Exim Bank payment of GHS2M to Shatta Wale as ambassador outrageous – Ras Mubarak

Ras Mubarak, a member of the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has said, it does not make economic sense for state-owned Exim Bank company to allegedly pay ¢2 million to dancehall artiste, Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jr. popularly known as Shatta Wale and others as brand ambassadors.

The member of parliament for Kumbungu Constituency in the Northern Region expressed his frustration over the said amount during a PAC sitting on Wednesday, September 9, 2020.

According to him, it was not prudent for Exim Bank to pay such an amount to an artiste to promote products made in Ghana adding that, the money could have been invested in provision of water and other basic amenities for rural communities.

“I mentioned ¢2 million that went to Shatta Wale but the Deputy CEO says they wouldn’t know who the vendor selected and this is not to say that we have a problem with Shatta Wale getting some amount of money to do whatever work.

“But the Ghanaian public deserves to know how much went out and who got it because their answers were not satisfying” he said.

The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the bank on his part insisted that he has not signed or sighted any cheque doling GH¢2 million to any artiste.

“You will be surprised how brand ambassadors can be good for promoting a particular sector. Sometimes what needs to be done is that if you have done incredible work, it will be good for people to know what their options are, and having a good brand ambassador to do that makes sense.”