Accra, January 31, 2018//-Minority MPs in Ghana’s Parliament have asked the country’s minister of finance, Ken Ofori-Atta to resign or face their wrath in court.
Mr Ofori-Atta who is a cousin to the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Akufo breached sections of the Public Financial Management Act (PFMA) in the issuance of the 2.25 billion dollar bond, last year.
The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) its five month investigation found Mr Ofori-Atta culpable of breaching sections of the PFMA in the issuance of the bond.
But CHRAJ, didn’t find concrete evidence of conflict of interest against the Minister who was dragged to CHRAJ by a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Yaw Brogya Genfi in April 2017.
He petitioned the Commission to investigate Mr Ofori-Atta for conflict of interest in the issuance of 5-year, 7-year, 10-year and 15-year bonds, totaling over the US$2.25 billion.
The petition follows concerns raised by the Minority NDC Members of Parliament (MPs) over what they term as “conflict of interest” in the deal, which was vigorously denied by the government.
They alleged that the Finance Minister secured 95 percent of the bond for family and friends.
Brogya Genfi, in his petition, sided with this position, insisted that Mr. Ofori Atta “has attempted to promote a private or personal interest for himself or for some family members and business associates, and the promotion of the private interest has resulted in, or was intended to result in, or appears to have resulted in, or has the potential to result in an interference with the objective exercise of his duties and an improper benefit or an advantage by virtue of his position”.
The Minority in Parliament also petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the US, over the US$2.25 billion bond issue, 95% of which was purchased by Franklin Templeton, a US registered firm.
At today’s press conference, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, maintained that the CHRAJ report released in December 2017 had endorsed their accusation which they made in April last year.
Each of the breaches including Section 56 of the Public Financial Management Act 2016 and a constitutional breach of Article 181 of the 1992 constitution, according to Mr Iddrisu
He added that a Bank of Ghana guideline was breached when the Finance minister gave only one day notice of trading in the bond when the regulations required two-weeks’ notice.
These violations are “willful” and makes an extra day the minister spends in office “untenable”, he stated.
Read full statement from Minority here
African Eye Report
