The Chief Executive Officer of MASLOC, Hajia Abibata Shanni Mahama Zachariah, led the Management of the institution to pay a courtesy call on the former President J.A Kufuor.
The CEO of MASLOC, who was accompanied by Deputy Chief of Staff Mr. Emmanuel Adumua-Bossman, informed the former President that their visit on the celebration of his 84th birthday was to thank him for his vision, and being the brain behind the establishment of MASLOC.
The CEO of MASLOC said the idea for the creation of the institution was a very laudable one, and though all expectations for the institution has not been fully achieved, she is still keen on leading it to become better.
She went on to say that since taking over as CEO, she has toured the institution’s offices in all 16 regions of the country and implemented new reforms that are helping in sustaining MASLOC as a viable business.
She emphasised that the issue with MASLOC has always been the false notion that it was founded for political gains, which she is trying hard to debunk; and that MASLOC continues to rely primarily on GoG financing, which is frequently insufficient to meet the high volume of applications received.
The CEO outlined actions, such as soliciting grants to augment GoG funding and the engagement of independent debt collection specialists to support leadership’s initiatives aimed at safeguarding the institution’s revolving fund.
With the news that MASLOC had been named the Sustainable Project Financing Brand of the Year at this year’s Ghana Credit Excellence Awards, Hajia Abibata Shanni Zakariah Mahama reassured the former President of her resolution to make the institution sustainable.
The Deputy Chief of Staff also recognised the former President for his efforts in creating MASLOC and how everyone across the country is still benefitting from the seed he sowed sixteen years ago.
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor appreciated the CEO and Deputy Chief of Staff for their visit, and the decision to recognise him on his birthday as part of the company’s 16th anniversary celebration.
The former President mentioned that the true motivation for the formation of MASLOC was for social intervention purposes and not political gains as many people assumed. He credited the institution’s concept and success to the late Mrs. Gladys Asmah, a Ghanaian politician, businesswoman and former Minister for Women’s Affairs under his government.
He stated that he was sure of the idea’s effectiveness since he witnessed Madam Asmah’s implementation of such programmes in her distribution of micro-loans to market women to help them build their small enterprises during his campaign in the year 2000.
Mr. Kufuor further implored the CEO to be committed to the real motives behind its creation and continue to uphold its core values. He reiterated that the creation of MASLOC was to be a government tool to serve every citizen of Ghana regardless of their party affiliations and support. He stressed that a deviation from that will be a betrayal of the vaunted vision and value system for which the institution was formed.
The former President indicated that government contribution toward the formation of MASLOC was like ‘seed money’, and his objective was for it to be self-sustaining and operate as a commercial concern, earning its income, plowing back some of its earnings, and enlarging its base while the institution properly and efficiently looked after its staff and operations.
In his advice to the CEO, the former President echoed the fact that if public funds were used as seed money to start this initiative, then it will be a betrayal if she self-serves. He also praised her for her efforts thus far and encouraged her to resist temptation, and instead be a blessing to the nation through her service.
The former President reminded the CEO of the relationship that existed between him and her late father from 1969 to 1979, when they were both elected and re-elected as Members of Parliament, and also appointed Ministers of State. He recalled the remarkable and notable achievements of the revered former Minister of State and Member of Parliament – Alhaji Shanni Mahama from Yendi, and urged the CEO to emulate these traits in leading MASLOC at this time.
