2.25bn bond saga: We're happy NPP government is now taking us serious - Ablakwa

Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa has pointed out that Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta’s visit to Parliament to explain further on the $2.25 billion dollar bond is based on the persistent effort of the Minority in Parliament.

According to him, the Majority in Parliament and Nana Addo’s government have now moved away from their initial use of insults as their official response to the claims of the Minority, hence the visit of the Finance Minister to Parliament to present the full documentations surrounding the transaction.

Speaking on Okay FM’s 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa insisted that the $2.25 billion dollar bond was not on Parliament Issuance Calendar, making the transaction not transparent and eventually forcing the Minority to hold a press conference.

“We had a wind of this whole bond transaction during recess and we had a press conference because the bond was not on our issuance calendar and it was not transparent. The time they notified the market, they had already started the transaction before they notified the market,” he asserted.

He even indicated that the Minority in Parliament has the chronology of the event, reiterating that the whole transaction was shrouded in secrecy.

He still holds the view that the $2.25 billion bond is a contention of several laws including the Constitution of Ghana, where Article 181 says that this transaction should have come to Parliament.

He again averred that the Securities and Exchange law was clearly breached as this transaction should have received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Ghana.

“All these didn’t happen. Initially, the reaction from the Vice President was that we don’t read and we don’t know what we are about which was clearly an insult. It was clear that they just wanted to insult us as their official response and so we stepped up beyond the press conference and we went to CHRAJ, and I went to Washington DC to file a petition with the Securities and Exchange Commission and so now there is a case manager on this case whom we have been interacting.

“Investigations are ongoing. We have indicated quite clearly that this is a matter which we are very serious about and very committed to it and we are not going to relent at all in making sure that the right thing will be done,” he assured.

He maintained that the desire of the Minority in Parliament is that at the end of the day, the right thing is done and for transparency to prevail in this transaction.

“We are happy because the Finance Minister, the Majority Leader and the government are beginning to take us serious and have moved away from the insult, and that is why the Majority Leader seconded the motion filed by the Minority Leader to make the Finance Minister bring the full documentation to Parliament,” he indicated.