General News of Wednesday, 27 November 2002

Source: JoyOnline

Minority Presses For Due Diligence Report On IFC

The Minority group in Parliament is preparing to re-launch its enquiries into details of the due diligence government claims to have conducted into the International Finance Consortium (IFC). The Chairman of Government’s Economic Management Team, Senior Minister J. H. Mensah; Finance Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo and the Governor of the Central Bank Paul Acquah, between June and last month traveled abroad to conduct due diligence enquiries establishing the credibility of the IFC.

The minority spokesperson on finance, Moses Asaga is recommending sanctions against the Governor of the Bank of Ghana. Mr. Asaga says the Governor of the Central failed to conduct thorough due diligence on the IFC before advising the government on the loan transaction which has now been called off.

Some members of the minority have called for the resignation of the Finance Minister following the four-month controversy and resultant cancellation of the deal.

MP for Biakoye and former Majority Leader, Kwabena Adjei told a local radio station - JoyFM - that the findings of the government team was not contained in the statement explaining why government abandoned the IFC transaction. He says government must reveal the details of the report on due diligence, which the Finance Minister and the Central Bank’s Governor claimed to have conducted.