The office of the New Patriotic Party\u2019s (NPP) vice presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has stated clearly\u00a0that it will under no circumstance apologize for the disclosure of the African Development Bank\u2019s (AfDB) \u2018mistaken\u2019 sanctions on Ghana.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”Jasg6yQpdv10Q26VfugQvZMqK1KtrKZp”]Dr. Bawumia\u2019s spokesperson, Anthony Karbo on Eyewitness News<\/strong> said placing the burden of apology on his boss is surprising since the AfDB has admitted making an administrative mistake on the document.<\/p>\n The NPP\u2019s vice presidential candidate on Tuesday announced that Ghana had been sanctioned by the AfDB<\/strong><\/span><\/a> over non-payment of its debt to the institution and the country had therefore been put on an exclusive list of nations currently under AfDB sanctions.<\/p>\n The AfDB in response admitted Ghana was placed on the list of sanctioned countries<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0but quickly clarified that it was an administrative error which was immediately corrected when detected.<\/p>\n \u201cOn 18 February 2015, due to an administrative oversight, Ghana was erroneously included in the list of countries under sanctions by the AfDB. However, the error was detected that same day and a corrected list was immediately issued in replacement,\u201d an AfDB statement said.<\/p>\n On Wednesday however, the Finance Ministry told Dr. Bawumia to apologize<\/strong><\/span><\/a> to Ghanaians for putting out false information on the AfDB sanctions.<\/p>\n But according to Karbo, \u201cthere is no basis for an apology when the AfDB admits and claims that the mistake came from them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am a bit surprised that the government is asking Dr. Bawumia to apologize for putting out a document that was coming from the very organization that is now seeking to claim that they have made a correction and a mistake was made on their part,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n AfDB\u2019s clarification fishy<\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Karbo is alleging that the AfDB\u2019s quick response to Dr. Bawumia\u2019s disclosure of the said sanctions is \u201csuspect.\u201d<\/p>\n He said it cannot be true that the bank indeed corrected the administrative error on the same day as it is claiming.<\/p>\n \u201cThat can certainly not be the case because if you look at the letter from the AfDB, it says the date of issue was 17th February 2015; now the AfDB is saying that the issued the statement on the 18th and did the correction that very day. It can\u2019t be the case,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n He argued that \u201c17 and 18 are not the same and that is why everybody is quite curious about the response that is coming from the AfDB.\u201d<\/p>\n Karbo was convinced that there is a seeming \u201ccover up\u201d between the government and the AfDB \u201cand it only comes at a time when Dr. Bawumia had spoken and brought out these figures and I\u2019m sure that Dr. didn\u2019t concoct this document, he did not phantom it from anywhere, he actually sourced it from the AfDB itself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut even that is also suspect because the document that is now in our possession indicates that this release was done on the 17th but here we are and AfDB is saying that it was released on the 18th and the correction was done on the 18th. That cannot be reconciled. It leaves a lot to be desired,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n Bawumia\u2019s spokesperson maintained that his boss \u201chas always been consistent, he has always been fair, he has always been honest with the facts and he has spoken facts.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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