Taking his turn before the Committee probing the alleged scandal, Mr. Ofosuhene indicated that, accountants from his department stationed at the Trade Ministry dealt with the process without his initial knowledge.

[contextly_sidebar id=”PGPSO7KCU3HM01Sz6xpJG47PfRRvczmY”]“I’m not a party to whatever that happened at the MOTI place, so I wouldn’t know. And because the thing was not lodged into the consolidated fund they couldn’t have processed disbursement through the GIFMIS system because the money was not lodged into the consolidated fund, to form part of government funds.”

He further advised that a totally new and separate account should have been set up for the collection of funds from the expatriates, instead of the Trade’s Ministry’s account that was used, which made the funds realized from the event appear as if it was public funds.

“I would have told them that the money should be kept in MOTI account. Then the two would have agreed to open an account elsewhere and caption that account as MEF MOTI, so that it is not considered as a public account. But the existing MOTI account is a public account. So to me that would have been my advice, for such an event which is neither private nor public,” he told the Committee.

Background

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.

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.

Committee ‘secretly’ interrogates expatriates

The committee reportedly secretly grilled some members of the expatriate community 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 on Tuesday, and were grilled for close to three hours.

Duke stated that the content of the interrogation was unknown, and may only be available when the Committee finally presents its report.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post I had no hand in ‘cash-for-seats’ dealings – Controller appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“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.

[contextly_sidebar id=”dGRcPGGW5R1bPrD7ldQhtIWePPE2LuXq”]The Committee has a deadline of Wednesday, January 24, 2018, to present its findings to Parliament after it was set up on January 5, 2018.

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

Mr. Osei-Owusu is currently chairing sittings at Parliament because the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, is acting as the President due to the absence of both the President and the Vice President.

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 GHc 2,667,215 was realized from the event.

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.

Expatriates ‘swerve’ ‘cash-for-seats’ committee

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.

But at the last sitting on January 16, 2018, the five-member Committee  suspended sitting because none of the expatriates invited to testify before the committee showed up.

According to Chairman of the Committee, Kwasi Ameyaw Cheremeh, although they had written official letters to the expatriates to appear before them today, “none have shown up so we are unable to continue with the work of the committee for the day.”

“…So we adjourn and probably contact them again to appear before us at a later date to be determined by the Committee. We will give them that opportunity to appear before us,” he added.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post ‘Cash-for-seat’ C’ttee charged to meet January 24 deadline appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to Chairman of the Committee, Kwasi Ameyaw Cheremeh, although they had written official letters to the expatriates to appear before them today, “none have shown up so we are unable to continue with the work of the committee for the day.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”vKtemfFDsD8iUrX0bbzAkgPW5Tbpjl9r”]“…So we adjourn and probably contact them again to appear before us at a later date to be determined by the Committee. We will give them that opportunity to appear before us,” he told the media who were present to cover the sitting.

The Committee, which has been sitting since last Thursday, is supposed to present its report to Parliament on January 24, 2018.

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.

Prior to today’s hearing, Tuesday, there were indications that even the Committee Chairman did not know how many of the expatriates who made financial commitments at the event were to appear before them.

There are suggestions the expatriate business executives may not show up due to the political nature of the matter, and the effect it could have on their businesses going forward.

Background

The Ministry of Trade, supporters of the Awards, was alleged to have charged between $25,000 and $100,000, to enable expatriates to sit close to the President at the awards ceremony, which was organised by the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

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 issue 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 and Industry initially dissociated itself from these allegations.

The Trade Ministry, in a statement, 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 GHc 2,667,215 was realized from the event.

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

The post Expatriates ‘swerve’ ‘cash-for-seats’ committee, hearing suspended appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.