The Ghana Trade Fair Company (GTFC) Limited has delivered an ‘SoS’ message to the Ministry of Finance & Economic Planning (MOFEP) to rescue it from its present predicament or fall out to private sector ownership.
The GTFC board recently made the distress call to MOFEP, its supervising ministry.
According to Captain Kojo Butah (rtd), Board Chairman of GTFC, who spoke to the media in Accra, the company was indebted to the tune of about GH¢2 million.
Capt Butah mentioned that GTFC was indebted to a certain company that provided it with shelf schemes to organize trade fairs sometime ago to the tune of 160,000 Euros.
He said the interest, which accrued on that amount, currently stands at about 60,000 Euros.
As a result, the company sought judgment from the courts to pay. The court therefore upheld GTFC’s petition and garnisheed its operating account.
The board chairman additionally noted: ‘The second issue has to do with our former chief executive officer, Madam Esther Ofori who retired in 2009 but has not been paid her entitlements yet. We owe her about $80,000. She also went to court and the court asked us to lose certain items to her. In the process, the court garnisheed our accounts.’
He indicated that there were other debts owed to the Ghana Revenue Authority totaling about GH¢80,000, which has been outstanding since 2003.
He said the company’s financial position was affecting GTFC’s operations and therefore needed MOFEP to rescue it as soon as practicable.
Under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, GTFC was expected to hold the 17th edition of the Ghana International Trade Fair under the theme: ‘Trade and Industry: Heralding Ghana’s Economic Growth.’
Participating countries include Ghana, Cuba, Germany, India, Turkey, Pakistan, Syria, Guinea, Gambia, Nigeria, Togo, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, La Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal.
The chances of this fair making headway are slim considering the company’s present challenge.
By Samuel Boadi