Attorney General and Minister of Justice Gloria Akuffo has responded to a request by private legal practitioner Victor Kojoga Adawudu for details regarding the $2.25 billion bond issued by the Government of Ghana about two months ago.
“I acknowledge receipt of your letter bearing reference number LL/17/26 and dated 4th May, 2017 on the above subject matter. Please be informed that the information being sought per your letter is not available to me and I am therefore unable to respond to the questions posed therein,” the AG’s office responded.
Mr Adawudu, who is one of the legal brains of the opposition National Democratic Congress, wrote to the AG for details covering the bond after his party accused Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta of conflict of interest in the transaction.
The Minority in Parliament also claimed the deal was “cooked” for one person and that it lacked transparency.
In the midst of the controversy, Mr Adawudu in a four-page letter to the AG said he was exercising his right in Article 21(F) of the 1992 Constitution which states that: “All persons shall have the right to information, subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary in a democratic society.” “…The Constitution of Ghana is predicated on the tripod of transparency, probity and accountability, and as a citizen of Ghana, I am concerned about the apparent opaqueness of the processes towards the issuance of the bonds,” the letter read.
Below are some of the information requested by Mr Adawudu:
(a) Please provide the date and the exact time all the Bond Transactions were opened or announced to investors to participate;
(b) How was each of the transactions communicated to investors?
(c) Before the official communication to investors of the opening of the Bonds did the Ministry or any of its officials directly or indirectly discuss any aspects of the Bonds with any of the investors?
(d) The date and time the Bond Transactions closed;
(e) The date and time the summary of issuance was made known to investors and the public.
(f) Please confirm the coupon prices for all the Bonds issued;
(g) Whether or not there was any roadshow towards the issuance of the Bonds;
(h) If yes, where did to take place, and what was the duration of the roadshow.
Background
The Minority in Parliament had accused Mr Ofori-Atta of engaging in a conflict of interest situation as far as the issuance of the $US2.25billion 15-year bond was concerned.
The Minority, at a press conference, said US-based firm Franklyn Templeton Investment Limited, which bought almost 95 per cent of the domestic bond, had private dealings with Mr Ofori-Atta.
The Minority said: “Information that is now available in the public domain appears to indicate that Hon. Trevor G. Trefgarne is not just Board Chairman of Enterprise Insurance Limited, a company owned partially by the current Finance Minister’s company, Databank Limited. Hon. Trevor G. Trefgarne is also a Director of Franklyn Templeton which is the main participant in the recent Bond issuance.
“Putting these apparent facts together, we have reason to believe that there is a relational interest between our Finance Minister and Trevor G. Trefgarne which creates a potential lack of transparency and conflict of interest. As we all know, the constitution provides unequivocally that public officers shall not put themselves in a situation in which their private interest conflicts with their public obligations. There is no record available to us to the effect that the Finance Minister made known publicly this relational conflict of interest.
“In other words, he failed and/or neglected to declare his relationship with Trevor G. Trefgarne and the extent to which that relationship might have potentially affected the decision to sell majority of the bonds to Franklyn Templeton. Furthermore, there is no disclosure as to the extent to which the determination of the price of the bonds could also have been affected by this relationship between the Finance Minister and Franklyn Templeton.
“Now that a good link has been established between the Finance Minister and his friend Trevor, it is clear that the Finance Minister issued this bond in a way that will favour his friend, family and business partners. This situation is best described as cronyism and nepotism, cooked for his friend and associates, and not transparent.
“Under these circumstances, we wish to call for a full-scale parliamentary inquiry into whether, and the extent to which, this situation of lack of transparency and conflict of interest has adversely affected the welfare of the people of Ghana. Failing such parliamentary inquiry we the Minority shall have no option but to resort to using the conflict of interest jurisdiction of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). Furthermore, we also intend to exercise the option of filing a report/petition with the Financial Services Authority of the U.S.A to investigate Franklyn Templeton.
