Accra, Ghana//-The Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central in the Upper East Region, Isaac Adongo has expressed worry about the “nasty capture of Ghana’s financial sector” under the watch of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
According to him, this nasty canker which is being masterminded by the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), has the tacit approval of Mr Akufo-Addo and is being executed by his family members who he placed in strategic positions to weave their identities into critical sectors of the economy including the financial sector.
Mr Adongo made this known when he delivered a lecture organized by the Coalition For Restoration (CFR) and telecast live on Metro TV, Original TV and Original FM and many other channels across the country.
He stated that the nasty capture of the country’s financial sector had thickened and produced results for the perpetrators who are most family members of President Akufo-Adoo.
“Established brands that were earning government jobs on merits now struggle to get business while companies owned by government appointees, their relations and cronies with some established a fortnight ago have all of a sudden become the go to firms for government businesses”, Mr Adongo who is also a leading financial analyst stated.
For instance, in the fixed income market, three companies – Databank Financial Services, Black Star Brokerage and IC Securities Limited – all owned by members of a nuclear family who control the affairs of the country’s finances and by that have state authority and oversight over the award of contracts, have taken over the sector since the coming into office of this government, he noted.
“I have secured incontrovertible evidence that proof that Ken Ofori-Atta, the white-wearing finance minister, owns 11% of Databank while his former Deputy and now Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance owns 95% of the company that wholly owns Black Star Brokerage Limited.
Black Star Holdings Limited, the shell company set up by Charles Adu Boahen to hold his deals owns 100% of Black Star Brokerage Limited, a company that started trading in the fixed income market in 2019 but is now number one in terms of volumes of sales and number three in terms of volumes of purchases”, he added.
Interestingly, the 5% in Black Star Holdings is owned by the blood brother of Charles Adu Boahen called Christopher Adu Boahen. Thus, in effect, when Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen appoint and sign off Databank and Black Star Brokerage to trade in securities on behalf of the country, they asking themselves to go and borrow for Ghana in return for payment of fees.
“Does it now become clearer to you why Ken Ofori-Atta claims not to take salary for his role as Finance Minister and why the government prefers borrowing than growing domestic revenues? It is because Ken has various channels to make larger sums of money off the country, one of which is the use of his firm, Databank, and that of his right-hand man, Charles Adu Boahen to borrow for the government”.
This nasty capture of the financial sector by Ken and his cohorts has undermined its competitiveness, robbed seasoned entrepreneurs of their toils and created deep scars that will take years to heal and unwind.
“ It has also confirmed to all and sundry that ours is now a government where while the President, Akufo-Addo is busy slicing the country for his family relatives and undermining the entrepreneurial ingenuity of the rest of us, the Vice President is busy parroting lies in his attempt to replace his boss”, Mr Adongo fired another salvo.
According to him, this new culture of clan-preneurship – prosperity through clan and family ties to people in power – is now nurtured and distastefully promoted.
“We can all recall the circumstances that led to the near sale of the assets of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to cronies and family relations of Akufo-Addo and persons in government and the aborted and distasteful re-emergence of an ill attempt to redistribute portions of the country’s gold wealth into individual pockets”.
Indeed, in the colonial days when the country’s forefathers shed their blood to free the country from the claws of servitude, they did that in the spirit of togetherness to help create a fair, equitable and prosperous society where the basic rights and freedoms of every citizen would respected and jealously guarded.
Their legendary fathers gave the fight their all, knowing very well that it was only through independence that individual talents, hard work and commitment to achieving something for themselves and their nation could be rewarded in their own land.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its founder Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings of blessed memory have fought tooth and nail to create equal opportunities for all Ghanaians to realise their dreams, share in the national cake proportionately and be empowered to create sustainable futures for their children.
African Eye Report
