Ghana’s Vice President nominee Amissah-Arthur denies being homosexual
Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah- Arthur, Vice Presidential nominee on Monday denied media reports that he is a homosexual.
Mr Amissah-Arthur who appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament to be vetted publicly at the Speakers conference room said the person going round damaging his image was only out for money.
He said that he has never lived in a house with a garage nor ever had a house boy, adding “I will not pay money to anybody to stop this.”
He said that he has school mates throughout his education some of who ask for money saying “I am aware of the story which has been going on for some time.”
He said he met the guy propagating the falsehood some 40 years ago.
Mr Arthur was asked questions bordering on corruption, interest rates and the state of the economy.
He advised Ghanaians to be careful in their dealings with some financial services as most of them are operating illegally.
When Mr. Amissah- Arthur was asked by Mr K T. Hammond about the state of the economy and if he, as Governor of the Bank of Ghana, was happy about it and his response was the general state of the economy was good.
He said the economy had chalked a lot of successes citing the non-oil sector, adding that the general price level of the economy declined and that individuals like pensioners are not worst off as it would be during time of inflation.
He also explained Ghana had become liberal and allowed individuals to own deposits in dollars saying that it is not done anywhere.
On the issue of money paid to Woyome, Mr Amissah-Arthur said he never had any instructions from the Presidency not to pay saying if there is money in the government chest and he was instructed to pay he would do it.
He also noted that there has been some substantial depreciation of the cedi but said that the months of May, June and July had seen improvement.
About high interest rates in the private banks as compared to public banks, Mr Amissah-Arthur said the issue was a problem and he had advised the public to check from various banks before deciding on where to go for loans.
He said the formula for arriving at interest had been changed and he was expecting some reduction in the interest rates.
Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, Chairman of the Appointment Committee, said as there was no precedence to follow in Ghana in regards to the public hearing, so the Committee had to take examples from United State Congress from the time of President John Kennedy in 1993.
He said the situation demanded careful approach and needed to be guided by historical precedence.
Mr Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, Ranking member of the Committee, explained that just as candidates vying for the position of President in an election were vetted by the people during campaigns so it became necessary for the Committee to also publicly vet the nominee on behalf of the people.
He said the vetting was a baptism to introduce the nominee to the work he was to undertake.
Source: GNA