“We also wish to point out that this bond issue is clearly an international economic/business transaction within the meaning of article 181 (5) of the constitution. Therefore, we expected that the bond issuance would have been brought to parliament for approval. This is because although the transaction appears as to be a domestic sale of bonds, it is in truth a “private placement” and an international economic transaction given the fact that Franklyn Templeton is a United States registered company and, therefore, qualifies as a foreign entity under article 181 (5) of the constitution. We, therefore, call on the Finance Minister to provide parliament with the full complement of documentation on this transaction for scrutiny and ratification.”
Read the full statement of the Minority below:
THE GREAT DEBT DECEPTION
To begin with, it has become apparent that the current government used deception and inflated promises to get to office. The most patent, which also compromises the professional integrity of the Vice President Dr Bawunia, in particular, is the NPP’s position on our country’s public debt. We will be succinct on this matter because it is as shameful as it is obvious.
“We will not borrow”: The NPP throughout the 2016 campaign claimed that it will not borrow when it comes to power. We noted that this claim was not possible because even when NPP in 2001 became the biggest beneficiary of debt forgiveness in our history by taking the country to HIPC, it went on a borrowing spree and before the NPP left office in January 2009, the debt-to-GDP ratio had gone up to nearly 40 percent as a result of excessive borrowing by the NPP. So we in the NDC new that the claim by the NPP that it will not borrow was a great deception which most people have failed to realise.
NPP has added another record in borrowing: In less than 100 days of being in office, the NPP has exceeded this notorious feat and deception again. NPP now holds another new record in our history as the Party that has borrowed almost over three billion United States Dollars (US$3.0 billion) within its 100 days in office. This is equivalent to about GH13.5 billion in 100 days (average Ghs 135 million a day) or in other words, every Ghanaians owes additional just in 100 days of NPP GH500 (GH 13,500,000,000÷27,000,000=Ghs 500)
Indeed, now we know that the Party is “in a great hurry” for the wrong deceptive reasons: even Usain Bolt (with 100 meters global sprint record) and Lewis Hamilton (Formula One race champion) will be envious of such speed and record!!!
Ladies and gentlemen,
You will recall that in 2015, the NPP criticised the NDC heavily for borrowing $1 billion Eurobond at a coupon rate of 10.75 percent for 15 years (with World Bank Guarantee) to replace a portion of the 2007 (NPP) Sovereign Bond and some Domestic Bonds.
The key points about the recent $2.25billion bond issued by the NPP government;
? The bond was virtually participated by only two investors. The whole Bond transaction was shrouded in secrecy to the extent that Ghanaian investors were denied the opportunity to participate in the deal. In essence, the entire deal lack transparency.
– One single investor by name Franklyn Templeton, which is a known non-resident investor that patronized both Domestic and Sovereign Bonds in the past, purchased almost 95% of the latest Government Domestic Bond. The size of this virtual “private placement” makes it akin to a sovereign bond or foreign loan.
Some have argued that this bond purchase should not be compared with our Sovereign Bond rates. We should be reminded that our Domestic Bonds have a “Hybrid” (cedi/forex) feature and, therefore, when non-resident investors bring in foreign currency at the time of purchase, they hold the equivalent cedi bond in the same implicit foreign currency. Therefore, when eventually they sell, they expect to repatriate the proceeds in US Dollars or other convertible currency.
– Hence, above 90 percent Bond holding is technically a dollar-denominated bond and not a cedi bond. The Ministry of Finance and Bank of Ghana are alert to the risk of default in non-resident investor holdings and plan to support the commercial banks or agents with enough foreign exchange to honour any sales and repatriation obligations at maturity or on the secondary market. In essence, the opposite sales activity for a non-resident bond holding is the opposite of a purchase (forex inflows) and implies depletion of our foreign exchange reserves (outflows).
