The Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo, has denied allegations from the Minority in Parliament implicating her in a possible conflict of interest case with respect to the issuance of the recent $2.25 billion bond by government.
Madam Akuffo further revealed that, she was not even aware of the bond, despite suggestions that a deal of this nature requires the legal input from the Attorney General’s office.
Speaking on Eyewitness News in response to allegations of a possible conflict of interest case, Madam Akuffo said she was hearing news of the bond for the first time from a press conference held by the minority in Tuesday, where the allegations were made.
She stated that “I don’t know whether as a matter of fact these things have happened in what form or on what date which should inform any legal position on my part.”
At the press conference, the Minority alleged that, a non-executive director on the board of Investment Firm, Franklin Templeton, who purchased 95 percent of the $2.25 billion bond, is also the Chairman of the Enterprise Group, which has links to the Attorney-General and the Finance Minister.
Difference between Enterprise Life and Enterprise Group
However, Madam Akuffo explained that she was “never the director of Enterprise Group.” Madam Akuffo clarified that she served as a non-executive Director for Enterprise Life, which is a sub-sect of Enterprise Group.
“There is a difference between the governing body of Enterprise Group and Enterprise life… I am not aware and I have not been part of any transaction involving the entity which was the subject matter of the [Minority] press conference.”
She further clarified that she resigned as a member of the board on April 1, 2017, where she also chaired the Human Resource Group Committee.
According to the Attorney General, the Enterprise Group holds a number of entities which are limited liability companies on their own; including Enterprise life, Enterprise trustees, Enterprise Funeral Services, Enterprise properties and Enterprise Insurance.
Thus Madam Akuffo explained, she only served on one of these companies, which are separate entities under the Enterprise Group.
“The governance arrangement is that, there is a group board separate, and apart from these other companies, one of which I served on as a non-executive director, and I am saying that as far as I am aware, Enterprise Life, on which I served, was never involved in the transaction which is the subject-matter of debate now. I am also not aware that Enterprise Group as an entity was involved in this transaction.”
On the same bond issue, the Minority in Parliament has thus called for a full-scale parliamentary probe into how some persons they refer to as very close friends of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, purchased 95 percent of Ghana’s recent $2.25 billion bond.
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