Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in charge of Operations at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Prof. Michael Adongo Ayamga said the Acting CEO of the Ghana Gold Board (Goldbod) Sammy Gyamfi did nothing wrong when he handed out cash in US dollar denomination as a gift to controversial evangelist Patricia Oduro Koranteng popularly known as Nana Agradaa.
Prof. Michael Adongo rather contended that the recording of Sammy Gyamfi in his car pulling out the cash was an invasion of his privacy and should be condemned.
“He didn’t pull a bundle of dollars out in the open and was splashing cash. He went into his car and was counting the money. And whosoever went into his car with a camera invaded his privacy in the first place,” he stated.
“So if I go into my house today and I’m counting dollars, do I have to come out and apologize? Is it a crime to have dollars? It is in the car. It could have been that the fellow came into Sammy’s room with a camera and videotaped this. And we are not condemning this act of intrusion and invasion of somebody’s privacy.”
He said while the optics of his gesture may be in bad taste, it was not a display of opulence and there is nothing suggesting he acquired such money illegitimately.
Besides, Sammy Gyamfi, he added, is an accomplished businessman in private life and thus, a few hundreds of dollars cannot be beyond his reach.
“Yesterday I had the privilege of sitting with a top businessman for dinner at the airport hills residence. And he he talked about the businesses Sammy Gyamfi has been doing.
The kind of transactions they have had in business. The money we are talking about is just chicken change to him. It’s just because he’s a politician.”
Prof. Adongo agreed that publicly handing monies in foreign denomination was an act of indiscretion but argued that the Acting CEO of Goldbod is an inexperienced public officer, who is bound to make mistake, and should be guided instead.
He said this in reaction to the Presidency’s decision to not take any further action against Sammy Gyamfi after his apology.
The Chief of Staff had summoned the Acting CEO for questioning following public uproar over a viral video in which he was seen doling out cash in US dollars to the Nana Agradaa.
Addressing the press on Thursday, Minister of State in charge of Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu said the Presidency had accepted his apology and did not believe it was necessary to take punitive action against him beyond cautioning him.
Prof. Adongo welcomed the decision of the Presidency and said the public outcry over the matter is because of the high standards the Mahama administration has set for itself.