– This is why the domestic bond issue must be efficient. On the contrary, the virtual “private placement” approach that was used in this Templeton case was not competitive: it was opened in the morning and closed in the evening of the same day, obviously cooked for one single investor. Hence our insistence that there was no transparency.
– In the past “book-building” approach for the issuance of bonds, initiated by the NDC government, the process was opened for a minimum of three days to ensure optimal participation. In the case of this historic US$ 2.25 billion bond issue, the process was limited to one day, denying other market players the opportunity to participate in the process.
We in NDC can promise the good people of Ghana that, we will continue to keep track of the country’s debt developments and hold the NPP accountable for its fake promises and deception that brought it to power.
MINISTRY OF FINANCE STATEMENT: UNMASKING THE SECRET OF THE SAID BOND ISSUE.
On Monday, April 3, 2017, the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Finance issued a statement announcing that the Ministry under the aegis of Hon. Ken Ofori Atta has “successfully issued 15 and 7-year bonds with the same coupon rate of 19.75%, raising a total amount of USD1.13 billion. In addition, the Ministry of Finance raised the cedi equivalent USD1.12 billion in 5 and 10-year bonds via a tap arrangement.”
The Finance Ministry did not however name any companies or individuals that participated in the sale, except to say that “the issuance attracted a number of global portfolio investors including a very substantial investment in the 15-year bond by a very well respected global financial investor” Reuters subsequently reported that “a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Franklin Templeton had participated in the sale.”
According to the report “Franklin Templeton’s high-profile bond fund manager, Dr Michael Hasenstab has taken a “substantial” position in Ghana’s cedi-denominated government bonds” Franklin Templeton Investment Limited is an American global investment management organization founded in 1947. In an unaudited semi-annual report of Franklyn Templeton Investment limited dated December 31, 2016; Honourable Trevor G. Trefgarne was named as one of the five board of Directors of the firm. He was also described as the chairman of Enterprise Group Limited in the report.
Enterprise Group has 10 Board of Directors. Principal among them are Keli Gadzekpo, Group Chief Executive of Enterprise Group; Dr Angela Ofori Atta, wife of Finance Minister Hon. Ken Ofori Atta who doubles as Director of Enterprise Insurance, a subsidiary of Enterprise Group. Enterprise Group also has Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo and Dr Angela Ofori Atta as non-executive members of the firm. Hon Gloria Akuffo is/was Director of Enterprise Life, a subsidiary of Enterprise Group (it is not clear whether she has resigned or not). It is now emerging that a firm that Hon Trevor G. Trefgarne works as a member of Board of Directors took a substantial position in the April 3, 2017 bond issued by the Finance Minister.
THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST
As noted, information that is now available in the public domain appears to indicate that Hon. Trevor G. Trefgarne is not just Board Chairman of Enterprise insurance Limited, a company owned partially by the current Finance Minister’s company, Data Bank Limited. Hon. Trevor G. Trefgarne is also a Director of Franklyn Templeton which is the main participant in the recent Bond issuance.
Putting these apparent facts together, we have reason to believe that there is a relational interest between our Finance Minister and Trevor G. Trefgarne which creates a potential lack of transparency and conflict of interest. As we all know, the Constitution provides unequivocally that public officers shall not put themselves in a situation in which their private interest conflicts with their public obligations. There is no record available to us to the effect that the Finance Minister made known publicly this relational conflict of interest.
In other words, he failed and/or neglected to declare his relationship with Trevor G. Trefgarne and the extent to which that relationship might have potentially affected the decision to sell majority of the bonds to Frankly Templeton. Furthermore, there is no disclosure as to the extent to which the determination of the price of the bonds could also have been affected by this relationship between the Finance Minister and Franklyn Templeton.
Now that a good link has been established between the finance minister and his friend Trevor, it is clear that the finance minister issued this bond in a way that will favour his friend, family and business partners. This situation is best described as cronyism and nepotism, cooked for his friend and associates, and not transparent.
