The Minority Caucus in Parliament has taken a dig at the Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, following his comments on the challenges faced by the National Investment Bank (NIB).
Annoh-Dompreh had watered down a request by the Minority for the government to restructure the ailing bank to prevent it from being liquidated.
The Majority Chief Whip had asked the Minority to stop politicizing the issue and instead urge the government to recapitalize the bank.
Speaking to journalists in Accra on Wednesday, the Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, said, “What the government should be encouraged and urged to do is to help in the recapitalization but not to run down the bank. So, our colleagues in the Minority should stop this politicization of all matters, especially matters related to the financial sector.”
“If they don’t have the facts, they should just be patient, investigate, and get the facts before they come out.”
Reacting to this on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, Isaac Adongo, Ranking Member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, said, “We want people who believe that they understand the issues, have command over the issues, and have something to offer on the table. We provided very concrete solutions to NIB. Throughout his (Annoh-Dompreh’s) conversation, he did not provide one solution. So between us and him, who is politicizing the issue? He admits that since 2017, NIB has failed to publish audited financial reports required by law. That is the biggest red flag that anybody with the slightest knowledge of finance would be worried about, and if I were the MD of NIB, I would shut up. Annoh-Dompreh doesn’t understand the seriousness of this.”
“The NIB has outsourced its treasury function to a brokerage firm, in which they share a profit of 60% to the brokerage firm and 40% to NIB when NIB has a full-fledged treasury department headed by a general manager…This is not an easy matter. This is a technical financial subject, and we shouldn’t be allowing people who just come and speak English to be discussing technical matters that are beyond them.”
