….. Claims She Does Not Earn Taxable Income

By Nana Akua Tweneboah-Koduah

Reliable information reaching the Ghana Palaver indicates that Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, whose presidential ambition came crashing to the ground following her disqualification by the Electoral Commission (EC), has not been paying taxes on all the numerous income she earns in the country.

This bombshell came to light when officials of the NDP (Bolabird Party) went to the EC offices to present Nana Konadu’s nomination forms for the December 7 presidential election. It was detected at the EC offices that Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings did not state how much income she earns let alone her tax identification number on the filing forms, a requirement under the Constitution of the country for anybody aspiring to run for the highest office of the land.

When this anomaly was detected and Konadu’s attention was drawn to it, she retorted that she has not paid any taxes because she has never earned any taxable income, forgetting about the monies she earns from the numerous companies she owns across the country in addition to the multiple gifts she receives from various sources.

The Ghana Palaver has learnt that this huge fraud of non-payment of taxes was one of the reasons why Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings’ filling forms was rejected by the EC.

In Ghana one of the requirements for running as a presidential candidate is to show proof that one pays taxes. And any Ghanaian who indeed pays taxes has a Tax Clearance Certificate and a Tax Identification Number. The only two sets of people who do not pay taxes under the Constitution are the President and cocoa farmers on their cocoa income. Apart from these, anybody in Ghana ought to pay taxes on any earned income. Even gifts are taxable. But Nana Konadu who is the “Probity & Accountability Vigilante” does not pay taxes. Nana Konadu has not been paying taxes even though she is the sole signatory to Caridem, a company operating fully in Ghana today. Aside Caridem, Konadu is also a shareholder of Ghana Rubber Estate Limited (GREL) and Nsawam Cannery. She also has interest in La Palm Beach Hotel, Servair, an airline catering services company and a cocoa processing company in Tema among others. It is on record that last year GREL made a huge profit with Nana Konadu benefiting from the goodies that came out of the windfall.

Investigations conducted by the Ghana Palaver further shows that Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings’ late father was a former managing director of the defunct Ghana National Trading Company (GNTC). As a result, Nana Konadu had a mental inventory of all the properties of the GNTC. Therefore, through the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC), Nana Konadu took possession of almost all the properties of the defunct GNTC before her husband JJ Rawlings left office, and it is on record that she did not pay a pesewa on any of those properties. The Ghana Palaver is challenging Nana Konadu to show proof of payment of those properties, and even if she shows proof of payment readers will be happy to know where she got the monies from to make those purchases. The irony is that Nana Konadu is now selling the GNTC lands all by herself.

When we talk about property grabbing by Nana Konadu, another state property, the former Star Hotel comes into focus. Under the pretext of redeveloping the Star Hotel for the state, Nana Konadu grabbed the property and later turned round and developed it into apartments. And before anybody could say Jack, “Probity and Accountability Vigilante” Nana Konadu sold the apartments which is opposite the Cantonments Post Office for $400,000 per apartment and pocketed the money.

Nana Konadu and JJ Rawlings have been lambasting the NDC on judgment debt payment, but what they will not want Ghanaians to know is that she was the first beneficiary of the judgment debt payment under the late President John Atta Mills. Records show that Nana Konadu received a judgment debt payment of GHC 5 million, but when she received the cheque, Sly Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings wanted to play a fast one on the lawyer who helped her to win the case.

The Ghana Palaver is reliably informed that Nana Konadu told the lawyer that his fees were too high and that she was not going to pay him. It was after the lawyer had threatened to sue her that Nana Konadu out of fear settled with the lawyer.

When Rawlings preaches accountability, Konadu shouts probity. In fact they have given and continue to give the false impression to Ghanaians and the outside world that they are the only saints standing and also the only sanctimonious law-abiding citizens who are honest and without fault.

Before I proceed, I will like to draw your attention to this story in the bible. In Luke 18:11 we have this story about the Pharisee who stood by himself and prayed this prayer: 'I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don't cheat, I don't sin, and I don't commit adultery. I'm certainly not like that tax collector! That has been the mantra of JJ Rawlings and Nana Konadu who want everybody to falsely believe that they have never breached any law/s in this country or done anything fishy in their lifetime.

Days after Nana Konadu was elected the flagbearer of her ill-fated “Bolabird Party” she came out swinging that she supports the free Senior High School campaign gimmick by Akufo-Addo. What Nana Konadu will not want Ghanaians to know is that during her time as first lady, she established numerous schools in the country with donor funding, but not a single of those schools were fee-free for the students. This is the kind of person who today is talking about free education.

The Ghana Palaver will want Nana Konadu to come out and inform Ghanaians about all the properties she grabbed under the DIC. Nana Konadu is known to have established multiple gari, bread and bead factories across the country, but this woman never paid taxes on any of the monies accrued. But she has been the thorn in the flesh of the NDC since it came back to power preaching probity, a trait that she does not apply to herself.

If Nana Konadu is indeed a tax dodger, can any right thinking Ghanaian believe that such a character wants to rule tax-paying Ghanaians? This woman who thinks that she is the best woman that ever walked the face of Ghana has been fooling Ghanaians that she is a morally upright and law-abiding citizen. Konadu has been stripped of her deceit of Ghanaians. Is this the so-called probity, accountability and moral high ground which Konadu claims is missing in the NDC hence her decision to leave the party to form her ill-fated NDP? Time, will indeed tell!

The Ghana Palaver is urging the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to delve deeper into this issue. Konadu is not the president of the land or a cocoa farmer; therefore, any income that she had earned and continues to earn from her chain of companies must be taxed. Konadu does not own Ghana and as somebody who considers everybody corrupt she must not be allowed to get away with this kind of fraud. Some heads at the IRS must roll. The IRS should move and perform a forensic audit on Nana Konadu. Indeed, somebody at the IRS must be accountable for this huge lapse which has allowed Konadu to get away as a tax dodger for all these years.

The officials of the EC must be commended for exposing Nana Konadu about her tax dodging activities. Konadu has been deceiving Ghanaians with her huge headgear for far too long, therefore, it is gratifying that she has been exposed as a tax dodger.

Now that Konadu has been given the boot by the EC for leaving some blank spaces in her forms which she could not sort out before the deadline, we will bring to readers the real character traits of this manipulative woman who continues to think that she can take everybody in Ghana for granted. We believe that anytime Nana Konadu goes to bed she laughs at Ghanaians thinking that nobody knows her past and present deeds. The Ghana Palaver will next talk about the human rights abuses of Nana Konadu and many more. Stay tuned!

nakuakoduah@yahoo.com