Under these circumstances, we wish to call for a full-scale parliamentary inquiry into whether, and the extent to which, this situation of lack of transparency and conflict of interest has adversely affected the welfare of the people of Ghana. Failing such Parliamentary inquiry we the minority shall have no option but to resort to using the conflict of interest jurisdiction of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). Furthermore, we also intend to exercise the option of filing a report/petition with the Financial Services Authority of the U.S.A to investigate Franklyn Templeton.
We also wish to point out that this Bond issue is clearly an international economic/business transaction within the meaning of article 181 (5) of the Constitution. Therefore, we expected that the bond issuance would have been brought to parliament for approval. This is because although the transaction appears as to be a domestic sale of bonds, it is in truth a “private placement” and an international economic transaction given the fact that Franklyn Templeton is a United States registered company and, therefore, qualifies as a foreign entity under article 181 (5) of the constitution. We, therefore, call on the Finance Minister to provide parliament with the full complement of documentation on this transaction for scrutiny and ratification.
Petition to CHRAJ
Also, the Ashanti Regional Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Yaw Brogya Genfi, petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), in his capacity as a citizen of Ghana, to investigate the bond controversy.
Below is Mr Yaw Brogya Genfi’s full petition:
Read the Full petition:
April 25, 2017
THE COMMISSIONER
COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS & ADMINISTRATIVE JUSTICE (CHRAJ), ACCRA
Dear Sir,
PETITION TO INVESTIGATE CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN THE RECENT US$2.25 BILLION BOND ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF GHANA THROUGH THE MINSTRY OF FINANCE
On April 3, 2017, the Ministry of Finance announced that the Government of Ghana had issued a 15-year and 7-year bond at a coupon rate of 19.75% each. The said issuance raised a total amount of USD1.13 billion. In addition, the Ministry of Finance raised the cedi equivalent of USD1.12 billion in 5-year and 10-year bonds via a tap arrangement.
A number of issues of conflict of interest and lack of transparency have emerged from the bond issuance. It is imperative that the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) investigates same to protect the national interest as per its mandate under article 218 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
There is credible information in the public domain as follows:
1. One single investor, Franklin Templeton Investment Limited, purchased almost 95% of the Bond issued by the Minister for Finance. The size of this virtual “private placement” makes it akin to a sovereign bond or foreign loan.
2. The virtual “private placement” approach that was used was opened in the morning and closed in the evening of the same day March 31, 2017.
3. Franklin Templeton Investment Limited is an American global investment management organization founded in 1947.
4. In an unaudited semi-annual report of Franklin Templeton Investment Limited dated December 31, 2016, Mr. Trevor G. Trefgarne was named as one of the Directors of the its board.
5. In the same report, Trevor G. Trefgarne was also described as the Chairman of Enterprise Group Limited.
6. The Enterprise Group Limited is a company partially owned by Data Bank Limited, a company in which the Finance Minister is known to have significant interest.
7. The following are also Directors of the Enterprise Group Ltd. – Dr. Angela Ofori Atta, wife of the Finance Minister, Keli Gadzekpo, business partner of the Finance Minister, Hon. Gloria Akuffo, Attorney-General & Minister for Justice and Hon. Ken Ofori Atta, the Minister for Finance himself.
Further Details
1. The 7-year and 15-year Bonds were not on the issuance calendar.
2. The initial pricing guidelines of the Bond were issued around 5:37pm on March 30, 2017, by e-mail, which is after normal working hours.
3. The transaction was opened at 9.00am on March 31, 2017.
4. The public announcement of the transaction was sent by e-mail at approximately 9:09am on the March 31, 2017, which means the transaction was opened before the announcement was made to the public.
