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The Trade Minister gave the list when he appeared before the five-member Parliamentary committee investigating the matter.<\/p>\n
Below is the full list of persons on the President\u2019s table at the awards night: <\/strong><\/p>\n President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo<\/p>\n Trade Minister, Alan Kyeremateng<\/p>\n Carlos Ahenkorah, Deputy Trade Minister<\/p>\n Mr Ashim Morton, President of Millennium Excellence Foundation<\/p>\n Mr. Amarh Hari, Chief Executive of IPMC<\/p>\n Mr. Ashok Mohinani, Chairman of Mohinani Group<\/p>\n Mr Salem Kalmoni, Chief Executive of Japan Motors<\/p>\n Jerry John Rawlings and his wife<\/p>\n Mr. Saied Fakhry, Executive Chairman of Interplast Ghana Limited<\/p>\n Ms. Roshi Motman, Chief Executive of AirtelTigo Ghana<\/p>\n Mr. Jim Ovia, Founder and Executive Chairman of Zenith Bank Group<\/p>\n Mr Bhagwan Khubchandani, Chief Executive of Melcom Ghana.<\/p>\n Mr. David Haper, Chief Executive of Geodrill Ghana<\/p>\n Mr. Mike Tacwani, Chief Executive of B Pipe Plus Ghana<\/p>\n Yofi Grant, CEO of GIPC<\/p>\n Yeo Ziobeieton, Chief Executive of Unilever Ghana<\/p>\n Ishmael Ashitey, Greater Accra Regional Minister<\/p>\n No wrongdoing <\/strong><\/p>\n The Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyeremateng also said his outfit did no wrong in the infamous cash for seat scandal.<\/p>\n According to him, a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry and the organizers of the event clearly spelt out which party was responsible for soliciting for sponsorship and collection of monies for the awards ceremony.<\/p>\n Making his submission to the committee probing the matter in parliament today, Mr Kyerematen said the Millennium Excellence Foundation, who were the event organizers, handled all issues of sponsorship.<\/p>\n Background<\/strong><\/p>\n The allegation of extortion against expatriates at the awards ceremony was first made by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, in Parliament in December 2017.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s accounts.<\/p>\n The issue was further reinforced by Mr. Ablakwa, who suffered verbal assaults from Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah over the matter.<\/p>\n The Ministry of Trade and Industry initially dissociated itself from these allegations.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n But the Ministry after an order from the President to probe the matter clarified that an amount of\u00a0GHc 2,667,215<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0was realized from the event.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Ablakwa, Muntaka face committee<\/strong><\/p>\n The Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa<\/strong><\/a><\/span> and Muntaka<\/strong><\/a><\/span> appeared before the committee in its first public sitting on Thursday to provide further details on why they called for the probe.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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