Ignore false Kwetey report attributed to me – Adongo

Bolgatanga Central MP, Isaac Adongo, has refuted certain media publications which sought to suggest that he was undermining his colleague, Mr Fifi Kwetey, who is Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, in relation to parliament's probe into the collapse of some seven local banks.

“The words being attributed to me in the aforementioned publication are therefore false and none existent but were only mischievously crafted, concocted or invented to throw a wedge in between myself and my colleagues,” Mr Adongo said in a statement on Friday, 7 September 2018.

Mr Adongo, an ardent critic of the managers of the country’s economy, has blamed Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, Governor of Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison and Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), of being complicit in the collapse of the UT Bank, Capital Bank, uniBank, Sovereign Bank, The Royal Bank, The Beige Bank and The Construction Bank.

UT Bank and Capital Bank were taken over by GCB Bank while the last five were put together by the BoG to form the all-new Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) Limited.

Mr Adongo boycotted parliament’s probe into the collapse of the banks and did not participate in the preliminary meetings of the committee.

According to him, the parliamentary probe is “a rubber stamp process, it will deliver no value [and] I am not willing to be part of it”.

The Minority MP pointed out that the documents that the committee members were given were statements from the banking sector and press releases by the BoG.

He further stated that documents from audit firm, KPMG, only contain conditions and opinions on uniBank.

He further revealed that the committee members do not know the terms of reference of the job that KPMG did, and “we don’t even know the full report of Boulders [Advisors], except an executive summary of Boulders’ work”.

For him, the committee has not been provided with all the relevant documents and other materials to constitute an independent and credible work, hence his decision not to “take part in rubber stamp meetings”.

Nonetheless, other members of the Minority on the committee including, Mr Kwetey, have participated in all the meetings of the committee.

Mr Adongo noted that he knows Mr Kwetey “to be an investment banker with adequate insights and intellectual capacity to do what he does”.

He therefore found it strange that media publications will suggest that he had cast a slur on Mr Kwetey when he had not done so.

For him, the publication is an attempt to cause disaffection between members of the Minority.

“Those interested in breaking our front and particularly, my resolve to criticise and hold government accountable and responsible will fail pathetically as I stand resolute. Subterfuge and calumny is not the way.I stand for truth and justice and the truth shall prevail ultimately,” he emphasisied.

Below is the full release

RE: WHAT DOES FIFI KWETEY KNOW IN BANKING AND FINANCE? ~ ADONGO HITS BACK.

My attention has been drawn to a publication captioned as above and attributed to Luv FM.

Let me state first and foremost that I have not granted any interviews to Luv FM since I walked out of the parliamentary committee sitting on the banking crisis. Again, it is worth mentioning that, in all my media engagements, I've refrained from mentioning the names of my colleagues.

The words being attributed to me in the aforementioned publication are therefore false and none existent but were only mischievously crafted, concocted or invented to throw a wedge in between myself and my colleagues.

I can understand where this bogus publication is coming from and the motive behind it. The content says it all.

I say here and again that I know Hon Fiifi Kwetey to be an investment banker with adequate insights and intellectual capacity to do what he does. I wish to reemphasize my point for the abundance of clarity and the avoidance of doubt:

1. I took a personal decision upon reviewing the documents before me and came to the conclusion that I was not equipped to do the job that I needed to.

2. I firmly believe that government is deliberately withholding facts that will otherwise expose the real factors beneath the banking crisis and their subsequent expropriation.

3. A document purported to be the KPMG report was on the whassap platform of the finance committee. It is the only document shared on the platform but I find that to be unusual and at variance with my experience in Parliament. Hon. Benjamin Kpodo was right in making that allusion of a shared document.

4. I subsequently excused myself from the meeting.

My colleagues on the minority side are doing their best under the circumstances.

Fiifi Kwetey made a statement of fact which is consistent with my position. Viz, I did not act on behalf the minority caucus on the committee, neither did I purport to have acted on their behalf. This was a personal decision that I took.

Nevertheless, I have enormous respect for Hon Fiifi Kwetey and the rest of my colleagues on the committee as they offer a lot of inspiration and guidance to me. I will continue to work with them as a team in the interest of Ghana and in the collective interest of the great NDC.

Those interested in breaking our front and particularly, my resolve to criticize and hold government accountable and responsible will fail pathetically as I stand resolute. Subterfuge and calumny is not the way.

I stand for truth and justice and the truth shall prevail ultimately.