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.

The report was laid on the floor of Parliament last week Friday, after a number of postponements because a Minority member on the Committee, Dr. Dominic Ayine, had wanted to include the Minority’s separate views in the report.

[contextly_sidebar id=”JeC0cWZ5zdES6rAsXcnuU8GWBw7SJ07c”]The Committee has since been the subject of some controversy following the Minority side’s decision to prepare and leak a separate report that indicted some persons of interests 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 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.

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.

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 the soliciting of funds for the awards scheme.

–

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

The post Parliament debates Cash-for-Seat c’ttee report today 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.

This assertion was contained in a report prepared by the Minority members on the committee, Dr. Dominic Ayine and James Klutse Avedzi.

[contextly_sidebar id=”s4he1XkHZwpOF6LCBdlITGsrx9IA3LuZ”]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 Awards ceremony in December 2017.

The report, which has been sighted by Citi News, also said the Foundation selected companies which did not meet laid-down criteria for the awards.

The Minority side of the Committee added that the Millennium Excellence Foundation went as far as forging documents to deceive the Committee when it appeared before it.

“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.

They Minority members also argued that the MEF had intended to use the presence of President Nana Akufo-Addo at their event to raise funds from the outset, despite the Foundation’s suggestions that his appearance at the ceremony was a last-minute addition.

According to them, the Foundation also forged documents to cover up this fact.

“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,” the Minority’s report stated.

Why does Minority have a separate report?

The ad-hoc Committee officially presented its findings to Parliament yesterday [Friday].

However, this process has, however, not gone without controversy after complaints from a member of the Committee, Dr. Dominic Ayine that the report which was presented to the House did not include the final input from the Minority members.

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

He told Citi News’ Duke Opoku Mensah that members of the Committee had all agreed to conclude the report on Wednesday, and present it yesterday [Thursday], but Dr. Ayine did not show up at the hotel where the meeting was supposed to take place, despite several assurances from him.

Mensah Bonsu said the committee members had planned to meet on Wednesday at 3 o’clock in the afternoon to put everything in order to be able to submit the report on Thursday.

“One of them was absent, Dr. Dominic Ayine unfortunately, for whatever reason couldn’t go. They called him and he said he will be there at 5:00pm but he couldn’t go. They called him and he said they should give him two hours more which was 7:00pm. 7:00pm they called him, his phones were off. It was not until 12 midnight that he sent words to them to respond to their earlier calls.”

Mensah Bonsu said he was however taken aback when the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, informed him on Thursday that Dr. Ayine decided to present a supposed Minority report on the investigations by the Committee.

Mensah Bonsu who is also the MP for Suame, however, urged the committee members to resolve their differences in order for the report to be presented today.

Dominic Ayine denied these assertions stating that the Chairman of the Committee, had refused to include the ‘Minority report’ he had prepared for inclusion in the final document to be presented to Parliament

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 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to the Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen to probe the matter, clarified that an amount of GHc2, 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.

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.

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.

–

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

The post ‘Cash for Seat’ saga: Ashim Morton forged evidence – Minority report appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

President Nana Akufo-Addo, who asked Mr. Kyeremanten to clear the air on the matter, has concluded that there was no wrongdoing, after he received a report from the Minister.

[contextly_sidebar id=”7EMojn3TlMZwzCBd2xRSGEYQaFdpjR7k”]The Ministry 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.

In line with accountability, Mr. Kyeremanten, in a statement disclosed that, “an amount GHc 2,667,215 was raised for the event, of which receipts were issued, as against an expenditure of GHc 2,367,426.06.”

Reiterating earlier assertions from the Trade Ministry, Mr. Kyeremanten explained that, the Millennium Excellence Foundation was totally in charge of the structure and distribution of the sponsorship package for the event, although it was operating under guidelines provided by the Ministry.

As part of arrangements towards the organisation of the event, the Ministry of Trade and Industry insisted that, all monies raised in support of the event be paid into an account held by the Ministry “to ensure financial integrity and accountability which the organizers agreed to.”

