RE: Ken Ofori-Atta Clarifies Obotan Sale

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Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. 9 years ago

Kofi, if memory serves me accurately, Tsatsu Tsikata was not part of the Aveyime scam for which then-Vice President Atta-Mills ought to have served a jail term.

Tsatsu's case had to do with the diversion of GNPC funds to s ...
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Kofi, if memory serves me accurately, Tsatsu Tsikata was not part of the Aveyime scam for which then-Vice President Atta-Mills ought to have served a jail term.

Tsatsu's case had to do with the diversion of GNPC funds to some white expatriate snake-oil entrepreneurial cronies for the benefit of both parties.

I never followed the Obotan gated-community story, so I cannot meaningfully comment on the same, if also because I am not as versatile with business transactions as you seem to be.

You know, I was the only student of my arts class at PERSCO who never studied accounting, even upon passionate and incessant pleas from Mr. Gyimah, our assistant headmaster and pioneer Legon business and accounting scholar.
Kwame 9 years ago

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, GNPC, Valley Farms exists, thus is the Aveyime Rice Farm and Dan Abodakpui's project at the Ministry of Trade and Industries. However there are no OBOTAN buildings and even plots.

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, GNPC, Valley Farms exists, thus is the Aveyime Rice Farm and Dan Abodakpui's project at the Ministry of Trade and Industries. However there are no OBOTAN buildings and even plots.
WUNTIRA 9 years ago

Is it not strange that Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe claims not to have followed the Obotan scam because he is not versatile with business transactions and yet he was versatile enough to follow the tsatsu's GNPC and the Aveyime rice p ...
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Is it not strange that Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe claims not to have followed the Obotan scam because he is not versatile with business transactions and yet he was versatile enough to follow the tsatsu's GNPC and the Aveyime rice project cases. Is this guy serious at all?
LONTO-BOY 9 years ago

Dr Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe is displaying selective ignorance on this Obotan Project case simply because he does not want to attack "one of his own". How typical! Quick to attack and vilify others with eloquent and erudite author ...
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Dr Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe is displaying selective ignorance on this Obotan Project case simply because he does not want to attack "one of his own". How typical! Quick to attack and vilify others with eloquent and erudite authority in fields and circumstances he has little or no knowledge at all. Utterly hypocritical this man is.
Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 9 years ago

Prof, thanks for reminding of our great Accounting Master at PERSCO. I hope he is still alive and in good health.

Regarding the subject matter, I am not sure one needs to be versatile with business transactions or have stu ...
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Prof, thanks for reminding of our great Accounting Master at PERSCO. I hope he is still alive and in good health.

Regarding the subject matter, I am not sure one needs to be versatile with business transactions or have studied Accounting, Finance or Economics to spot the weaknesses in the information Ken Ofori-Atta provided. As LONTO-BOY said, perhaps, your family connection might have cautioned you to refrain from giving your views rather than lack of knowledge on the project. I am not sure whether he sought any advice on the statement but it did not help him and would have been better if he had kept quiet. Perhaps, having impressed me on the tv programme I mentioned and read his profile on the web, I expected too much from him.
Kk Zurich 9 years ago

Thanks Bro Kofi for this piece.
You have asked the right questions. Will Ken in his private capacity have received only that little USD amount as interest if the money was placed in a time deposit? Even monies in escrow acco ...
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Thanks Bro Kofi for this piece.
You have asked the right questions. Will Ken in his private capacity have received only that little USD amount as interest if the money was placed in a time deposit? Even monies in escrow accounts earn interests. Was that all the interests that Obotan bank accounts generated? We need a national crusade against such vampiric siphoning of public funds. He may have "paid back the funds " disregarding the time value of money, but there is more to it than he has disclosed.
niibi 9 years ago

Thanks Kofi,
I will borrow this quote from orwell's 1984
"The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power..."

On both sides of the politic ...
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Thanks Kofi,
I will borrow this quote from orwell's 1984
"The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power..."

On both sides of the political divide its about who executes the most elaborate scam on the people. Its sad
PK 9 years ago

Kofi has asked some pertinent questions here. But I feel he may not be able to push his line of questioning on the interest rate too far, especially if he insists on comparing it to our cedi-denominated domestic interest rate ...
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Kofi has asked some pertinent questions here. But I feel he may not be able to push his line of questioning on the interest rate too far, especially if he insists on comparing it to our cedi-denominated domestic interest rates in Ghana. Dollar-denominated interest rates are lower because the dollar is a relatively stable currency and 0.6% on the international capital market is not unheard of. Of course, I'm not saying that's an appropriate interest rate in the case of this transaction. Just establishing the principle.
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Brother Kofi Ata,

This is a brilliant piece.

