Kwame Bafo Abronye, the Bono Regional Chairman for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has told the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo to as a matter of urgency collapse the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) before it collapse the NPP.
According to Mr. Kwame Bafo Abronye, the NBSSI contributed immensely to the reduction of votes for the NPP in the 2020 general elections. He adds that over seven million Ghanaians were registered under the scheme but most of them did not receive the loans.
The NBSSI was operating under the Ministry for Trade and Industry to provide affordable loans to businesses. It was part of the government’s effort to cushion businesses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. But Mr. Kwame Bafo indicates that the Board caused a lot of harm to the NPP and must be eliminated.
He made the remark on Wuntumi Television’s Nsempa Fie program. According to him, there is a plan to rename the NBSSI to Ghana Enterprise Agency and that must not happen. He adds that the board has reported to the President a total of 300,000 beneficiaries of the loan but that is a fallacy.
“People who wrote their names for the loans were about seven million. After registration, you are saying only 300,000 people had the loans. That loan made us lost many votes in the election. People are lying to the President because, after the registration, a lot of people did not receive the money. The NBSSI loan was our downfall in the 2020 election. Most of our parliamentary candidates lost because of that money. They did the registration and the money did not get to them. They should be bold to tell Akufu Addo the truth”. He indicated.
Mr. Kwame Bafo indicated for example that, about 99.9 percent of people who applied for the loans in his constituency received nothing. He adds that the money should be invested in MASLOC for Ghanaians to benefit.
“In my constituency, 99.9 percent did not receive the loans. That loan is collapsing our party. We should collapse that board and use the money to strengthen MASLOC. It is a bad policy for the NPP. I’m daring them to tell us those who benefited from that money. We want to see names. We all know the issue but are refusing to address it. Even NPP members did not benefit from that money. We have to eliminate that board from the system before the 2024 elections”. Angry Abronye indicated.
