How can victims of the DKM microfinance scam demand that taxpayers’ money be used to reimburse them when their bad investment decisions had nothing to do with government? General Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia has wondered.
About 70,000 of such victims in the Brong Ahafo Region have given the government an ultimatum to reimburse their locked-up investments or have itself to blame as far as the December 7 polls are concerned.
A demonstration scheduled for Saturday 17 September by the microfinance victims to put pressure on the government to make the payments has been stopped by the police through a court order. The Brong Ahafo Police command said it did not have the personnel to provide security for both the demonstrators as well as an event by the NDC to launch its manifesto in the regional capital, Sunyani, on the same day.
Speaking on the issue on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show on Friday, Mr Asiedu Nketia said: “… Now those who are complaining, are they saying that when they take their individual investment decisions and things go wrong, we in government should take the taxpayers’ money … – which should have been used for road [construction], electricity provision, water, schools, health centres – we should divert that money and go and pay them because they took wrong investment decisions? Is this what they want to tell us?”
“Or somehow they believe that they can fool Ghanaians into believing that when they say government should pay, it is not our tax money that the government is going to use to pay? But ask them: apart from your [taxpayers] money that we are implementing projects with, when you say government money, where is government money going to come from?
“So we don’t have any problem, if Ghanaians think that it is legitimate for us to apply the money which we are collecting to go and pay individual Ghanaians who have made wrong investment decisions, we’ll be too happy to proceed to do so, but they shouldn’t be deceiving people. You from the beginning they said that the company belonged to the president and the wife so that is why they are calling on the president and the wife to pay – that lie has been exposed now … so they are moving to the next step – their MPs went to parliament to argue that the nation should consider this as a disaster and for which reason we should apply government money to do it, we don’t make disaster laws, it is parliament that makes those laws,” the former legislator told Prince Minkah.
He said “when parliament decides that: ‘Well whenever any citizen invests something wrongly, when they have profits they shouldn’t pay to government but when they run into a problem, we should use the taxpayers’ money to pay, if that is the law we’ll implement it.”
Mr Asiedu Nketia said he doubts seasoned former government officials in the NPP would offer such counsel to the party to be pushing that line. “… They have well-known people who know how state affairs are run. You have people like Osafo Marfo [former Minister of Finance]; other well-seasoned people are inside there. I’m not sure Osafo Marfo will come out advocating that we should use taxpayers’ money to go and reimburse people who have made their private investment decisions which have gone wrong.”
Source: Classfmonline
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Mosquito, is this what you are telling the customers of DKM, when you own government short changed the customers while DKM operation was going on smoothly. I don't blame you at all, after all those regions affected happens to be your strong hold and they are so duuuumb that they will may still help you to make more money. Even wayome, you dashed him free money so why can't the depositors have at least their principal while you continue with the liquidation process with this DKM
The govt should have prevented such firms from duping people. It is in the interest of the govt to maintain the well-being of its citizens. IF the govt and the Bank of Ghana had been monitoring financial institutions this could have been averted.
Yes they don't think and will blame the government that they cant give birth just as u have started blaming the government for being impo*tent. Where was bank of Ghana when those people were charging interest rates higher than that of the BoG, and didn't they give us a rough figure of the amount DKM is having with them? which means the government was aware of what was going on but yet did nothing about it. You are rather not thinking with ur head
Thanks for that comment. Even Lordina was there during the lunch and told them DKM is a genuine company so they should invest there. If our tax is being used to pay this people it will be better for us than people like asiedu nlketia chopping it any how and JM using it to buy V8 for chiefs
so didn't the government knew they wouldn't have given them some of the profit but yet went ahead to promise them of giving back their money and even made them submit their paper of evidence for payment. Always promiseing what u cant do.
To Joe, Yes, Aseidu Nketia has said it all, but we have Public Relation Officers and BNIs from Bank of Ghana and other agencies that Aseidu Nketia and his Government have employed and are paying them to protect the citizens by monitoring whatever is going on in the public, yet they kept quite. What were they doing when the adverts promising all sorts of interest rate to deceived the people was ongoing, didn't the PROs and BNIs hear?, what actions did they took to stop those financial institutions? Are you saying anybody can getup and do anything in this country and go free because government is not involved? The fact is, government agencies went to sleep and allowed this to happen. That is what the victims are saying.
NDC and nansins are bedfellows.
These guys would have even evaded tax if they got profit. Next time invest your common and money sense. There have been several of these unreasonably high profit investment scams such PIRAM, IDO, Onward Investment before your generation. It was a game the investors lost just like DKM customers.
some ghanaians don't want to think or use their brains. Why should you blame government for your bad investments? I am sure people will start blaming government for their inability to give birth in marriage. All the people who saved money with DKM are potential sakawa people. They can kill people for money
Very well defended and well affirmed statements. You do have practical analysis of the DKM victims and the entity itself,But problem how ever is the taxpayers monies weight and things it been used for weight,the NDC has a very well sugar-coated policy subject 'CHANGING LIVES AND TRANSFORMING GHANA. Considering the nature of infrastructures across Ghana it makes me wonder if the NDC meant REPAIRING Ghana cos what is happening is far from TRANSFORMING Ghana. I never doubt the president`s competency due to how he got into power considering the challenges,new duties,new responsibilities that could have been on the position he gradually into but i believe he knows himself that ,the infrastructure going on across the country is the least Mother-Ghana needed even if most uneducated and educated illiterates Ghanaians still thinks and reasons like women,who always mistake what glitters for gold. Let`s define TRANSFORMING and be frank with ourselves to define what is going on in terms of infrastructure developments across the country cos it is repairs we making and not transformation. The Changing Lives has not even reflected or has any signs of appearing which makes me laugh at the entire campaign objective of our great NDC,cos over talking of ones own achievements becomes over complaining which is the prime symptoms of poverty. HOW CAN POOR PEOPLE IMPROVE THE LIVES OF OTHERS WHEN THEY CAN`T EVEN IMPROVE THEMSELVES .. I have to rest my case and concentrate on Business. Nketia once again ,good point but serious implementations lies ahead cos your party direction in politics will be causing even worst stumbles ,better start embrace your correction within the citizens for future victory or you will lose it and never get it back again ..