I appreciate all the important questions you raise.

I strongly believe these are scams the entire needs to do something seriously about.

Unfortunately I am beginning ...
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Brother Kofi Ata,

This is a brilliant piece.

I appreciate all the important questions you raise.

I strongly believe these are scams the entire needs to do something seriously about.

Unfortunately I am beginning to lose interest in the system to redress wrongs of this nature.

I also believe you have spoken well. Keep up the good work.

Thanks.
HAWA 9 years ago

You think you are the one deceiving people: "I accept that such schemes or scams may not be illegal and therefore Ken Ofori-Atta and his cohorts who use or misuse tax payers’ money for private gain may not be held liable fo ...
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You think you are the one deceiving people: "I accept that such schemes or scams may not be illegal and therefore Ken Ofori-Atta and his cohorts who use or misuse tax payers’ money for private gain may not be held liable for any offence."
Come clean because you are not Kofi Atta-this is Felix Fosu Kwakye.
This is
Abrefa Busia 9 years ago

The important questions we are not asking Ken is: Who was the Director General for SSNIT during this period when the deal between DATABANK and SSNIT was struck? What was Ken's relationship with the Director General for SSNIT? ...
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The important questions we are not asking Ken is: Who was the Director General for SSNIT during this period when the deal between DATABANK and SSNIT was struck? What was Ken's relationship with the Director General for SSNIT?

If we dig deeper into these two questions, you will realize that there was probably collusion between the Senior Management and DATABANK in duping the nation of its scanty resources.

These same people are back in the system and still causing serious reputational risks to the nation because of their incompetence and corrupt behaviors.

When you steal the money that belongs to the people of a nation, you will enjoy a brief popularity, but you can be rest assured that you will be put to shame before your death from this earth because thou shall not steal.
Kojo 9 years ago

Ken Ofori Atta is trying to come back for more. He is some of the people in 'occupy Flagstaff House sorry 'Occupy Ghana".
You see the dilemma facing some of us in Ghana? Do we go with the Crocodile or the Lion.

Ken Ofori Atta is trying to come back for more. He is some of the people in 'occupy Flagstaff House sorry 'Occupy Ghana".
You see the dilemma facing some of us in Ghana? Do we go with the Crocodile or the Lion.
BERNARD 9 years ago

Kojo, you hit the nail right on the head. Ken is coming back for more. His eyes are set on the workers pension fund. This time, it will have a boomerang effect just as in the case of the British tycoon, Robert Maxwell. Than ...
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Kojo, you hit the nail right on the head. Ken is coming back for more. His eyes are set on the workers pension fund. This time, it will have a boomerang effect just as in the case of the British tycoon, Robert Maxwell. Thank you and have a good day.
G. K. Berko 9 years ago

Kofi, this is a very insightful piece that all must support in seeking for answers to the many questions raised on Databank's acquisition of the Pension Funds.

And by the way, thanks for your educative comments in respons ...
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Kofi, this is a very insightful piece that all must support in seeking for answers to the many questions raised on Databank's acquisition of the Pension Funds.

And by the way, thanks for your educative comments in response to mine on the original Article offered by Databank. When I read the original Article by Ken Ofori-Atta, I immediately smelled something fishy deeply buried underneath the whole deal. And when I came to the part where some threat of legal action were implied against whoever might dare question Databank on the deal, I could not hold my patience but jump in to ask a few questions of my own.

However, for lack of time, since I was rushing to beat the impending snow storm to go home, I could not delve as deep as you did even in your response to mine.

Nevertheless, this piece is even far more informative, and emboldens us all to begin worrying and asking more questions about the Databank-Obotan-SSNIT deal.

Surely, many similar fraudulent deals involving misuse of Public Funds to finance private entities have existed in Ghana, like you said. Unfortunately, those who discover such deals do not find the necessary support in the Public to proceed further to seek the necessary clarifications or answers, leaving them alone to the powerful vengeful waiting claws of the filthy culprits.

It is time those of us who become aware of such deals find each other to form a formidable block to fight the underlying Corruption and insensitive graft that hurt the ordinary Ghanaians and the Nation's progress. It is sad that when folks try to be even-handed and with a double-sword criticize both sides of the Aisle on issues arising, as and when appropriate, others complain that such critics are without direction. Our priority must be to save the Nation, and in that respect, we must not unconditionally support the wrongs of one side or the other.

Your piece demonstrates such commitment. And I congratulate you for it. Keep up the good work! Martin Amidu must be our source of inspiration that each one of us can make a difference that touches all. I hope your efforts lead to a full investigation of Databank and any other entities which have so wickedly sucked the blood out of our Nation's economic life.

Remember, you have my full support in any legal threat Ken Ofori-Atta launches at you on this issue.

Stand firm. Don't be afraid to tell the truth. Your efforts in helping save the nation is well noticed.

God bless you!!

Long Live Ghana!!!
Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 9 years ago

GK, I will welcome a suit from Ken Ofori-Atta in the UK if he dares. That will open up Databank records for the period for examination and the facts will be will come out. I am not sure he would want that. He also knows that ...
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GK, I will welcome a suit from Ken Ofori-Atta in the UK if he dares. That will open up Databank records for the period for examination and the facts will be will come out. I am not sure he would want that. He also knows that in the UK the judges cannot be bought or influenced, unlike Ghana. He can only threaten those in Ghana with court action if they ask legitimate questions regarding the Obotan Project. I hope people in Ghana will take up his challenge.
G. K. Berko 9 years ago

Kofi, we will wait for his suit. Again, thanks for your contributions.

Long Live Ghana!!!

Kofi, we will wait for his suit. Again, thanks for your contributions.

Long Live Ghana!!!
GbagbladzaV 9 years ago

Right from the onset we knew there was something wrong with Obotan at the time. NPP did investigate this the way they conducted forensic audit on various SSNIT projects due to the obvious political patronage.
To clean the me ...
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Right from the onset we knew there was something wrong with Obotan at the time. NPP did investigate this the way they conducted forensic audit on various SSNIT projects due to the obvious political patronage.
To clean the mess, Databank was offered the opportunity to buy back. These are the saints and apostles of Otabil church
Dan Buduh 9 years ago

Excellent piece Kofi. Well done. Can Ofori Atta tell Ghanaians if his Databank had invested $2.2 in 1998 will that earn $78k by 2007, almost 10 years? He indeed got cheap money to start his Databank. As you indicated, if Obot ...
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Excellent piece Kofi. Well done. Can Ofori Atta tell Ghanaians if his Databank had invested $2.2 in 1998 will that earn $78k by 2007, almost 10 years? He indeed got cheap money to start his Databank. As you indicated, if Obotan project was not a scam, where the buildings today? Jen cheated on the nation and must be made to pay back to the state all that he deprived the country of over the years.

Thank Kofi for opening our eyes. If he dares take the case to court he will live to regret. Shame unto him.

Thank you. May God continue to bless Ghana.
kwasi 9 years ago

And they call themselves "christians"

And they call themselves "christians"
James Armstrong 9 years ago

Kofi I agree with most of the things you wrote but I beg to differ on your conclusion that no crime has been commited. Please note that the NPP Government set up a fast track court for these type of losses to the state and ja ...
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Kofi I agree with most of the things you wrote but I beg to differ on your conclusion that no crime has been commited. Please note that the NPP Government set up a fast track court for these type of losses to the state and jailed its political opponents during its administration the refusal of President Mills to bring people like Ken and also Mpiani for the losses in the Ghana International Air cases, to mention a few ( Tony Aidoo can give us a catalog of many, made a lot of the NDC foot soldiers angry and rightly so. Let's keep the records straight. As people have been jailed we expect that people like Ken should also be facing the fast track court rather then come to be threatening Ghanaians for raising questions. He should go ahead and jail all Ghanaians when his wild dreams of his cousin Nana ever comes to power. I hear the noise about the pensions is that he wants to collect that one too and when he lost out in the bid process as usual he has rented people to make loud noise, their stock of trade. The silent majority is watching and a word to the wise is enough
LONTO-BOY 9 years ago

MASSA KOFI, thank you for this educative, intelligent, analytical and incisive article. You're absolutely right with your analysis of Ken Ofori-Atta's unconvincing clarification, which fails to address the too many unanswered ...
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MASSA KOFI, thank you for this educative, intelligent, analytical and incisive article. You're absolutely right with your analysis of Ken Ofori-Atta's unconvincing clarification, which fails to address the too many unanswered questions and revealing details over the Obotan Project.

RE: Ken Ofori-Atta Clarifies Obotan Sale

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