GH¢10m ADB loan: I did the right thing – Ofori-Atta

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has dismissed claims by the minority in Parliament that he breached the country’s financial rules when he approved a loan facility from ADB to McDan Shipping Company Limited.
The Minority on Tuesday accused Mr. Ofori-Atta of usurping the authority of the board of ADB in the approval of a loan facility to Mc Dan Shipping Company Limited.
According to the Minority, Mr. Ofori-Atta issued a letter to the Managing Director of ADB to grant GH¢10million to the shipping company to finance a contract with COCOBOD.
Addressing a press conference Tuesday September 5, 2017, the Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu claimed that the Minister of Finance single-handedly, approved the loan facility, in breach of the country’s financial laws.
Calling on President Akufo-Addo to intervene to reverse the illegality, he said “the contract for which authorization of the ADB loan was approved by the Minister of Finance, we are told, originated from the Ghana Cocoa Board.”




According to him, “serious question arise that seem to be whether they have demonstrated respect to our procurement processes. The breach is an affront to corporate governance processes and procedures in our country.”
But speaking to journalists, Mr. Ofori-Atta said he did no wrong adding that everything was done according to the rules.
“That will be the purview of the credit committee of the bank…with banking transaction, the credit committee goes through and then makes their recommendation.
“I would imagine that on my part it was the right thing,” he stated.

Source:Starrfmonline.com