Hang Me On Vodafone Deal, Ex-Finance Minister Dares Gov’t

Issah Alhassan

THE FORMER MINISTER of state at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and Member of Parliament (MP) for the Old Tafo constituency, Dr.Anthony Akoto Osei, has called the bluff of the government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over its decision to review the Ghana Telecom-Vodafone UK agreement.

He insists there were no contractual irregularities in the agreement reached by the previous government with the British communications firm.

The former Minister has therefore challenged the current administration to hold him accountable and hang him if it finds any financial misappropriation in the deal reached between the government of Ghana and the UK mobile giants

"I can tell the NDC government would not find any single foul play in the deal, and I am ever-ready to subject myself for any scrutiny, should there be the need," he stated.

Describing the deal as the single largest British investment in Ghana, Dr.Akoto indicated that it would only take a little time for Ghanaian to realise how beneficial the deal had been to the economy of the country.

Speaking on a local radio station, Angel 96.1FM’s Morning Show on May Day, Dr. Akoto said the deal was one of the hard-worked out transactions he undertook as a Minister of State, disclosing, for the first time, that the divestiture attracted the attention and concern of prominent world leaders, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and the former President of South Africa, Mr. Thabo Mbeki.

He noted that the talk of reviewing the Vodafone deal would only serve to delay and thwart the efforts at encouraging foreign investors to come and invest in Ghana’s economy.

"The team that led the negotiation on behalf of the government of Ghana, including the former Attorney General, Joe Ghartey, Dr. Aggrey Ntim, of the Communications Ministry, Ms. Vicky Bright of the Office of the President, and myself, worked tirelessly under the auspices of the former Chief of Staff to see the deal through, and I can vouch that the country did not lose in any way," he emphasised.

He added: "You cannot review any agreement to the disadvantage of the investor, so this is a clear political talk, which will not achieve any meaningful results."

Touching on the magnitude of the interests shown by Downing Street and Whitehall, Dr. Akoto warned that the current Finance Minister’s statements alluded to in London on the review of the deal would create problems for President Mills when he visits the country to clamour for more British investments in Ghana.

Meanwhile, the former Minister, who was in charge of budget, has called on the NDC government to start with the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure as soon as possible, so as so to enable it review and fashion out any difficulties which may arise out of the new income policy.

According to him, the previous government spent enough resources on the new salary structure at the consultative stage of the process, and noted that the efforts of the past government must not be allowed to go waste.

"The NPP government started the consultations and paid for consultants to work it out, and I must say that even though it was not that expensive, the current government has to start implementing it now, and later resolve any irregularities that might arise, or otherwise it will become a serious albatross hanging on the country’s neck, because very soon workers in the country would start agitating for its implementation," he observed.

Dr. Akoto also waded into the controversy surrounding the strike action embarked upon by junior doctors of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), and said the government was already paying doctors and other health workers salaries which are higher than any other category of workers.

"Under the GHSS1 and 2, the specialists doctors are earning even more than the President and Chief Directors of MMDAs, whose consolidated items 1and 2 on their salary scale put them at 34% on the Single Spine regime, and the 50,000 health sector workers are getting good salaries than their colleagues in theh teaching profession, who number about 350,000," he emphasised.

He therefore urged the health workers to soften their stance and engage the government in smooth negotiations, so as to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.