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General News of Tuesday, 16 July 2002

Source: Evening News

IFC Loan: PNC Leader Summons MPs

The Leader of the People’s National Convention, Dr Edward Mahama is expected to meet his MPs to find out the reasons for the direction they voted on the International Finance Consortium (IFC) loan. The loan was passed by Parliament by 102 to 83 majority after a heated debate. Dr Mahama made this disclosure when he contributed to a radio discussion programme on Top Radio, an Accra based FM station on the IFC loan.

He said he wanted his MPs to come and tell him how the $350 million they voted for would be disbursed, “whether it is going to education, agriculture and health”.

When the host told him that it had already been explained that the money was meant for development projects, Dr Mahama disagreed with the explanation saying, “it is very wide. That can even mean developing some MPs houses for them”.

The PNC Leader said when the issue first came before the House, he asked his three MPs who made it possible for the ruling NPP members to get the 100+1 votes to approve the loan, to check the background of the IFC, who the directors might be, and who they had lent moneys to? Again he told them find out how they had related to the people they had given moneys to before they cast their votes?

He said those questions were necessary because one day, the electorate would hold them accountable for their action, reminding them that “once this government commits a mistake, whether they are there or not, it is the responsibility of the next government to service the loan.”

Dr Mahama said he was not surprised that the IFC was ready to secure a one billion dollar loan for Ghana. “If they want $10 billion, they might get it because Ghana is a very rich country. There is the potential for gas and oil. This country can get loans it wants, once we are willing to sell the country but that is dangerous.”