100k saga unacceptable - Ablakwa bemoans

Member of Parliament for North Tongu Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has stated that charging expatriate businessmen as much as $100,000 to sit by president Nana Akufo-Addo at an awards event last year cannot be justified in any way.

According to him, there is everything wrong with that and was an unacceptable arrangement.

Appearing before the parliamentary committee to tasked to probe the matter Mr Ablakwa said on Thursday 11 January that “The fundamental issue has to do with whether it is appropriate, whether it is moral, whether it is ethical, whether it is legal for access to our president His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to be offered to the highest bidder.

“It is my contention that you cannot sell the prestige of the Office of the President, you cannot say that you are organizing an award and that if you pay $100,000 or $75,000 you will be guaranteed access to the president first by sitting by him and secondly by having an exclusive private dinner with the president.

“It is my considered view that there is everything wrong with this arrangement, it is not appropriate, it cannot be justified in anyway,” he told the committee.

Earlier, Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak appeared before the committee.