• He avers that the current arrangement amounts to conflict of interest
• Adongo alleges that DataBank and Black Stars Brokerage have been named as advisors since 2017
Minority spokesperson on the Finance Committee of Parliament, Isaac Adongo has cautioned the Minister of State-designate for Finance, Charles Adu Boahen to withdraw his firm; Black Stars Brokerage as book runners and transaction advisors on all loan agreements of the Government of Ghana.
This comes after reports emerged that two firms, DataBank and Black Stars Brokerage have been named as book runners and transaction advisors to loan agreements of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration since it assumed office in 2017.
Whiles DataBank is partly owned by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, Black Stars Brokerage is owned by Minister of State-designate for Finance [Charles Adu Boahen].
Adongo in an interaction with the media in Parliament on June 1, 2021 stressed that the move amounted to a conflict of interest and threatened that it will lead to the rejection of Adu Boahen by the Appointments Committee of Parliament when he appears for vetting.
Adongo said: “They [Databank and Black Stars Brokerage] are paid 0.35 percent per value, that gives you eight hundred and seventy-five million cedis in fees that Databank and the rest have had to share from the people of Ghana.
“This year, government’s total gross financing requirement is about 60 billion Ghana cedis, again you can offset about ten billion of that for other financing arrangement and treasury bills in the gross financing arrangement, and you have another close to fifty billion that would be borrowed by Ken Ofori-Atta and his company and Charles Adu-Boahen and his company.
“In all, we expect payment of two hundred and ten million Ghana cedis in fees and changes to be shared by these book runners.”
As a result of these infractions, the legislator has also hinted about petitioning the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice to investigate both entities.
“As a matter of conscience, I call on both parties to withdraw those companies immediately. And for Charles Adu-Boahen who is due for vetting tomorrow [June 2, 2021] to do the honorable thing and withdraw Black Star Brokerage before tomorrow. I want to assure them that in this particular activity, I would not relent on it.”
“I am going to the extent of petitioning the IMF, the World Bank, I will petition the international investment committee and I will petition CHRAJ to look into this. I will make their issuance of bonds a murky business in 2021,” Adongo charged.
