Menzgold saga: Bi-partisan parliamentary probe needed – Ablakwa

North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said a bi-partisan parliamentary probe into the Menzgolg imbroglio would be appropriate. The gold dealership firm has not been able to pay its clients’ extra values or principal investments since August 2018 after the Securities and Exchange Commission shut it down over regulatory infractions…

North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said a bi-partisan parliamentary probe into the Menzgolg imbroglio would be appropriate.

The gold dealership firm has not been able to pay its clients’ extra values or principal investments since August 2018 after the Securities and Exchange Commission shut it down over regulatory infractions.

Aggrieved customers of Menzgold have held several demonstrations to demand their investments but the government has repeatedly said taxpayers’ money will not be used to rescue them.

The Ghanaian authorities have, however, issued a warrant for the arrest of the CEO, Nana Appiah Mensah, and some of the company’s directors in connection with money laundering and fraud allegations.

The Statesman newspaper’s online portal recently reported that he has been arrested in Dubai in connection with a different case in which he is accused of duping an Arabian gold dealer.

According to Mr Ablakwa, there are so many questions about the Menzgold issue which could be answered through a bi-partisan parliamentary probe.

 
Read his full statement below:

Elsewhere, their parliaments would have long commenced a full-blown bi-partisan enquiry into this Menzgold debacle.

In the very least, the terms of reference would have included


:

An understanding of the Menzgold business model to really ascertain if it does fit the classical definition of a Ponzi scheme;

If, indeed, it was a Ponzi scheme, how was Menzgold allowed to operate all these years?

What led to the inability of the state to carry out its basic non-negotiable public duty of protecting citizens by the seeming abdication or impotence or complicity of regulators, tax authorities and the national security apparatus?

An assessment of the impact of Menzgold’s collapse on the economy and mitigation options;

The true circumstances of how Nana Appiah Mensah left Ghana and if, indeed, he is on the run;

Exploring possibilities for the compensation of the millions of Menzgold victims especially after a thorough credible independent tracking of Nana Appiah Mensah’s assets and bank accounts across the world;

An examination of the existing legal and enforcement climate in Ghana, which makes it possible for such to happen and recommendations to forestall future occurrence seeing that apparently many of such schemes are going on waiting to explode in our faces in a matter of time.

I sincerely pray for the day our parliament will shed off its rather sad reputation of being weak and tied to the apron strings of the Executive.

I sincerely pray that some colleagues across the aisle will have the courage to join those of us on this side who believe we can look into this matter in the supreme interest of Ghana irrespective of partisan considerations and really depart from the farcical precedents of recent bi-partisan probes where partisanship trounced truth and conscience.

Even though I am in no way connected to Menzgold, neither am I one of their victims, contrary to infantile fabrications in circulation; it is my considered view that those of us in elected office and who ought to act as the true representatives of the people cannot afford to fold our arms and merely join the greed and naivety chorus.

Leaders, and, especially the people’s representatives, cannot abandon nor betray their constituents in such a crude manner as being suggested by some. That would not be the kind of representative democracy Rt. Hon. Justice D.F. Annan, Rt. Hon. Peter Ala Adjetey, Hon. J.H. Mensah and others laid down their lives for.

May this 7th Parliament stand up to be counted and may history not say of us that we were the representatives who failed to represent the people and failed to secure the people’s future when the opportunity beckoned.


Source: ClassFMonline.com