Family And Friends Government: Ken Ofori Atta’s Takeover Of Public Financial Sector Revealed

Further evidence is emerging of the extent to which familial, business and other parochial considerations have become a key pre-requisite for landing an appointment in the Akufo Addo government.

In a series of well-researched publications, the Ghana Palaver has laid bare the depths of the problem and put it beyond doubt that the Ghanaian state is virtually at the mercy of a clique of closely-related family members and friends of the President and some of his appointees.

Today we turn attention to how a series of appointments have placed Finance Minister and first cousin of the President, Ken Ofori Atta, at the top of an intricate web of a closely-knit unit controlling virtually all segments of Ghana’s Public Financial sector space.

These appointments have Data Bank as the common denominator as virtually all of the persons involved have at one time or the other been employees of Data Bank which was founded by Ken Ofori Atta and a couple of his friends.

Leading the pack is Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, who has sworn in by the Finance Minister as Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).Ogbarmey Tetteh is a former Vice President of Data Bank and a known protégé of Ken Ofori Atta.

He thus heads a regulatory agency that may be called upon to investigate wrongdoing by financial sector actors including the Finance Minister.

Ex-Data Bank Company Secretary, Deila Awo Assimeh has also been made a member of the SEC Board. Failure to compose the SEC Board in time drew criticism from sections of the public especially after a petition for an investigation into the controversial floating of the US$2.25 billion Franklyn Templeton bond was thrown out due to the absence of a Board.

The appointment of the duo according to some financial analysts, presents a major obstacle to holding the Finance Minister or any other state financial entity to account. They argue that it is nigh on impossible for Mr Ogbarmey Tetteh and Deila Assimeh, given their proximity to Ken Ofori Atta, to act impartially and make adverse findings against Ken Ofori Atta, a man who plucked them from relative obscurity into financial limelight.

The latest nepotistic arrangement all but gives the Finance Minister a carte blanche to do pretty much as he pleases.

At the Finance Ministry where he rules the roost, Ken Ofori Atta is reported by insiders to have shunted aside highly-qualified technocrats and picked in their stead, middle level operatives from Data Bank to occupy plum roles in the formulation and implementation of the Akufo Addo government’s economic and financial policies.

The Ghana Palaver has learned that among the Data Bank importees at the Ministry and its agencies are, Ernest Akore, Sampson Akligoh, Felicia Gyamfi Ashley and Ntiwaa Daaku Kwakye.

Ernest Akore, a former non-executive director at Data Bank now sits on the Ghana Revenue Authority Board. Sampson Akligoh, who was once a Data Bank Vice President and Head of Research as well as a fixed income strategist, now heads the Financial Sector Division of the Finance Ministry.

Former Human Resource capo at Data Bank, Felicia Gyamfi Ashley has been appointed to the Entity Tender Committee of the Finance Ministry which is chaired by Ken Ofori Atta himself. Ntiwaa Daaku Kwakye also formerly of Data Bank has also been roped into the Finance Ministry.

Of equal note is the revelation that Charles Adu Boahen who is one of three Deputy Ministers at the Ministry has more than just a working relationship in government with his boss, the Finance Minister. He is in every respect his business partner following the purchase of shares in Enterprise Group previously held by Sanlam, a South African investment firm, by Black Star Holdings Limited, a company founded by Adu Boahen.

The Enterprise Group in turn is owned by Data Bank which was founded by Ken Ofori Atta and two others in the early nineties.

The Finance Minister can also count on strategically-placed allies in key state financial institutions, with whom he shares close bonds of friendship and business.

Among them are Keli Gadzekpo, his long-standing bosom friend and co-founder of Data Bank, who is head of the Enterprise Group, and Comfort Ocran who are both firmly ensconced on the Bank of Ghana Board. Keli Gadzekpo also chairs the ECG Board.

Another co-founder of Data Bank, Togbe Afede, chairs the NIB Board on which sits, Lynn Allotey Gadzekpo, sister-in-law of Keli Gadzekpo.

Former Data Bank kingpin, Yoofi Grant, occupies the CEO position at the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre. Between 2009 and 2012,he served as Executive Director, Business Development and Private Equity Division of Data Bank respectively.

The Ghana Palaver, last month broke the news of the appointment of Ken Ofori Atta’s sister-in-law, Eno Ofori Atta, as Deputy Managing Director of SIC Financial Services Limited.

These appointments and the legion of family members in the Akufo Addo government have sparked outrage among Ghanaians who point to President Akufo Addo’s promise in Kumasi in 2016 not to operate a “Family and Friends” government.