5. The issuance summary was issued on March 31, 2017, at about 4:20pm by e-mail indicating that the Bond transaction had been closed and announcement made to the public
6. April 3, 2017, was the Settlement Date and not the closing date of the Bond.
Please Note
1. From the points above, a reasonable person has cause to believe that there is a relational interest between Hon. Ken Ofori Atta and Mr. Trevor G. Trefgarne, who have been described as ‘great friends’.
2. The clear link between the Finance Minister and his friend Trevor Trefgarne, and the sub-links with the Finance Minister’s family and business associates, leads to legitimate questions like
1. did the Finance Minister issue the bond in a manner that would favour his friend, family, associates and/or business partners;
2. was the deal influenced by cronyism, nepotism and corruption.
3. The Bond transaction seems to have been shrouded in secrecy – the process was limited to one day, unlike past bonds where the “book-building” method had been used and the process was opened for a minimum of three days to ensure optimal participation.
4. There is no record available to the effect that the Finance Minister disclosed his relational interest in the transaction. 5.
Please note further
19. On Monday, April 3, 2017, the Ministry of Finance issued a statement announcing that the Ministry of Finance had “successfully issued 15 and 7 year bonds with the same coupon rate of 19.75%, raising a total amount of USD1.13 billion. In addition, the Ministry of Finance raised the cedi equivalent USD1.12 billion in 5 and 10 year bonds via a tap arrangement’ – a copy of the statement is attached marked ‘A’
20. It was reported by Reuters that “a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Franklin Templeton had participated in the sale”, and that “Franklin Templeton’s high-profile bond fund manager, Dr Michael Hasenstab has taken a “substantial” position in Ghana’s cedi-denominated government bonds” – a copy is attached marked ‘B’
• On April 18, 2017, the Minority in Parliament held a Press Conference and raised serious questions of conflict of interest, transparency and lack of Parliamentary approval – a copy of the statement is attached marked ‘C’.
1. On April 19, 2017, the Ministry of Finance issued a response – a copy is attached marked ‘D’.
2. On April 20, 2017, the Minority in Parliament issued a response – a copy is attached marked ‘E’
3. On April 18, 2017, the Attorney-General & Minister for Justice on a radio station (Citi FM) indicated that she resigned from the Enterprise Group on April 1, 2017, and that she had no knowledge of the bond arrangement – a copy of the audio recording can be accessed from Citi FM. However, the Ministry of Finance records show that the bond process was opened and closed on March 31, 2017.
• On April 19, 2017, a Deputy Minister for Finance, Hon. Abena Osei Asare, on a radio station (Citi FM – Point Blank, Eye Witness News), indicated that once the Minister for Finance had declared his assets under the Declaration of Assets Act this meant that he had disclosed his interest in the matter – a copy of the audio recording can be accessed from Citi FM. It is, however, trite knowledge that declaration of assets forms filed with the Auditor-General’s Department are confidential until processes are executed that allow for their content to be exposed, and therefore cannot constitute disclosure of interest in this matter.
• On April 20, 2017, the Vice President, H.E. Mahamudu Bawumia, in an interview in Washington DC where he was attending the World Bank’s Spring meeting, described the Minority as ‘ignorant’ but failed to answer the questions raised by the Minority in Parliament on the matter – a copy of the report can be accessed from Graphic Online.
2. On April 21, 2017, Dr. John Gatsi (Head of Finance Department, University of Cape Coast) published an article entitled ‘What is External Borrowing in the context of the issuance of the US$2.25 Billion Euro Bond and Ghana’s Public Borrowing Guidelines’ – a copy is attached marked ‘F’.
Some Relevant Laws, Regulations & Guidelines 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana
“Article 284 – A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts or is likely to conflict with the performance of the functions of his office.”
Code of Conduct for Public Officers of Ghana
Principle 1.1.3
Public officer shall ensure that their personal interests or activities do not interfere with or appear to interfere with their obligations to serve the state.
Principle 1.2.4
Public officers shall not seek or obtain personal or private benefit from the use of information acquired in the course of their official duties.
