The Trade Ministry has confirmed that some expatriate business leaders who sat next to President Akufo Addo at the recently held Ghana Expatriate Business Awards in Accra paid their ways through to the president's table.

Member of parliament for Asawaase, Muntaka Mubarak was first to point fingers at the ministry and presidency for collecting monies from business people illegally in the name of sitting next to the first gentleman.

According to the outspoken MP, a fee of US$ 100,000 was imposed and illegal.

The Minority Chief whip provided a document signed by the deputy Minister for Trade and Industry Carlos Ahenkora dated 23rd October 2017, demanding Business executives who would want to sit in a round table with the president and have exclusive access to pay US$ 100,000

However, the ministry in a clear cut statement has refuted engaging in any illegal collection of monies while admitting that some money was collected nonetheless.

“The GEBA was the brainchild of the Millennium Excellence Foundation, an entity noted for its prowess and credibility in the organisation of world class events such as the Millennium Excellence Awards and the Accra Marathon,” the statement said.

But speaking to Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Monday, spokesperson for the Trade Ministry Prince Boakye said even though monies were paid by the businesses, it didn’t influence who picked an award on the night.

“I’ll be a hypocrite to say that there were others who sat at the table with Nana Akufo-Addo and did not pay. As a platinum sponsor, you had to fulfill some obligations. If an event organiser decides to tag a category of an event as a Presidential Circle, I don’t think there is anything wrong with that,” he said.

He continued: “The government partnered the Foundation so that the Private sector will know that the government is in full support of the event. We wanted to make sure that monies paid did not influence who won an award. The monies were paid into the Ministry of Trade and Industry  (MoTI) account because we didn’t want post-event challenges. Mr. Saeed Fakhri , CEO of Dream Realty and Inesfly also paid $100,000 to sit at the table with the President. However, he paid and won on merit. In all the speculations and allegations going round, we are happy that the Ministry and organizers are not fighting. Nothing untoward went on during the event. Winning an award was not based on the highest bidder. There were some companies who did not pay anything but won awards”.

By Musah Abelyire/ghanaguardian.com