Mubarak Muntaka And Ashin Morton
Owners of expatriate businesses invited to appear before the ‘cash for seat’ parliamentary probe yesterday failed to appear before the committee, compelling the chairman to adjourn proceedings.
After waiting for more than one hour without any sign of their appearance, the chairman, Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, announced to the media that the committee had adjourned sitting, adding that adequate information was sent to the expatriate business moguls to appear before the committee yesterday at 10:00 am.
He thanked the media for their cooperation during the committee’s sitting from Thursday, January 11, to yesterday.
Spokesperson for the committee and New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Adentan, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, later told journalists that no reasons had been given by the expatriate businessmen for their inability to appear before the committee.
He said the committee would get to them and find out why they did not come for the probing and communicate a new date to the public.
Snippets of information from the grapevine indicate that the expatriates felt the monies contributed were not extortions to facilitate their sitting at the high table with President Akufo-Addo during the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards ceremony in Accra on December 4, 2017, as being speculated and that they might prefer an in-camera hearing. That could be the reason why they did not show up.
The committee was set up by the speaker of parliament after the minority chief whip, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, filed an urgent motion requesting parliament to investigate alleged imposition of levies on expatriate businessmen – ranging from $15,000 to $100,000 – before they would be allowed to sit on the high table with the President of the Republic during the event.
So far, the minority chief whip, Mubarak Muntaka, National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Asawase and the NDC MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa – who seconded the urgent motion during the emergency sitting on January 5 – have appeared before the committee.
Others who have also appeared before it are the Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen; President of the Millennium Excellence Foundation (organizers of the programme), Ashim Morton and Ambassador Victor Gbeho.
The committee is supposed to finish its work and present its report to the plenary on Wednesday, January 24, 2018.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr