Minister Accused Of Lying To Parliament

The Speaker of Parliament, Peter Ala Adjetey has referred to a special committee report submitted to the House by the committee on Government Assurances that accuses Minister of Private Sector Development, Kwamena Bartels of deceit.

The Speaker?s action follows strong protests by the Minister of Private Sector Development, Kwamena Bartels, who the report indicts as lying to the House. The report, among others, observed that the Minster lied to the committee and Parliament that a project initiated by his ministry was going to be financed with a loan facility from Italy.

The Committee?s report bluntly indicted Mr. Bartels was lying to Parliament, because he reneged on his promise to get his ministry?s assistance for highly skilled auto mechanics.

The report follows the committee?s follow-ups on promises made by various sector ministers. Two were found not to have fulfilled their promises. But Mr. Bartels is the hardest hit by the report for failing to help the auto mechanics get the promised basic tools and equipment that will facilitate the manufacture of simple plants and machinery.

The committee chairman said Mr. Bartels replied to the committee?s letter requesting for an update on efforts to fulfill his promise with the claim that an Italian loan facility was to be used to finance the project. However, the committee?s investigations found this to be untrue.

But a fuming Kwamena Bartels, reacting to the observations and recommendations made by the committee, said he had been handed a raw deal. He said the committee?s report is an unfair representation of the facts.

But the committee chairman says they stand by their report.

Mr. Ala Adjetey, after listening to contributions from members in the House, appointed a committee to look at the report again. The special committee has ten days to report back to the House.