The Minority in Parliament has maintained that, there was some wrongdoing by ministry, and has indicated that, it is ready to appear before any investigative body to provide evidence in the form of receipts to support their claims of extortion.

The Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, also wants Parliament to set up a committee to probe the alleged extortion.

But Mr. Kyeremanten in his statement said it was “difficult to imagine how a government institution seeking to extort monies from individuals would insist on issuing official receipts”.

He stated that, the Foundation was “specifically instructed not to collect any monies to place persons or organisations on the Presidential High table for the evening, and they provided assurances that this would not happen.”

He added that, “for the avoidance of doubt, none of the individuals or companies who sat on the Presidential High Table at the event made a contribution of $100,000 prior to the event as being alleged.”

According to Mr. Kyeremanten, there were even individuals seated at the Presidential High Table “who did not make any monetary contribution before or after the event.”

“From the information available to the Ministry, there was no extortion of monies from any expatriate business owner as being alleged. Indeed, no single individual has come out to make a claim of extortion,”

Find the Minister’s full statement here

–

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

The post GHc2.6m was raised for Expatriate Business Awards – Alan appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has been accused of charging expatriates between $25,000 and $100,000 to enable them to sit close to the President at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards on December 8.

[contextly_sidebar id=”p23Kz5I27IAKCD3PxMuEkI5TRtEJRpl6″]This allegation has since generated controversy, resulting in a brawl in Parliament between two Members of Parliament, Carlos Ahenkorah and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

Speaking to Citi News following the turn of events, Muntaka Mubarak said the investigation will establish the veracity of the allegations and put the matter to rest.

“Only when you investigate them and get to the very bottom that you get to know who might have been doing this because if someone says that pay $100,000 or $75,000 and apart from this meeting you are going to be also having an exclusive meeting with the President, this is the biggest opportunity for Parliament to redeem itself. Investigate this!”

How it started

The allegation was first made by Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak, who said it was inappropriate.

The Asawase legislator argued that the fees charged at the event 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.

The Ministry however in a statement challenging the claims, said it played no role in determining prices for seats at the event.

It added that, it only facilitated the implementation of the new initiative [GEBA], by the Millennium Excellence Foundation, an entity noted for organizing world class events.

“As a Government that believes in the private sector as the engine of growth, the Government through the Ministry of Trade and Industry welcomed the initiative to collaborate with the Foundation to see to the birthing of the initiative. The Ministry consequently signed an MoU with the Foundation that spelt out the roles of both parties. Resource mobilization to ensure that the event was organized at no cost to the taxpayer was the sole responsibility of the Foundation”.

“The Ministry only wrote letters to introduce the Millennium Excellence Foundation to sponsors and solicited support whilst the Foundation prepared the sponsorship package kits and presented it to potential sponsors at a later date. It is very worrying for people who are expected to know better (especially if some happen to be leading members of the august House of Parliament) to conveniently join the streets wagon in pursuit of petty partisan parochial interests to churn out deliberate falsehood to perpetuate the fallacy that access to the President has to be secured with financial inducements,” excerpts of the statement said.

This was however disputed by the Minority in Parliament, who in a statement issued through Okudzeto Ablakwa, insisted that the Ministry’s own letter dated October 23, 2017, confirmed that it went beyond facilitation, to actually collect monies from the expatriates.

It said that letter also directed that interested expatriates were to direct their cheques to the accounts office of the Trade Ministry, although such monies were not accounted for by the Ministry

President Akuffo Addo subsequently wrote to the Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyeremanten, demanding answers from him over the allegations.

We’re ready to provide evidence – Ablakwa

Meanwhile, Mr. Ablakwa has indicated that the Minority is willing to submit evidence of extortion in the allegations against the Trade and Industry Ministry, and the Millennium Excellence Foundation.

The President of the Foundation, Ashim Morton, had refuted the extortion allegations leveled against the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

But speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Ablakwa said Mr. Morton was only trying to be clever with his response.

