Spokesperson for the NPP Committee on Jobs and Employment, Ellen Ama Daaku has disagreed with the government’s decision to reject a GH¢20 million donation from MTN Ghana meant to support Ghana’s repatriation exercise for citizens returning from South Africa, though she insists the telecom giant was not doing the country a favour by offering it.
Speaking on Adom TV’s Nnawotwe Yi on Saturday, Daaku argued that MTN’s donation was disproportionate to how much the company has earned from Ghanaians over the years.
“I don’t know why government refused to take the money. MTN has been with us in this country for about 35 years. They have taken a lot of money from Ghanaians, even from data usage alone. They have really benefited from us. The money they make from this country in even just six months is not small, so let’s not make it look as though they are doing us a favour by trying to donate money to the country,” she said.
She, however, noted that the amount the company tried to donate may have been rejected because it was too small.
“The money is also small. Maybe if it were more, they could have convinced government to accept. Twenty million is good money, but if you compare it to how big MTN is and how much the company has made from Ghana, that money is too little to support the repatriation exercise.”
That notwithstanding, Daaku said government should have accepted the funds and channelled them into other national priorities.
“I think government should have accepted the money and given it to the creative arts industry, support youth employment, or use it for anything that can benefit the country. That money will not reduce MTN’s profit in any way, so let’s take it, but they should also add more to it.”
She appealed to government to reconsider, and pressed MTN to increase its offer, while questioning South Africa’s recurring repatriation exercises.
“I’ll appeal to government to take it and, even if it won’t be used to support the repatriation, use it for other things that can benefit the country, and ask them to add more, because what South Africans are doing right now isn’t good.”
Daaku also questioned what South African-owned companies in Ghana, such as MTN and Goldfields, have done to press their home government on the issue, noting the xenophobic attacks recur roughly every two years.
