General News of Wednesday, 21 August 2019
Source: thechronicle.com.gh
Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM1, who called the bluff of the government to cease using his company, Menzgold, for deposit taking from clients, because it has not been licensed to do so, has finally broken his license.
After calling the Bank of Ghana a joke, and with his long stay in Dubai jail and subsequent struggles to meet his bail conduction in Ghana, he surprisingly called a news conference in Accra yesterday, under tight security, to rather set conditions for the same government to fulfill, if he is to raise money to pay his clients.
The Chief Executive Officer and founder of defunct Menzgold Ghana Company Limited and sister companies, said he can only pay customers and business associates if the government assists him to recover the USD$39,000,000 owed by Horizon Royal Diamond in Dubai.
In fact, the embattled Menzgold CEO said: “As an act of good faith, we are willing to engage the Attorney General’s office on the best possible way for them to aid Menzgold by employing international law and diplomatic relations to ensure we achieve this objective.”
Similarly, he wants the state authorities to unfreeze his companies’ personal bank accounts and assets to give him some breathing space to offset the companies’ liabilities.
NAM1, addressing the media in Accra said: “As of now, Brew Marketing Consult, Menzgold and I cannot credit or debit any bank account in Ghana.
“This is why it is highly imperative to consider this kind request, as I believe government shares in our resolve and would do all that which is needful in our quest to satisfy the populace, who are our customers.”
He claimed that Menzgold is a new business module, which is neither a securities company nor a financial firm, hence queried actions of government the agent or agency that has an oversight jurisdiction over a ‘gold collectible/jewellery trade’ in the county.
To him, the government should supply him with an answer, so that the he can do the right thing by applying for the necessary processes and certifications to legitimise his business of collectible/jewellery trade.
“As we have publicly demonstrated, we are open to fair supervision and are opposed to no supervision, misconceived supervision or supervision with malicious intents, respectfully,” he stressed.
It would be recalled that NAM1, at the genesis of the brouhaha called Bank of Ghana (BoG) a joke and flexed his muscles at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). His quick u-turn to call on the government to help him recovery 750kgs of gold money comes as a surprise.
Nevertheless, he has compared the situation to founders like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, SnapChat’ Evan Spiegel, Bobby and Reggie, Alibaba’s Jack Ma, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and many others who suffered similar fate, while trying to breakthrough.
According to him, these personalities fought several oppositions in order to make their mark on the global map and can now be described as multibillion companies.
He, however, finds the current situation a setback, which are just symptoms of disruptive business ideas, adding, “Menzgold is today characterised by same traits and I have no doubt in mind that our company is on the path to greatness and global prominence.”
Mr Appiah Mensah averred that, “if these three propositions are reviewed and considered, we shall confidently proceed to make the necessary arrangements to start paying our customers immediately under my watch. This I say with my personal guarantee.”
Detention in Dubai
NAM1 talked of his sorrowful experience while under detention in Dubai. He described it harrowing, daunting, terrific and horrific experience.
According to him, the detention has affected his health that resulted swellings-blood clots in his pelvic region and knees with excruciating pains following a past surgical procedure.
The experience, he said has refined him and feels much older than his 36 years age, stating “I am fulfilled and ready for greater exploits, highly motivated to add up to our previous gain. I am happy about the disruption, a key trait about a successful business prospect in this information age, is the ability to scale.”