Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has rubbished assertions by some Menzgold Ghana Limited customers that the government is trying to sabotage the gold trading company.
He said he could not get his head around the fact some Ghanaians feel Menzgold should be given special treatment by regulators when laws exists for everyone’s business in Ghana.
[contextly_sidebar id=”8ZxFu7cyJkt9LatGtyyQobEm58HtU3rD”]Mr. Pratt stressed that all sectors of Ghana, from head porters to taxi drivers, were subject to laws.
Menzgold temporarily halted parts of its operations on September 13, 2018, following a directive from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
This was after several warnings from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) which went unheeded.
But some customers are protesting against the suspension of the operations of Menzgold saying their investments were at risk.
“How can we sit here and say we cannot touch a company when it is not following regulations because it will hurt people? Which business, when touched won’t affect people,” Mr. Pratt retorted on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo.
He stated that “if what you are doing anything unlawful you have to stop,” and that this was a straightforward matter that was being complicated by the agitating customers.
Mr. Pratt further questioned why Menzgold had not opted for legal address if it felt it was wronged.
“In Ghana we have courts, all the way to the Supreme Court. If what the Securities and Exchange Commission is doing is unlawful, why doesn’t Menzgold go to court? They should go to court and air their grievances.”
He added that for such a company, the only guarantee for customers “is that the regulatory institutions that oversee them look at them and confirm that what they do is legitimate or not.”
SEC orders Menzgold to suspend ‘illegal’ trading
Menzgold Ghana Limited was asked to suspend its gold trading operations with the public by SEC.
According to the SEC, Menzgold has been dealing in the purchase and deposit of gold collectables from the public and issuing contracts with guaranteed returns with clients, without a valid license from the Commission.
This, the SEC said, is in contravention of “section 109 of Act 929 with consequences under section 2016 (I) of the same Act.”
The company was however cleared to continue its “other businesses of assaying, purchasing gold from small-scale miners and export of gold.”
Menzgold hires UK law firm to battle SEC over suspension order
Meanwhile, Menzgold Ghana Limited has hired an international law firm, Baker & McKenzie LLP, as it prepares for a legal confrontation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In a letter to the SEC and the Minerals Commission sighted by citinewsroom.com, the London-based legal firm informed the two regulators that it had been contracted by the gold trading company to represent its interests.
The letter acknowledged Menzgold’s receipt of the directives from the SEC and added that it will provide a response in due course explaining why its operations are in line with the laws of Ghana.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