Principle 1.3.1
Pubic officers shall not allow their personal interests, activities or conduct to interfere with or appear to interfere with the performance of their duties/functions.
Principle 1.4
Public officers shall not put themselves in a position where their personal interest conflicts or is likely o conflict with the performance of their functions/duties.
CHRAJ’s ‘Guidelines on Conflict of Interest to assist Public Officials Identify, Manage and Resolve Conflicts of Interest’:
“2.0 Definition of Conflict of Interest
A Conflict of Interest refers to a situation where a public official’s personal interest conflicts with or is likely to conflict with the performance of the functions of his/her office. In other words, a conflict of interest includes:
1. any interest or benefit, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect;
2. participation in any business transaction, or professional activity;
• an incurring of any obligation of any nature; or
1. an act or omission;
which is or appears or has the potential to be in conflict with the proper discharge of a public official’s duties in the public interest.
Conflict of interest occurs when a public official attempts to promote or promotes a private or personal interest for himself/herself or for some other person, and the promotion of the private interest then results or is intended to result or appears to be or has the potential to result in the following:
1. an interference with the objective exercise of the person’s duties, and
2. an improper benefit or an advantage by virtue of his/her position.”
Section 4.2
“Disclosure of Conflicting Interests
Whenever a conflict of interest situation occurs or is likely to occur, the public official must make a disclosure of the situation as provided by law or as follows:
What to disclose : assets and liabilities; gifts, conflicting interests, outside employment, and NGO activities
How to disclose : in writing, verbal, and surrendering the item
When to disclose : as soon as a conflict of interest situation occurs or is likely to occur, and when in doubt
To whom : CHRAJ, superior officer/head of institution, and ethics committee or compliance officer or a similar set up within the institution
Section 4.3
“Resolution and Management of Conflict of Interests
Conflicts of interests may be resolved or managed by one or more of several ways, including the following:
1. divestment or liquidation of the interest by the public official;
2. detachment of the public official from involvement in an affected decision-making process;
• restriction of access by the affected public official to particular information;
1. transfer of the public official to duty in a non-conflicting function;
2. re-arrangement of the public official’s duties and responsibilities;
3. resignation of the public official from the conflicting private-capacity function; and
• Resignation of the public official from the public office.”
It seems clear that Hon. Ken Ofori Atta –
• put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts or is likely to conflict with the performance of the functions of his office;
• attempted to promote a private or personal interest for himself or for some other person, and the promotion of the private interest has resulted or was intended to result in or appears to have resulted in or has the potential to result an interference with the objective exercise of the person’s duties and an improper benefit or an advantage by virtue of his position;
• did not take the proper steps in disclosing his conflicting interests;
• did not resolve or manage his conflicting interests.
Other relevant applicable rules are as follows:
In CHRAJ’s ‘Guidelines on Conflict of Interest to assist Public Officials Identify, Manage and Resolve Conflicts of Interest’, section 3 goes further to identify conflict of interest situations.
Section 3.1
“General Rule: A public official shall not participate in an official capacity in any particular matter which to his knowledge:
1. he/she has a financial interest; and
2. any person whose interests are imputed to him in any way has a financial interest; if the particular matter will have a direct effect on that interest.
Section 3.2
“A public official shall not take an action in an official capacity which involves dealing with himself/herself in a private capacity and which confers a benefit on himself/herself.
An example of self-dealing is the practice where tender board members bid for public contracts, which the board manages.
Section 3.3
“3.3.1 General Rule:
A public official shall not participate in a matter involving specific parties, which he/she knows is likely to affect the interest of a member of his/her family, friend or partner if a reasonable person with knowledge of the facts would question his/her impartiality in the matter.
Section 3.5.1
“Use of Public Office for Private Benefit
General Rule: A public official shall not use his public office for his/her own private benefit, for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise, or for the private benefit of friends, relatives, or persons with whom the public official is affiliated in a private capacity, including political parties, non-profit organizations of which he/she is an officer or member, and persons with whom the public official has to seek employment or business relations.”
