Parliament has constituted a seven-member committee to “investigate and establish what has accounted for the failure of the government to pay the customers of the defunct Gold Coast Fund Management (GCFM).”
Members of the committee are MP for Esikado/Ketan, Joe Ghartey, chairman; Dr Benjamin Yeboah Sekyere, Tano South, and Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, Sunyani East, all NPP MPs.
The rest are Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, MP, Odododiodioo and Member for Awutu Senya West, Gizella Akushika Tetteh-Agbotui, all NDC MP and Dr Theophilus Acheampong and Antonio Kesse as the technical people.
The committee has been given three months to present its report to plenary for a decision.
The composition of the committee followed a petition presented on behalf of 61,000 customers of the Fund by Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayariga, pursuant to Standing Order 76(1).
“Every application to Parliament shall be in the form of a petition, and every petition must be presented by a Member….”, the Order states.
Presenting the petition on the floor of the House in Parliament, Accra, yesterday, the Bawku Central lawmaker said the GCFM was a duly registered and accredited company regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“The funds of the petitioners valued at about GH¢5 billion was locked up in the defunct GCFM following the decision of the government to through the Ministry of Finance to carry out a financial sector clean-up exercise initiated in 2018,” Mr Ayariga said.
According to him, following the exercise, the petitioners successfully submitted and validated their claims through Price Waterhouse Coppers with the regulator, SEC, budgeting GH¢8 billion for the total payment of the claims of customers of all 46 defunct fund management companies.
“This Honourable House approved funds for the financial sector clean-up exercise and the Minister of Finance publicly reported that he had completed the exercise and has expended GH¢25 billion in this regard.
“Government’s accounting showed that this sum included the GH¢6.8 billion meant to pay claims of investors in the 47 defunct management companies including GCFM,” he told the House.
This notwithstanding, Mahama Ayariga said individual members of the petitioners’ association whose investment exceeded GH¢50,000 “have not been paid the remainder of their money because Government paid GH¢50,000 to everyone in 2020”.
Many members of the petitioners’ group, the MP said had gone on pension and invested all their retirement benefits in the fund and have consequently been rendered destitute and many have died not being able to afford critically needed medical care.
Praying the Speaker to constitute the committee, he said the government must be compelled to “pay the customers of the defunct GCFM their investments in the fund since Parliament approved the budget requested by the government”.
Granting the reliefs of the Bawku Central MP, the Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, said it was important a parliamentary committee dealt with the matter once and for all, having received several petitions.
“We have received so many petitions on this subject matter, government has responded in a number of ways, and some of our official documents including budget statements, government has indicated actions taken in some of these things but we are still receiving more petitions so it is proper that we delve into this matter,” he said.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
