Mr Ambrose Dery, Minister for the Interior, has charged the newly constituted nine-member Auctioneers Registration Board to work harder to redeem the image of Auctioneers in the eyes of the public.
According to the Minister, auctioneering in recent times has come under public scrutiny due to the unscrupulous activities of some auctioneers and has therefore tasked the Board to keep an eye on Auctioneers and flush out all the bad ones.
Mr. Dery said this at the inauguration of the Auctioneers Registration Board held in Accra on Wednesday, September 6, 2017 after he had administered the Oaths of Office and Secrecy to the members.
He indicated that, auctioneers have a critical role to play in the economic development of the nation and, thus, implored the Board to sanitise the industry by ensuring that only honest and trustworthy persons practice the trade so as to reduce the negative media reportage about the business.
The Minister also urged the Board to intensify its monitoring system to cover the other regions to ensure all members are in good standing.
In his remarks, as Chairman of the Board, Mr. Henry Quartey, who is also the Deputy Minister for the Interior, acknowledged the enormous task entrusted to them and pledged to work effectively and efficiently to manage the auctioneering business in the country.
“We promise to discharge our duties diligently under the Auction Sales Act – 1989 (PNDCL 230). We would pursue the issue of the operations of unlicensed Auctioneers and also flush out the unscrupulous ones” He said.
Mr. Quartey on behalf of his colleagues, thanked the President for appointing them to serve on the Board.
He admitted the task entrusted to them is enormous and pledged to work effectively and efficiently to manage the auctioneering business in the country.
The Board members are Mrs. Jemima Mamaa Oware, of the Registrar General’s Department, M. Frank Sofo, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, COP Frank Adu-Poku, the Ghana Police Service, and Mr. Emmanuel Tetteh Martey, from the Ghana Institute of Surveyors.
The rest are Mr. Kofi Christopher Sory, Mr. Habib Saad and Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, all nominees of the President.
The Auctioneers Registration Board was established by the Auction Sales Act, 1989 (PNDCL 230), to register auctioneers, grant licenses to auctioneers or to revoke or suspend the licences of members.
It is also to establish standards for the conduct of auction sales and to receive complaints made by a member(s) of the public in respect of registered auctioneers or relating to an auction sales and take appropriate disciplinary action.
The Board is also mandated to keep a register of all licensed auctioneers in the country.
