The controversial GEBA presidential circle fees have been found to be means of sponsoring the Ghana Expatriates Business Awards initiated by MEF, organisers of the event…
President of the Millennium Excellence Foundation (MEF), Ashim Morton, has come out to say that the paid-for presidential table which has been raising a lot of dust between the minority and majority members of parliament was initially meant to be occupied by him and not the President of the Republic, Nana Akufo-Addo.
According to Ashim Morton, the “President” in the $100k presidential circle offer was actually referring to him and not Akufo-Addo as he [Akufo-Addo] was not billed to attend the awards event. He further pointed out that their letters to the expatriates never statde that the “president’s table was designated for the president of the Republic of Ghana.”
Mr. Morton said he only relinquished the position after President Akufo-Addo indicated great interest in attending the programme. Although he admitted that special seats were indeed reserved for all the companies that agreed to pay $100,000, “no one paid before the event.”
This appears to have cancelled out the thriving claims by the minority that the Trade Ministry is using the President of the Republic of Ghana to make money.
Meanwhile, the Trade Ministry has continued to insist that the controversial GEBA presidential circle fees were just means of sponsoring the event which was initiated by its organisers and not a fraudulent money-making stratagem by the ministry as many have alleged.
According to explanations given by both the Deputy Trade Minister and spokesperson of the Ministry, they played no role in placing the price tags for positions of proximity with the president at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards (GEBA) and that the monies will also go to MEF, the organisers of the event.
The Trade Ministry according to them, only partnered with MEF to lend credence to the progamme since MEF is not yet a popular organisation. This they said, was meant to encourage the expatriates to see the event as a creditable one and hence, part with their money.
They further explained that the GEBA presidential circle fees were not imposed but were voluntarily paid by interested expatriates as a way of sponsoring the event.
Read the Trade Minister’s statement on the contentious GEBA presidential table fee below to get more details on the partnership between the Trade Ministry and the Millennium Excellence Foundation (MEF) in carrying out the Ghana Expatriates Business Awards (GEBA):
PRESS STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO THE BASELESS ACCUSATIONS RELATING TO THE GHANA EXPATRIATE BUSINESS AWARDS (GEBA) 2017.
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