THE recent sinister plot by some self-seeking polling station executives of Dormaa East Constituency in the Bono Region to publicly malign and accuse their sitting Member of Parliament (MP), Hon William Sabi, of attempts to divert funds allocated to them by the Micro and Small Loan Centre (MASLOC) and share with his family and friends has completely misfired.
The agenda was contained in what many well-wishing people described as a wicked plan by the polling station executives against Mr Sabi in media reports under the headline; “Tension Mounts In Dormaa East Constituency …As Polling Station Executives Accuse MP of Attempts to Divert MASLOC FUNDS,” which was aimed at denting the hard-won reputation of the Dormaa East lawmaker.
However, investigations conducted and backed by documents from the corridors of MASLOC have confirmed that Mr Sabi did not attempt to divert MASLOC funds and that the MSASLOC did not even approve any loan to be disbursed to the people in Dormaa East as being claimed by the polling station executives in the media publication.
In summary, the report claimed that some of the polling station executives said MASLOC had allocated a sum of GH¢ 400,000 “four hundred thousand Ghana cedis) to the constituency to be shared among the polling station executives of the New Patriotic Party.
According to them, each qualified person was expected to take home GH¢1,000 cedis to invest in their existing businesses.
The media report stated that instead of the MP lobbying for the distribution of the forms to qualified persons in order to access the funds, he distributed them to family and friends and polling station executives who are loyal to him and ready to vote for him in the upcoming NPP parliamentary primary.
The report indicated that some of the polling station executives had already benefitted from the MASLOC funds that were distributed recently and haven’t been able to fully pay and thus not qualified to access the current one.
The report noted that the MP was alleged to have told those who were presently not qualified to give the forms to their relatives to fill on their behalf so that they could access the funds.
The report added that “the MP is trying to use the MASLOC funds to make some political gains but this will not work. We are vigilant in this constituency and will resist any attempt by Honourable Sabi to divert the MASLOC funds.”
But in an interview with journalists to clear the air on the matter, Mr Sabi, who doubles as the Deputy Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation, stated that he strongly believes that those polling station executives who made such unjustifiable statements largely made it out of ignorance of the administrative policies and procedures of MASLOC, saying that “as the MP, l have no power vested in him to distribute or disburse MASLOC loans to the constituents.”
According to him, “you and l know that MASLOC is a reputable financial public institution which serves as a model for promoting Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in Ghana, and stressed that l can never go to MASLOC and ask that it should give me its money to go and distribute or disburse to my constituents.”
“I want to state clearly that it can never happen in any public institution. Even if it happens and the people who are making this unsubstantial statement are true polling station executives of the NPP, then it means that their actions are exposing the government that it is politicising the programme.
The MP admitted that he has approached MASLOC to support small scale farmers and other enterprises with loans to grow and expand their businesses to help empower more men and women in the constituency.
Mr Sabi stated that MASLOC has agreed to support some people in his constituency with loans, adding that his request was yet to go through its formal processes.
He expressed misgivings that MASLOC had not even yet finally approved his request before the news went viral that he has attempted to divert funds allocated to some polling station executives in Dormaa East of the NPP and shared with his family and friends.
“I want to say that none of the people in my constituency has gone through the process of applying for the MASLOC loans or even picked forms to apply for the MASLOC loans, so l don’t know where these allegations are coming from,” he said.
The MP stated that he was surprised to hear of the allegations levelled against him by those faceless polling station executives, saying that the plot was hatched by someone who wants to contest him in the upcoming NPP parliamentary primary on the ticket of the NPP
Source: Myafricatoday.net/Freeman KORYEKPOR AWLESU