It further seems clear that Hon. Ken Ofori Atta
• has participated in an official capacity in a matter which to his knowledge he has a financial interest and/or persons whose interests are imputed to him have a financial interest;
• has taken an action in an official capacity which involves dealing with himself in a private capacity and which confers a benefit on himself;
• has participated in a matter involving specific parties, which he knows is likely to affect the interest of a member of his family, friend or partner and as a senior public official he should have known that a reasonable person with knowledge of the facts would question his impartiality in the matter;
• has used his public office for his own private benefit and for the private benefit of friends, relatives, and persons with whom he is affiliated in a private capacity. Several questions must be answered including the following:
• Was a substantial portion of the bond purchased by Franklin Templeton Investments, if so, how much?
• Is Trevor G. Trefgarne a Director of Franklin Templeton Investments?
• Is Trevor G. Trefgarne the Chairman/Director of Enterprise Group Ltd?
• Are Dr. Mrs. Angela Ofori-Atta, Mr. Keli Gadzekpo, Hon. Gloria Akuffo and Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta Directors of the Board of Enterprise Group Ltd.?
• If not, were they Directors of the Board in the immediate past?
• Does Databank Ltd. own part of Enterprise Group Ltd. or any of its affiliates?
• Does Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta have any shares or business interest in Databank Ltd. or did he have any shares or business interest in the immediate past?
• Is Keli Gadzekpo a business partner of the Minister for Finance or was Keli Gadzekpo a business partner of the Minister for Finance immediately before the Minister was sworn in as Minister for Finance?
• Did Hon. Gloria Akuffo resign from the board of Enterprise Group Ltd. and, if so, was this before the commencement of the process of the bond issuance?
• Did Hon. Gloria Akuffo, as Attorney-General & Minister for Justice, have no knowledge of the bond arrangement and, if so, why not?
• Were the initial pricing guidelines of the Bond issued around 5:37pm on March 30, 2017, after normal working hours?
• Was the transaction was opened around 9.00am on March 31, 2017, and closed around 4.20pm of the same day?
• Was the transaction opened before the announcement was made to the public?
• Was the placement method used competitive and transparent or was it “cooked” for one single investor?
• Did the Minister for Finance make full disclosure of his relational interest in the bond issuance either before or during the process?
• Did the Attorney-General make full disclosure of her relational interest in the bond issuance either before or during the process?
• Did the Minister for Finance adhere to the 1992 Constitution, the Code of Conduct for Public Officers of Ghana, CHRAJ’s guidelines on conflict of interest for Public Officers, and other relevant rules and laws pertaining to conflict of interest and issues of corruption?
• Should the Minister for Finance resign or be removed from office?
• Did the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice adhere to the 1992 Constitution, the Code of Conduct for Public Officers of Ghana, CHRAJ’s guidelines on conflict of interest for Public Officers, and other relevant rules and laws pertaining to conflict of interest and issues of corruption?
• Should the Attorney-General resign or be removed from office?
In line with my duties as a citizen of this nation, and in light of the above, I have no option than to petition CHRAJ for an investigation into the matter and the application of the necessary sanctions.
I am confident of your ability to investigate this matter thoroughly, dispassionately and in a non-partisan manner to help us reach a just conclusion.
Yours in the Service of the Nation
YAW BROGYA GYAMFI CITIZEN OF GHANA
cc H.E. President Akuffo Addo Flagstaff House, Accra
Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament Parliament House, Accra
Her Ladyship the Chief Justice Judicial Service of Ghana
The Hon. Minister Ministry of Finance, Accra
The Hon. Minister Ministry for Justice & Attorney General, Accra
Trevor G. Trefgarne c/o US Embassy, Accra
Securities Exchange Commission c/o US Embassy, Accra’
Source: classfmonline.com