It has emerged that claims by Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, one the contestants for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearership slot, that he has not been offered any appointment by President J. E.A Mills is false.
Dr. Spio-Garbrah is the government of Ghana representative on the Anglogold Ashanti Board of Directors. That appointment is solely made by the President by virtue of the fact that Ghana has shares in Anglogold Ashanti.
Dr. Spio-Garbrah was appointed by President Mills to take over from Mr. J.H. Mensah, who represented Ghana on the board during the Kufuor administration.
Dr. Spio-Garbrah earns over $120,000 annually for serving on the Anglogold. That is aside of what he would take for serving on sub-committees of the board.
His annual salary at the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization (CTO) is around 76,000 Pounds Sterling, as at the time he was appointed as the full time Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
The Anglogold Ashanti board meets between four and five times within a year and members have the opportunity to serve on sub-committees within the board, which also goes with some perks.
Even before the Mills administration would settle into office, Dr. Spio-Garbrah was offered appointment by President Mills.
He was appointed the Chairman of the Social Service Committee of the Transitional Team. Dr. Spio-Garbrah, in declaring his intention to contest for the flabearership race, to former President J.J Rawlings at the latter’s residence at Ridge in Accra last week, said that he took the decision because of Prof. Mills’ divide-and-rule tactics.
He again told an Accra-based radio station, Okay FM, that Prof. Mills had earlier told him that he was going to offer him a ministerial appointment as Foreign Affairs Minister only for Prof. Mills to rescind that decision.
He told the station that he later gathered that some people had gone to tell the President that he would use that position (Foreign Affairs Minister) to enhance his credentials to prepare for the presidency.
When The Enquirer newspaper contacted Dr. Spio-Garbrah, who political watchers have described as ‘Oliver Twist,’ over the issue, he said the issue at stake was not about appointment. Asked about how much he was earning on the Anglogold board, he said that it would be prudent for the Enquirer to talk to the company.
When it was suggested to him that he was earning something around $300,000.00, Dr. Spio Garbrah burts out, “Nonsense, how much does the Chief Executives Officer of the Anglogold earn?”
He told the paper that he would not like to talk about whether he was offered appointment or not and suggested that The Enquirer should have an appointment and talk to him somewhere next week.
Source: The Enquirer
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