In his concluding statement to the committee probing the matter in Parliament on Friday, 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.

[contextly_sidebar id=”7PSM6Z4DWL0FcvhkQUO14UfhjFrYZPOX”]However, according to the Minister, the absence of any adverse findings after the committee finishes its work could redeem Ghana’s image in the eyes of the international community.

“It is our hope that we go throughout this process and by the grace of God, no adverse finding are established. It will be a matter of deep regret that as a country, we have had to endure a controversy that has the potential of making very significant damage to our international reputation.

“If in the minds of the international public, it is indeed the case that the government of Ghana is extorting money from expatriates, do we not believe or appreciate the impact it will have on Ghana’s capacity to mobilize investment into this country?” Mr. Kyeramaten questioned.

The Minister also reiterated his assertion that there was no wrongdoing and stressed that: “I have not heard or seen any individual make a specific allegation in respect of extortion or levies.”

Mr. Kyeramaten appeared  before the Committee of Friday, a day after the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak also gave their testimonies.

Background

The Ministry of Trade 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.

–

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

The post ‘Cash for seat’ scandal may scare investors away – Alan warns appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Allegations were made that the Ministry of Trade and Industry charged expatriates between $25,000 and $100,000 to enable them to sit close to the President at the awards ceremony.

[contextly_sidebar id=”wfYmhH81QbnmpcUGjUZWIUlbGM1EV6uH”]Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Mr. Gbeho indicated that, “special treatment” was given to the higher donors, but there is no suggestion that the donations were used as a basis to secure sitting places next to President Nana Akufo-Addo.

The Board Chair stressed that, the Foundation was a Non-Governmental Organisation and was issued notes by the Ministry of Trade to give to potential donors.

“All our ceremonies are based on funds that we realise. We have no other source of money except what we raise for each occasion and in this case, we asked the Ministry of Trade and Industry if it was going to be our partner, and give us an introduction to the business community,” Mr. Gbeho explained.

Because of the variance in the donations received, he said it was only right that the higher donors were favoured.

“In some of the awards [ceremonies], there is the platinum, then gold and then the silver [categories], all for protocol, if we come to you and you give us GHc 20,000 and somebody else gives us GHc 150,000, it will be the highest form of perversion of principles if the one that gave GHc 20,000 is going to be given more special treatment than the one who gave GHc 150,000.”

“It doesn’t mean that anyone was being compelled. Those who gave [donations] gave of their free will knowing very well the categories that we had,” Mr. Gbeho added.

Allegations denied

But the President of the Foundation, Ashim Morton, flatly refuted the allegations at the press conference, where he also noted that President Akufo-Addo was not even originally scheduled for the event.

In an attempt to clear the air on the matter, Mr. Morton noted that, reserved seating was for expatriates “who have contributed enormously in our development and not necessarily whether they sponsored or would win a prize.”

He was also was keen to note that, the President’s table was originally designated for him and not Ghana’s Head of State.

“Nowhere in our literature did we say specifically or categorically say that the Presidents’ Gold table was designated for the President of the Republic of Ghana. I am the President of the Foundation and that Centre seat was designated for me.”

Background

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has since dissociated itself from these allegations first trumpeted by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak.

The allegations have even led to the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah, clashing with the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in Parliament.

This was followed by President Akufo-Addo writing to the Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyeremanten, demanding answers from him over the allegations.

–

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

The post Money collected from expatriates was for fundraising – Organisers appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the Asawase MP, the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards were not the kind of fees approved by Parliament, and that the monies were also not accounted for in the Internally Generated Funds [IGF] of the Ministry’s accounts.

Muntaka made the revelation during the debate of the 2018 budget estimates for the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

“Mr. Speaker, I have worries about the IGF of the Ministry and how they go around, mobilizing resources on the IGF, and secondly Mr. Speaker, this item that I am going to mention in the breakdown of the Ministry’s IGF, was not included, yet they are bringing the budget excluding that collection. On 23rd September, 2017, the Ministry wrote to Ghana Expatriate Business Community for them to be informed that they are planning to organize an award ceremony for expatriate businesses that are in Ghana, and Mr. Speaker, shockingly enough, part of what was said was that, if you want to sit with the President, you have to pay 100,000 dollars. If you want to sit behind the President you have to 75,000 dollars. If you want to sit on another table called red circle, you have to pay 50,000 dollars. If you wanted to sit on the yellow circle, you have to pay 40,000 dollars, and if you wanted to sit on the green circle, you have to the 25,000 dollars.

“Mr. Speaker, this is very worrying because so far as I am concerned, the fees and charges that we approve in this house did not say that if we wanted to interact with the President you have to pay 100,000. Mr. Speaker, this gives credence to all that we have been hearing in the media that access to the President is very difficult,” Mr. Muntaka said on the floor of Parliament.

A communique to the expatriates, and sighted by citifmonline.com, detailed the specific amounts that was to be charged as stated by Mr. Muntaka, but Citi News cannot confirm if the amounts quoted were indeed paid.

It also requested that applicants “submit their details by 10th of November, 2017 to one Mr. Kwadwo Boateng at the KPMG’s office, Abelemkpe, in a sealed envelope” adding that information presented by applicants will be “kept strictly confidential.”

Suggestions are that, the practice of reserving specific tables at special events at a fee for those who wish to sit closer to high profile personalities or celebrities is abnormal or odd.

Click on the link below to read communique sighted by citifmonline.com.

Communique

–
By: Marian Ansah & Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post Expatriates paid $100,000 just to sit by Nana Addo – Muntaka appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.