President Nana Akufo-Addo has broken his silence on the Menzgold saga
pledging to ensure that schemes created to swindle Ghanaians of their
monies are nipped in the bud.
At his third State of the Nation Address in Parliament, the president
indicated a mega regulator in the financial services sector has been
established to screen the activities of investment schemes that make
fantastic and unsustainable returns to unsuspecting customers.
Menzgold is reported to have a client base of about 60,000, all of which
were promised between 7% to 10% returns on special gold collectibles
bought and deposited with the company.
The scheme that ran for at least four years finally came to an end after
the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered the flashy company
to halt its unlicensed operations.
Since the order last September, customers have endured no small
frustration in getting the company and its socialite CEO Nana Appiah
Mensah to refund their monies.
NAM1, as the CEO is popularly called, was arrested in the United Arab
Emirates where he is reportedly standing trial for a different offence.
Angry clients once again demonstrated this time around the Western
regional mining community Tarkwa, which is said to hold at least 9,000
clients of the embattled company.
Popular dancehall artiste StoneBouy has also urged the president to speak to the Menzgold saga.
He has, albeit, saying little about the fate of the clients. Sounding
more futuristic interventions than addressing present plights,
Akufo-Addo said this mega regulator is to be known as the Financial
Stability Council.
It will be composed of regulatory institutions within the financial
sector notably, the Bank of Ghana and Securities and Exchange
Commission.