"We Lied To World Bank To Obtain Loans"

__Fiifi Kwetey

"A Deputy Minister of Finance, Fifi Kwetey, has revealed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government was not totally upfront with World Bank in 2009 on how the then New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration utilized the $750 million Eurobond loan. The Deputy Finance Minister insists a document prepared and signed by the sector Minister, Dr. Kwabena Duffour and sent to the World Bank declaring that the Eurobond was well spent by the NPP government was woefully deficient in information and should be disregarded. The erstwhile Kufuor administration has been accused of squandering $750 million it raised after it issued Ghana's first Eurobond in 2007 approved by Parliament. The money was to be used in only the energy, road and railway sectors of the country. However, Mr. Kwetey maintains the money was never utilized for any of these sectors, proving his point with the assertion that the erstwhile NPP government cannot point to any single structure in the country as a beneficiary of the Eurobonds."

I hope when President Mills legacy is written, people like Fiifi Kwetey, Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ofosu Kwakye, Boamah Otukonor and other Baby sharp teeths and rotten planks will feature prominently as some of the achievements he left for Ghana.The NDC lied to Ghanaians and now they are admitting that they lied to the World Bank too. What a disgraceful bunch. Does Fiifi Kwetey realize the extent of the blunder he has committed.Is Fiifi Kwetey aware about the what he has just done? Lying to any financial institution or presenting false documents to obtain a loan is a felony punishable by time in prison and financial penalties. When is NDC going to learn? They did this before during Rawlings regime when they prepared false documents about the economic situation in Ghana to get favourable financial benefits which cost our country twenty million dollar($20million) and now Fiifi is telling the whole world that Ghana lied to World Bank again to obtain a loan?

What did President Mills see in this book hawker who used to sell books in Accra/Kumasi bound buses to make this "Kwashiskor yellow hair" nutrition deficient Kwetey a Deputy Finance Minister? The same Fiifi Kwetey admitted during his vetting to become Deputy Minister that, he lied to Ghanaians when he told the whole nation that President Kuffour sold Ghana's Gold Reserve and put the money in his personal accounts. Is Fiifi Kwetey aware about the damage he has done to Ghana's reputation in the international community? This will surely bring some sanctions from the World Bank and IMF against Ghana as they did before because this fool Kwetey wanted to score cheap political points with his usual lies. What prompted Fiifi Kwetey to come out with this nonsense? Was he under the hallucinating effects of illegal drugs or this fool is not intelligent enough to have realised that what he was about to say will damage the reputation of NDC and the image of Ghana in the international community?

Why should Fiifi lie about something like this, one may ask. Fiifi was debating Nana Akomeah about the Eurobond issued by NPP in 2007 and what the money was used for. According to Fiifi, NPP misused the loan despite Nana Akomeah's indepth explanation of what the money was used for. According to Nana Akomeah, when NDC came to power in January 2009, $155 million of that 750 million was still lodged at Bank of Ghana

“…what they show is that by the time the NDC took over in January 2009, $155 million of the Eurobond funds were still lodged at the Bank of Ghana to be spent,” he said. Out of the US$750 millions borrowed in 2007 in the form of Eurobonds, US$595 millions had been disbursed by January 2009…The proceeds were allocated primarily to support public investments in the energy sector according to the following distribution: US$286 million for investments by the Volta River Authority (VRA); US$134 million for investments by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG); US$54 million for the investment in the Bui Dam; US$ 31 million for the Government’s equity investment in the West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP); and US$90 million for public investments in road infrastructure.."

Fiifi Kwetey despite this expanation by Nana Akomeah and realising he was losing the argument came out about how Ghana under Mills NDC government prepared fraudulent documents to the world Bank in order to obtain loans, this is a crime Ghana is going to pay a price for because a foolish Deputy Minister still in his propaganda Secretary mode opened his mouth too wide.

President Mahama should start acting like a President and start sacking some of these loose mouths in his administration who went into hibernation when President Mills died and have now realised that, President Mahama is not going to be different from President Mills and they are now emboldened to resort to their usual bad behaviour. Maybe Mahama will do himself a lot of good and take former President Rawlings advice and remove the rotten planks from his government if he want to be voted for in December 2012.

Justice Sarpong

Houston, Texas

(CARDINAL of TRUTH)