ten more of the expatriates are also expected to appear before the Committee this week.

At the Committee’s last sitting on January 16, 2018, the Committee suspended sitting because none of the expatriates invited to testify showed up.

According to Chairman of the Committee, Kwasi Ameyaw Cheremeh, although they had written official letters to the expatriates to appear before them, none showed up. As a result, the sitting was adjourned indefinitely.

It may thus come as a surprise that whilst many were expecting the expatriates to turn up for the public hearing; the Committee chose to have that session in-camera.

There had been initial reports that the expatriates were unwilling to appear publicly to be interrogated, in their quest to protect their businesses in a highly political matter such as this.

This perhaps explains why the Committee did not announce its intention to have an in-camera hearing to the media.

‘No wrongdoing so far’

Mr. Kyei Mensah further indicated that, revelations at the Committee’s sittings had so far not shown any wrongdoing by officials implicated in the alleged extortion.

“Thus far, what is coming out does not show that anything untoward has been done,” said Mr. Kyei Mensah.

‘Sponsoring seats at events happened in the past’

He also wondered why so much emphasis had been placed on the incident under the current administration, when similar things had occurred under previous governments.

“Nobody has raised the issue of cash for seats even though it had happened at the time of President Mills, President John Mahama, at the time of Kufuor and now at the time of Nana Addo, so why will anybody not liken what happened in times past as cash for seats but just now? Is it the case of mischief? Or just the case of giving the dog a bad name to hang it?I think we should be charitable to each other. If you make an allegation you should be able to prove it.”

Background of “cash for seat” saga

The Ministry of Trade, which partnered the event organizers, Millennium Excellence Foundation, is alleged to have charged between $25,000 and $100,000, to enable expatriates to sit close to the President at the awards ceremony.

The allegation was first made by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak in Parliament in December 2017.

Mr. Mubarak said the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards were not approved by Parliament, adding that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry’s accounts.

The allegation was further reinforced by Mr. Ablakwa, who suffered verbal assaults from Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah over the matter.

The Ministry of Trade said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event, and clarified that it only facilitated the implementation of a new initiative by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

But the Ministry after an order from the President to probe the matter clarified that an amount of GHc2, 667,215 was realized from the event. This was made known only after the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had asked the Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen, to investigate the matter and report to him.

The organizers of the Awards had also explained that no one paid to sit close to the President, and that the amount was raised from sponsorship through a fundraising at the event.

Parliament subsequently formed a five-member bi-partisan committee to investigate the matter.

Others interrogated

So far, the Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Mubarak-Muntaka, North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyeremateng as well as officials from the Millennium Excellence Foundation, organizers of the Ghana Expatriates Business Awards, have all appeared before the committee.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Cash-for-seat’ C’ttee deadline extended to January 31 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to Citi News’ Parliamentary Correspondent, Duke Mensah Opoku, the expatriates appeared before the Committee today, [Tuesday], and were grilled for close to three hours.

Duke says for now, the content of the interrogation is unknown, and may only be available when the Committee finally presents its report.

He added that, more of the expatriates are also expected to appear before the Committee this week.

At the Committee’s last sitting on January 16, 2018, the Committee suspended sitting because none of the expatriates invited to testify showed up.

According to Chairman of the Committee, Kwasi Ameyaw Cheremeh, although they had written official letters to the expatriates to appear before them, none showed up. As a result, the sitting was adjourned indefinitely.

It may thus come as a surprise that whilst many were expecting the expatriates to turn up for the public hearing; the Committee chose to have that session in-camera.

There had been initial reports that the expatriates were unwilling to appear publicly to be interrogated, in their quest to protect their businesses in a highly political matter such as this.

This perhaps explains why the Committee did not announce its intention to have an in-camera hearing to the media.

The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, in an interview with Citi News, stated that the expatriates had pleaded with the Committee to allow them an in-camera hearing, a request that has been granted.

“The Chief Whip for the Majority who’s the chairman of the Committee, informed myself and the Minority Leader that they had run into a bit of a roadblock, in the sense that, some of the businesses that they invited, had indicated that they wouldn’t want to sit in public, and they would want some in-camera meeting. It’s for the Committee to determine, and the Committee I think has agreed they will meet them in-camera and hear from them, which is why when we met this [Tuesday] morning at the business committee level, I informed the Minority Leader of the Committee’s application, and we all agreed that we should grant them an extension in order for them to be able to report by latest Wednesday, 31st of January”.

Committee’s timeline extended to January 31

Meanwhile, the Committee has been given a one-week extension after they requested for additional time. They are now to present their report on January 31, 2018, instead of the original date of January 24.

This was confirmed to Citi News by the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu.

‘Cash-for-seat’ C’ttee charged to meet deadline

Early on today [Tuesday], the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joe Osei-Owusu, asked the Committee set up to probe the alleged extortion of monies from expatriates during the 2017 Ghana Expatriates Business Awards, to ensure that they meet the deadline given to them by the House, and submit their report accordingly.

“As you know, our mandate of scrutinizing government business and holding public officials to account gained a lot of public interest till the ad-hoc committee was setup to investigate the alleged collection of various sums of monies from expatriates business during the Expatriates Business Awards in Accra. I suppose that substantial work has been done by the Committee to meet the deadline given by Mr. Speaker to enable the House consider the report during this week,” he added.

The First Deputy Speaker made the call on Tuesday when he welcomed Members of Parliament to the House from their Christmas break.

Background of “cash for seat” saga

The Ministry of Trade, which partnered the event organizers, Millennium Excellence Foundation, is alleged to have charged between $25,000 and $100,000, to enable expatriates to sit close to the President at the awards ceremony.

The allegation was first made by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak in Parliament in December 2017.

Mr. Mubarak said the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards were not approved by Parliament, adding that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry’s accounts.

The allegation was further reinforced by Mr. Ablakwa, who suffered verbal assaults from Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah over the matter.

The Ministry of Trade said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event, and clarified that it only facilitated the implementation of a new initiative by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

But the Ministry after an order from the President to probe the matter clarified that an amount of GHc2, 667,215 was realized from the event. This was made known only after the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had asked the Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen, to investigate the matter and report to him.

The organizers of the Awards had also explained that no one paid to sit close to the President, and that the amount was raised from sponsorship through a fundraising at the event.

Parliament subsequently formed a five-member bi-partisan committee to investigate the matter.

Others interrogated

So far, the Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Mubarak-Muntaka, North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyeremateng as well as officials from the Millennium Excellence Foundation, organizers of the Ghana Expatriates Business Awards, have all appeared before the committee.

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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Cash-For-Seat’ C’ttee ‘secretly’ interrogates expatriates appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.