Accra, March 3, GNA - Ms Bertha Ansah-Djan, Chief Executive Officer of Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), has dismissed as "total fabrication", an allegation citing her as having spent GH¢25,000 state funds on a car key.

"GH¢25,000 on a car key; where in this world can that be possible?= " she asked.

Ms Ansah-Djan was speaking in an interview with Ghana News Agency on=

Wednesday in Accra, following allegations that she had spent the amount t= o replace the keys to a V8 Land Cruiser which were lost by her driver. She said the allegation was crafted to discredit her hard work and t= o drag her hard earned reputation in the mud.

"As I sit here, I have not bought any key," she stressed, adding tha= t the key to the said car was still missing. Ms Ansah-Djan said when she assumed office, the car that was bought by the then Chief of Staff through the offices of the President, was allocat= ed to one Mr Moses Barimah, an employee of MASLOC.

She said Mr Barimah, who was on leave, was contacted to find out whe= re the key was and when searches draw blanks she called Toyota Ghana Limited= on phone and the company said a replacement would cost GH¢1,700. Ms Ansah-Djan said she was baffled by an invoice submitted by the company that a showed a jump in the price to GH¢7,491.43.

She showed the invoice to the Ghana News Agency and said irresponsib= le journalistic practice would not do the nation any good. "If we continue like this, investors and hardworking individuals in the country would not be able to work hard to improve the lot for the nation,= " she said. Ms Ansah-Djan lauded the former NPP government for introducing the concept but stressed its implementation was badly done.

"If we put the systems in place and the necessary checks to enable MASLOC to work it would be one of the organizations that would improve th= e socio-economic development agenda of the country," she said. She appealed to applicants to the scheme under the 2010 fiscal year to exercise restraint as the Centre would start the disbursement of loans by=

the end of March 2010. Ms Ansah-Djan said MASLOC had started working with the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to recov= er loans from defaulters under the scheme.

MASLOC was established to support government's programme of a sustainable reduction in poverty as spelt out under the Growth and Povert= y Reduction Strategy by providing micro credit and small loans, which are t= o be repaid with interest. It was to serve as the fiduciary agency of government for the pruden= t and judicious management of government and development partners' funds fo= r micro and small-scale credit programmes. MASLOC is expected to promote the emergence, development and growth of a sustainable and decentralized micro-financial sector with grassroots participation in ownership, management and control.