John Mahama
In 2011, Mr. Jim Walter Forster, a private investor came to the office of the South Dayi District Chief Executive (DCE) where he held a meeting with the assembly. The purpose of the meeting was to establish a Joint Tilapia Fish Farm using individual customers’ contributions. The assembly agreed to the proposal and they started holding meetings with the local people at the premises of the assembly. Agents were therefore set up and they went round selling the idea to the people who bought into it. I was part of the people who attended the preliminary meetings.
People invested huge sums of money into the project because they were assured by the assets that it was a genuine and sustainable business. I, myself invested One Thousand and Five Hundred Ghana Cedis (GH¢1,500.00) in the project.
In attendance at the inauguration of the project, were the then Volta Regional Minister, Mr. Afotey Agbo, the DCE, Mr. Kafui Bekui, Mr. Thomas Aquinas and many government officials and functionaries. Speech after speech praised the project and assured investors present of the viability and sustainability of the project and the returns on our investment.
Barely two years into the project, the story turned the other way and investors did everything in their capacity to retrieve just their investment amount to no avail.
Every effort to retrieve even part of the money yielded no results. One time they would say this another time that. At a point, they claimed the ‘dumsor’ of the day led to the death of the fingerlings they produced to be stocked in the cages.
The government of the day didn’t mind our numerous cries and wailing. They did virtually nothing about it. Meanwhile it was government that teamed up with a private man to dupe us. Mr. Walter used our monies for big time wedding and other investments such as real estate development. Nothing was done to him by governing authorities of the day. He walked away with our poor money. A huge number of customers lost their money up to date.
My problem is, if former President John Mahama under whose watch all these things happened failed to help us, even people of Volta Region in his four years, he shouldn’t be taken serious when he claims he will pay the customers of Menzgold and the likes. It’s a big lie coming from him.
His own government officials teamed up to dupe people through a so-called private investor and he did nothing about it.
Emmanuel Coffie Zebegar
Kpeve Senior High Technical School.
0243785680