The organisers of the Ghana Ministers of State Excellence Honours have rejected claims that they sought sponsorship from the Director-General of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), Prof. Michael Kpessa-Whyte, in exchange for an award.
The clarification follows public debate over the credibility of the awards scheme after Prof. Kpessa-Whyte revealed that he had been selected for a “Best CEO of the Year” award and invited to attend a ceremony at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel.
According to Prof. Kpessa-Whyte, correspondence from the organisers offered sponsorship options, including a GH¢50,000 sponsorship package or the purchase of a table for eight at GH¢25,000.
Speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Monday, June 8, Chief Executive Officer of Big Events Ghana, Prince Mackay, denied allegations that the organisers had approached Prof. Kpessa-Whyte personally to sponsor the event in return for an award.
“I would like to start by saying thank you to Professor Whyte for his support of the event. We are an event company. Whenever we organise events, we send sponsorship letters out there. It’s not the first time it has happened,” Mackay said.
He explained that the sponsorship request was directed to SIGA as an institution and not to Prof. Kpessa-Whyte in his personal capacity.
“I want to repeat, we didn’t write to Professor Whyte in person. We never asked him to sponsor the award. It was SIGA as a body that we wrote to, where he is the CEO,” he said.
Mackay further questioned why the matter had become controversial, arguing that soliciting sponsorship for events is a standard practice within the industry.
“If I wrote a letter for you to sponsor me and you refused to sponsor me, why then would you put a statement out there that I came to solicit money for an award? That is not what I did, or what the organisation did,” he said.
According to Mackay, SIGA ultimately declined the sponsorship request, informing the organisers that the proposal had been submitted too late for consideration.
The Ghana Ministers of State Excellence Honours recently came under public scrutiny after recognising several ministers and heads of public institutions in the current administration, including Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, who was named Overall Best Minister of the Year.
The organisers maintain that the awards are intended to recognise excellence and outstanding service in the public sector and insist that recipients are not required to pay or secure sponsorship in order to receive honours.
