The story of Yaa Pokuaa, an NPP loyalist popularly known as Obaa Yaa Race Course, moved me so much that I decided to write about to help Ghanaians avoid becoming victims of political parties that are willing to take advantage of them and leave them without any assistance, despite their claims to protect and provide for the welfare of the populace. Obaa Yaa’s experience is a crime against humanity that no one in Ghana should have to endure. We must eliminate scammers.
A story headlined “MASLOC gave me a fake check in 2020 with no money in the” account”—NPP Lady Reveals, drew my attention in yesterday’s edition of ModernGhana news online. As I read the article further, I soon realized that the woman who was unable to cash her check had been subjected to psychological torture for a very long time, and when she was unable to bear it any longer, she confided in her fellow Ghanaians about her traumatic experience, which began in 2020.
To grow her business, Obaa Yaa, a well-known trader in Kumasi’s central business district, chose to apply for a loan from “MASLOC,” an institution for “a Small and Medium Enterprises that has been the backbone of the Ghana Socio-economic development.” According to MASLOC, which was founded in 2006, it has helped individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises grow their operations by offering financial support. This suggests that MASLOC is a reputable financial company.
Obaa Yaa claims that she received a call from MASLOC’s head office informing her that her loan had been accepted after fulfilling the prerequisites for a GHC 20,000 loan request. Then, after her request for GHC 20,000, she was told to travel from Kumasi to Accra to pick up the cheque, which she said had a face value of GHC 19,500, to cash at Omni Bank. However, when she attempted to cash the money at Omni Bank, she was informed that there was no money in MASLOC’s account.
After explaining the matter to MASLOC personnel, Obaa Yaa was advised to cash the money at Ghana Commercial Bank, where she was similarly informed that the account was empty. I want to know if MASLOC is a scam loan company. Who owns a 2006-founded loan company that has no funds in its account? How many Ghanaians, including Obaa Yaa, have received financial aid that appears to be fraudsters taking advantage of their victims? How could Ghana have such a financial institution?
The story got more interesting when Obaa Yaa confided in NPP officials, Bernard Antwi-Bosiako, also known as Wontumi, the Ashanti Regional Chairman, and Henry Nana Boakye, also known as Nana B, the National Organizer of the New Patriotic Party. She told them about her experience, but neither of them offered to assist her. I would like to know why the NPP runs campaigns to show that they care about Ghanaians if both of its senior leaders are unable to provide a solution for a single individual.
Considering what both Nana B and Chairman Wontumi did to Obaa Yaa, I don’t think it’s necessary for the NPP to continue campaigning to convince Ghanaians that they care about the people. Ghanaians are wasting their time on things that will not benefit them, which should tell any shrewd Ghanaian that the NPP is, in fact, a political party that is in power for the benefit of the party and its officials rather than to promote the welfare of Ghanaians. This is the reason Ghana has never developed under the NPP.
I would like to request that the new administration look into MASLOC, which appears to be a scam financial institution. I don’t understand why an institution that can issue cheques but has no money in its account remains, when eight financial institutions were purposefully collapsed and shut down in 2017. Finally, I hope that this new administration would handle Obaa Yaa’s issue better so that she may get the money she needs to grow her business for the benefit of Ghanaians.