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Osafo-Maafo is conning you - Coomson

Thu, 5 Dec 2002 Source: Chronicle

...Demands Head Of Acquah, Maafo;IFC Loan Has Not Been Discontinued!
The publisher of the Ghanaian Chronicle, Nana Kofi Coomson, has said that he cannot believe that most Ghanaians, including sections of the intelligentsia have been conned by the Finance Minister, Osafo-Maafo, and the Governor of Bank of Ghana (BOG), Dr Paul Acquah.

“Can you believe this? People including editorialists from newspapers like The Ghanaian Chronicle are applauding Osafo-Maafo, and his team for pulling out of the IFC negotiations, seeing it as a laudable thing.” It is a complete falsehood, he said, in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

Coomson also reported that the transaction had fallen flat on its face a full week before it became official. “Osafo-Maafo is lying,” the publisher and communications consultant reiterated. He said the government did not pull out from the loan because there was nothing for them to pull out from. Rather, they reached the end of the road on the loan negotiations and realised that there was nothing on the table.

Kofi who said he listened carefully to the entire address of Osafo-Maafo to Parliament, said his heart sand when he heard him put such a beautiful but deceptive spin on his address, announcing the so-called withdrawal from the IFC, Kofi noted that it was not the kind of “mea culpa” that was expected from an abortive, outrageously horrible mission of such magnitude.

Nana Coomson condemned Osafo-Maafo and Acquah whom he described as not fit for such a position of fiduciary responsibility as a Central Bank Governor that demands the highest level of trust and integrity.”

“You pull out of a transaction before you sign along the dotted line, legally, you cannot discontinue after you have signed, fooled the entire Parliamentary majority to approve it, obtain sovereign guarantees. It doesn’t happen like that, and even a cashier at Cooperative Bank knows this,” he reiterated.

He ranted that “They just discovered that we were right about the bonafides of IFC, and the imprudence of their mission.” He said he was shocked that they were unable to apologise to the Ghanaian taxpayer. “Where is the ‘honourable’ professor?” he questioned.

Kofi wanted to know where the details of the due diligence report the BOG and the Ministry of Finance supposedly conducted and the breakdown of costs they incurred from travels for all the parties were.

He revealed that the director of United Nations Office for Projects Service (UNOPS), Rheinhardt Helmke, is having his contract as Executive Director at the UN body’s head office in New York terminated with no option to renew this month.

He said he suspects it has something to do with him lending his name to a shadowy organisation that has wreaked despair in developing poor countries from Punjab to Ghana. The Chronicle publisher complained that Dr Paul Acquah who is a retired technocrat from IMF, should have behaved much more rationality than that and that he did not understand why he should be allowed to go about his work without a word.

“I say he does not deserve to enjoy a pesewa of the taxes that I and other struggling Ghanaians pay to maintain him,” he reiterated. He asked Dr Acquah to resign, along with Osafo-Maafo. Asked about his earlier support for Osafo-Maafo, he said, friends have mocked him in the past about his famous endorsement for Spio Garbrah, but he was swayed by Spio’s eloquence, his pedigree until he took public office.

Kofi Coomson said that although Osafo-Maafo is a friend, he would not compromise when it comes to issues of national interest. Asked whether criminal proceedings could be brought against the minister, he replied that there may be a legal opportunity for someone to take him to court, if need be, to force him out of office if he does not do so honourably like Kofi Wayo and I.K. Gyasi are advising.

He said that because of the spin, which is essentially premised on falsehood, only 50 per cent of Ghanaians in the diaspora say that Osafo-Maafo and his team or he alone should resign (Ghanaweb Poll). “They should be pushed out, else some of us can see ourselves putting in appearances at CHRAJ…,” he reiterated. Kofi Coomson said that he would find time to explore deeper into the cost of the fiasco at the international levels.




...Demands Head Of Acquah, Maafo;IFC Loan Has Not Been Discontinued!
The publisher of the Ghanaian Chronicle, Nana Kofi Coomson, has said that he cannot believe that most Ghanaians, including sections of the intelligentsia have been conned by the Finance Minister, Osafo-Maafo, and the Governor of Bank of Ghana (BOG), Dr Paul Acquah.

“Can you believe this? People including editorialists from newspapers like The Ghanaian Chronicle are applauding Osafo-Maafo, and his team for pulling out of the IFC negotiations, seeing it as a laudable thing.” It is a complete falsehood, he said, in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

Coomson also reported that the transaction had fallen flat on its face a full week before it became official. “Osafo-Maafo is lying,” the publisher and communications consultant reiterated. He said the government did not pull out from the loan because there was nothing for them to pull out from. Rather, they reached the end of the road on the loan negotiations and realised that there was nothing on the table.

Kofi who said he listened carefully to the entire address of Osafo-Maafo to Parliament, said his heart sand when he heard him put such a beautiful but deceptive spin on his address, announcing the so-called withdrawal from the IFC, Kofi noted that it was not the kind of “mea culpa” that was expected from an abortive, outrageously horrible mission of such magnitude.

Nana Coomson condemned Osafo-Maafo and Acquah whom he described as not fit for such a position of fiduciary responsibility as a Central Bank Governor that demands the highest level of trust and integrity.”

“You pull out of a transaction before you sign along the dotted line, legally, you cannot discontinue after you have signed, fooled the entire Parliamentary majority to approve it, obtain sovereign guarantees. It doesn’t happen like that, and even a cashier at Cooperative Bank knows this,” he reiterated.

He ranted that “They just discovered that we were right about the bonafides of IFC, and the imprudence of their mission.” He said he was shocked that they were unable to apologise to the Ghanaian taxpayer. “Where is the ‘honourable’ professor?” he questioned.

Kofi wanted to know where the details of the due diligence report the BOG and the Ministry of Finance supposedly conducted and the breakdown of costs they incurred from travels for all the parties were.

He revealed that the director of United Nations Office for Projects Service (UNOPS), Rheinhardt Helmke, is having his contract as Executive Director at the UN body’s head office in New York terminated with no option to renew this month.

He said he suspects it has something to do with him lending his name to a shadowy organisation that has wreaked despair in developing poor countries from Punjab to Ghana. The Chronicle publisher complained that Dr Paul Acquah who is a retired technocrat from IMF, should have behaved much more rationality than that and that he did not understand why he should be allowed to go about his work without a word.

“I say he does not deserve to enjoy a pesewa of the taxes that I and other struggling Ghanaians pay to maintain him,” he reiterated. He asked Dr Acquah to resign, along with Osafo-Maafo. Asked about his earlier support for Osafo-Maafo, he said, friends have mocked him in the past about his famous endorsement for Spio Garbrah, but he was swayed by Spio’s eloquence, his pedigree until he took public office.

Kofi Coomson said that although Osafo-Maafo is a friend, he would not compromise when it comes to issues of national interest. Asked whether criminal proceedings could be brought against the minister, he replied that there may be a legal opportunity for someone to take him to court, if need be, to force him out of office if he does not do so honourably like Kofi Wayo and I.K. Gyasi are advising.

He said that because of the spin, which is essentially premised on falsehood, only 50 per cent of Ghanaians in the diaspora say that Osafo-Maafo and his team or he alone should resign (Ghanaweb Poll). “They should be pushed out, else some of us can see ourselves putting in appearances at CHRAJ…,” he reiterated. Kofi Coomson said that he would find time to explore deeper into the cost of the fiasco at the international levels.




Source: Chronicle