Ken Ofori Atta’s off-shore account needs further probe – Suhuyini

The Member of Parliament for Tamale North in the Northern region, Alhaji Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini has expressed disquiet about the trend of vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament, accusing the Chairman of the committee, Joe Osei Owusu of what he described as the clear motives of the latter shielding some nominees who appear before it.

On Friday when the Minister-designate for Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori Atta appeared before the Committee for vetting, the Member for Tamale North, Suhuyini raised concerns about a controversial off-shore account linked to Mr. Ofori Atta, but the Chairman was dismissive of the matter and quickly brushed it aside.

In an interaction with Fiifi Banson on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM, Alhaji Suhuyini said the Chairman of the committee did not exercise judgment in the interest of Ghana, because the matter under consideration was very germane to the issues that he’ll be handling as a Finance Minister.

He revealed that he is currently in discussion with the minority leadership “to see if it is possible to bring a memo to the committee for some of these issues to be discussed further” because he intimated there were some outstanding issues with Yaw Osafo Marfo and Mr. Ken Ofori Atta that needed to be probed.

He added: “I’m sure that when I’m properly advised the necessary action will be taken so that we can all satisfy ourselves with the information they provided.”

He stated that: “In relation to the off-shore account I impugn no ill-motives to the nominee for finance, but we all do know the potentials offshore accounts have in terms of how it can be used for money laundering and tax invasion. And for me it is important for us as citizens for us to know the interest that our Finance Minister has on such an account, so that even maybe it can be monitored.

According to him, the matter could not be put to rest on account of the fact that “the Data bank was declared, the interest there was declared but that offshore company was not declared.”

For him, it is crucial to clear all doubts that there is no potential for him [nominee] to use that offshore account to launder money or evade tax, if there isn’t no evidence so far that he’s already done so.

“I think that it should be of worry to every Ghanaian. And again without impugning any ill-motive, it’s just proper that we satisfy ourselves…”