Deputy Finance Minister, Dr John Kumah has said that people who feel pained following the conflict of interest allegations levelled against Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.

Speaking on Newsfile on Saturday, he explained that in every government, people are appointed to positions where they have the expertise to help in the development of the country.

Hence, appointees have found themselves in government positions where companies they used to work with still have relationships with their offices, Dr Kumah said.

“Everybody in this country knows that Ken Ofori-Atta has been with Data Bank for a very long time and he has not hidden this. In 2012 he resigned from his role at the bank. So we have to have this discussion with that mindset of how do we improve it and make our laws better,” he said.

Dr Kumah said that “recusing yourself could be one of it but also full disclosure of your interest and excusing yourself for the process to be followed but everybody knowing that you are still part of that company is also right in law.”

According to him, filing a case with the court can help bring clarity and direct future governments on what to do when appointing people with certain expertise and relationships with institutions.

He noted that Databank’s relationship with the government did not begin when the NPP took power in 2017 and consistently Mr Ofori-Atta has been open about where he stands with the company.

“It is not because NPP is in government or he became minister of finance that a company he has worked with and has shares in has become a book runner or part of our Eurobond matters. Going forward as a country, how do we want to manage with picking people with experience in a particular sector and at the same time ensuring that conflict of interest situations are addressed.”

“Those who are so pained by the current situation should go to court, either the supreme court or high court so that we can all be guided, because as far as I am concerned these two public officers have acted within the law.”

This comes after an ace Ghanaian broadcaster has expressed his surprise at government for constantly employing the services of a company co-founded by the Finance Minister – Data Bank Financial Services – as advisors for some of Ghana’s international loan transactions.

Kwasi Kyei Darkwah (KKD) suggested that it may be the reason the country keeps borrowing, a habit he insisted cannot be allowed to continue.

Speaking on GTV’s Breakfast Show on Wednesday, August 17, he lashed out at Parliament for keeping quiet about such an issue.

But in a rebuttal the Ministry of Finance has dismissed the claims which went viral on social media that Databank and Black Star Brokerage were handpicked by the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Ghana to act as Bond Market Specialists for government bond issuance, hence benefiting from those transactions.

In a statement, the Ministry said, it is incorrect the claim that these two firms have been appointed as advisors to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

“The selection of the Primary Dealers [PDs] and Bond Market Specialists [BMSs] is an automatic process based on market performance and historical secondary market trading activity which is publicly available and cannot be manipulated by the Ministry of Finance [MoF] or the Bank of Ghana [BoG]”.

“Since 1996, the Ministry of Finance with the Bank of Ghana has developed and implemented various policies which affect the issuance and trading of Government of Ghana debt securities (Treasuries and Bonds). The ultimate objectives of these policies are to develop an efficient fixed income market, strengthen the capacity of local institutions and deepen financial intermediation”, it added.

Furthermore, it pointed out that Databank and Black Star Brokerage are two out of nine firms that have been selected by BoG/MoF as Bond Market Specialists and not Advisors to MoF.

The Ministry added that “the other firms selected to be BMSs are – Ecobank, Stanbic Bank, ABSA, Cal Bank, GCB Bank, Fidelity Bank, and IC Securities. As stated above, the selection of the firms was solely based on their historical performance on the Bond Market and no other consideration”.

Meanwhile, the Databank has had cause to, over the past year, distance itself from accusations of conflict of interest in government transactions.

In June 2021, the company reiterated that Ken Ofori-Atta resigned as Executive Chair of the bank in August 2012 and “resigned from all the Databank Boards in February 2014.”