Ghana @ secretariat Run Hotel Business

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday August 12,2009
The Ghana at 50 Secretariat run a hotel business during the country’s independence anniversary celebrations.

The Secretariat acquired the facility from Largus Fort Hotel Limited on two year leasehold and contracted United African Management Limited to run the hotel services on its behalf.

This was revealed by Joe Ofori, chief Executive Officer of Largus Fort Hotel Limited in Accra when he testified at the on-going probe into the activities of the Ghana at 50 Secretariat.

The Commission of Enquiry chaired by Justice Issac Duose was instituted by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government led by President John Evans Atta Mills to look into how the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government used public funds for the celebration in 2007.

Two personalities, Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani, the Chief of Staff during the NPP administration and Dr. Charles Yves Wereko-Brobby popularly known as Tarzan who was the Chief Executive Officer at the Ghana at 50 Secretariat are the focus of the commission’s mandate.

In his evidence-in-chief, Mr. Ofori, a legal, told the commission that his outfit leased the facility to the Secretariat on January 16, 2007 for a period of two years at the cost of 360,000 dollars per year between February 2007 and February 2009.

He said he received 360,000 dollars down payment before the lease agreement took effect.

He said the Secretariat asked them to provide the necessary facilities including television sets, refrigerators and broadband internet services which he did before handing the hotel to them.

He said the Secretariat later paid another 120,000 dollars to him, leaving 240,000 dollars which the Secretariat refused to pay.

Mr. Ofori further told the commission that when he realised the Secretariat was refusing to honour its part of the contract, he wrote to them to proposing they vacate the premises but on July 10, 2008, the managers of the hotel replied to them to indicate they were terminating their appointment.

During cross-examination by Mrs Evelyn Keelson, counsel for the commission, the witness insisted that it was the Secretariat which contacted them for the facility but instructed United African Management Limited to run hotel services on their behalf.

The argument became heated hen Mr. Akoto Ampaw; counsel for Dr. Wereko-Brobby took his turn, accusing Mr. Ofori of lying to the commission.

Mr. Ofori had indicated earlier on in his evidence that prospective buyer had approached him to either purchase or lease the hotel but Mr. Ampaw was able to prove that the witness had indeed leased the facility to a third party as at November 2008.

Asked why he engaged a third party to take over the hotel and renovate it despite the existing contract with the Secretariat, Mr. Ofori said, ‘we made effort to look for a purchaser in anticipation of a breach by the Secretariat’.

He said he held several meetings with the managers of the hotel but on the issue of the outstanding payments, he dealt directly with Dr. Wereko-Brobby at the secretariat.

When Egbert Faibile Junior, counsel for Mr. Mpiani took his turn, Mr. Ofori insisted that there had not been any breach of the agreement and was only interested in recovering the outstanding debt from the Secretariat.

He said the Secretariat through United African Management Limited operated the facility as hotel and made a lot of profit for 17 months adding ‘they were charging between 70 and 80 dollars’.

When asked by a member of the commission how the Secretariat treated him, Mr. Ofori said ‘I can conjecture wickedness’, on the part of the Secretariat.

Earlier on, the former Brong Ahafo Regional Coordinating Director, Mr. Francis Opoku Boateng had testified as to how the administrators in the region disbursed funds for the celebration.

Also at the commission to testify was Mr. Robert Amenyawu, Director of the Greater Accra Regional Prestige Public Works Department who said his outfit was contracted to work on the Freedom and Justice square which was completed in 2007 and the Secretariat owed them 200,000 Ghana Cedis.