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Samuel Atta-Mills, Ranking Member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and brother of the late President John Evans Atta-Mills, has criticised the Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) over the registration of the Atta-Mills Institute, which has since been renamed The Mills Institute. The matter came up during a PAC sitting in Accra on Friday, October 31, where members questioned the process that led to the registration of the organisation, founded by the late former President’s former aide, Koku Anyidoho. Member of Parliament for Keta, Kwame Gakpey, raised concerns about how the Institute was allowed to use the name of the late President without approval. “This is a known former president. If I am not related to him, can I just come to your office and register a company in his name?” he asked. Responding to the committee, Acting Registrar of Companies, Maame Samma Peprah, explained that her office follows laid-down procedures in registering business names. “Respectfully, Honourable Chair, the law has certain rules regarding the registration of business names. We have to ensure that there is no conflict with other names on our register and that it is in the public interest that such names exist,” she said. “There are a number of steps that we go through to conduct the search and ensure it is in line with Act 992 before we do the registration. Under the law, misleading names are not allowed in our register, so we would look at it and have it rectified,” she added. When asked why the Atta-Mills Institute was registered then, the Acting Registrar said, “Respectfully, Honourable Chair, I am not aware of it. I will look at our system and revert on that.” Mr Atta-Mills then expressed his disappointment, saying the registration process did not follow due procedure. “Unfortunately, I have all the documents from your office. Nothing was followed. No rule, rhyme, or reason was followed,” he stated. Adding “I just don’t want to go into it because it may be a conflict of interest.” DVLA boss appears before OSP over alleged GH¢4m bribe attempt
