Governments use de-confiscation for political expedience - Siaw

Mr. Joseph Apeadu Siaw, former Managing Director of confiscated TATA Brewery Company on Thursday complained that successive governments of Ghana have used the predicament of company for political expedience to the detriment of the Siaw Family.

He said under former President Jerry John Rawlings’ National Democratic Congress, the Assets Restoration Committee (ARC) asked the Siaw Family to negotiate for de-confiscation of the properties but “Nothing came out of it and they left office”.

Mr. Siaw in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said that during the Government of former President John Agyekum Kufuor, the then Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, appointed then Chairperson of ARC Mrs. Betty Mould Iddrisu to look into the matter but nothing meaningful came out of it until Nana Akufo- Addo was re-assigned to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

He said, “In conformity with National Reconciliation Commission recommendations, former President Kufuor during his second term in office announced the return of all confiscated assets to us and other victims.

Mr. Siaw said “However, instead of issuing a simple letter that the properties have been released, he rather mentioned some and not all and did not include the brewery or the bank accounts.

He said the then Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Mr. Joe Ghartey instructed that the Siaw family sit with Justice V. C. R. A. C. Crabbe to iron out difficulties affecting the release of the properties, which were not dealt with and also complete their return.

Mr. Saiw said “We are still waiting for any action...we therefore appealed to President John Evans Atta Mills to return the properties of the Siaw Family as we have suffered for far too long”.

He said that no one has ever bought TATA Brewery including the multi-nationals who exist and know exactly what he was claiming.

Mr. Siaw furher stated, “We are not selling the company and for those who the multi-nationals are fronting for, we think they better tell them to give up or we shall expose them one by one, including the lawyers who forged documents.

“We have patiently waited this long while hoping that those perpetuating this evil act against the Siaws will give up. Instead, they had corrupted all past governments and are still working hard”.

Mr. Siaw explained that the confiscation of the Tata Brewery assets started under the late Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia’s government of the Progress Party, and eventually ended up with the confiscation by the Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings in 1979.

“The reason they put up was that the brewery had evaded tax. Sales tax and others, which they knew very well was a cooked up story,” Mr. Siaw said and appealed to government to return the properties to the Siaws.**