General News of Wednesday, 23 September 2020
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2020-09-23Flashback: Government ready to pay DKM victims - Asiedu Nketia
NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia
In 2016, the General Secretary of the then ruling National Democratic Congress, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, announced that government was willing to pay the distraught DKM customers based on some conditions.
This was after fighting some 70,000 customers of collapsed microfinance firm for threatening to demonstrate against the government.
He said though the NDC was not
Read full articlewilling to pay the customers because of what he had earlier described as a bad investment decision, Members of Parliament of the then opposition, New Patriotic Party, who had then promised to pay the customers if voted into power, should be ready to sign an indemnity agreement if they insist on government paying the locked-up funds.
Read below a report on Asiedu Nketia’s statement as published by ultimatefmonline.com below:
General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asideu Nketia says government is ready to pay thousands of customers of DKM Micro Finance and other ponzi companies if the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo plans to settle them from state coffers on assumption of power.
He is however appealing to the NPP MPs in the Brong Ahafo region in particular, who claim to care, to allow their share of the Common Fund as well the District Assemblies Common Fund to be used for this purpose.
“I have challenged the NPP MPs in Brong Ahafo region that if Nana Addo says if he comes to power he will pay and it is not the money his candidates and other people have stolen and will be bringing back to pay and it is from state coffers, then government is ready to pay”, he said.
The NDC stalwart however said this will be done on condition that NPP MPs and their leadership of other major political parties will agree to sign an indemnity that if the victims are paid through these funds, NDC government will not be accused of misappropriation of state funds.
According to him, the easiest source to get money for this purpose is the MPs Common Fund if the NPP MPs in the Brong Ahafo Region are truly concerned about the plight of the victims who have lost their investments to the Ponzi schemes.
“Thankfully, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Kwaku Agyemang Manu is from the region and when an audit report of appropriation is submitted to parliament he will help to answer if he is much concerned about DKM customers. If they are ready to sign, we are ready and will pay next week”, he added.
He accused the NPP’s hierarchy in the Brong Ahafo region of feeding on the ignorance of the victims when under the guise of fighting for their interest calling the victims to try and decipher the hypocrisy from these individuals.