“He [Mr. Morton] says that of the funds collected, nobody paid before the event. He is choosing his words, playing smart with us by saying that nobody paid before the event because he knows we have receipts that we will be putting out of people who paid and the dates the receipts were issued. He is trying to play clever saying that nobody paid before the event, so how about after?”

Money collected from expatriates was for fundraising – Organizers

But even the claims by Mr. Morton, somehow contradicts the accounts of the Chairman of the Millennium Excellence Foundation, Victor Gbeho, who said monies were given willingly as sponsorship for the event, and that cannot constitute extortion.

“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.

–

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

The post Parliament must probe alleged Trade Ministry extortion – Muntaka appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He contended that the Millennium Excellence Foundation was only dancing around the truth in its recent denial of the allegations.

[contextly_sidebar id=”saHjnXlSobxhO4okmGl2pw2F3qizLCx6″]The President of the Foundation, Ashim Morton, refuted the allegations 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 Ghana Expatriate Business Awards on December 8.

But speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Ablakwa said Mr. Morton was only trying to be clever with his response.

“He [Mr. Morton] says that of the funds collected, nobody paid before the event. He is choosing his words, playing smart with us by saying that nobody paid before the event because he knows we have receipts that we will be putting out of people who paid and the dates the receipts were issued. He is trying to play clever saying that nobody paid before the event, so how about after?”

Mr. Ablakwa remains confident in these allegations, which were first trumpeted by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, and he noted that “every single claim we [the Minority] have made has been checked out so far.”

According to the MP, the only reason the Minority has not released the evidence is in the interest of the supposed victims of extortion.

“We do not think that, strategically and to be fair to the expatriate community that has worked with us and companies that have been really ticked off by this extortionist scam, we don’t think it will be fair to list their companies and to mention their names.”

But the Minority is ready to appear before “any investigative body that wants to take this matter up seriously and over there, we will send the receipts and all the other information that we have,” Mr. Ablakwa said.

The back and forth over the allegations took a heated turn when the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah, clashed with Mr. 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.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has since dissociated itself from the claims by the Minority.

–

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

The post We can prove Trade Ministry extortion claims – Minority 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

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The President is seeking full disclosure on the matter, and has given the Minister until 5 pm today [Wednesday] to report to him.

Although the matter has  been running for nearly a week, President Akufo-Addo’s summon comes a day after the fall out from allegations culminated in the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah, clashing with the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in Parliament.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has already dissociated itself from these allegations which first came from the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak.

Mr. Mubarak said the fees charged at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards (GEBA) 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 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.

It also said the foundation was to take that responsibility for the organisation of the event.

Mr. Ablakwa had previously called on the Trades Ministry to apologize to President Akufo-Addo for embarrassing him, and return the monies to the expatriates.

But Mr. Ahenkorah described Mr. Ablakwa as a “big liar” and accused him of making baseless allegations against the government. He did this by barging into an interview the MP was granting on the matter in Parliament.

He subsequently defended his verbal assault on Ablakwa, saying “we must let these people understand that we are in power”.

The deputy Minister showed no remorse when interviewed on Eyewitness News, claiming that Mr. Ablakwa was out of order when he suggested that he and the NPP government were corrupt.

“…calling me corrupt and describing my person and my activity as corrupt. On the floor of Parliament, it’s a different ball game. I will not allow anybody to denigrate myself or my ministry or my minister and just go scot-free. If you say that, I have to pay it back to you, especially when these people were in government, they just looking down upon everybody and calling our president names, this time we will not allow.”

“A person like Okudzeto Ablakwa can never ever tag me as corrupt when he himself cannot account for some of his practices when he was in government. And I take serious exception to anybody trying to tag me in that manner. What was so unprintable of the language that I used? I did not say anything that was not true. He is a thief. He took money to go and do Campus Connect,” Mr. Ahenkorah fumed.

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

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