Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By
William Yaw Owusu
Thursday, February 13, 2014
The Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial
Development Agency, GYEEDA scandal trial entered its second day yesterday with
interesting revelations at the Financial Court in Accra.
The first Prosecution Witness Nuru Hamidan,
Municipal Chief Executive of Asokore Mampong Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti
Region was able to conclude his evidence-in-chief before being bombarded with
questions from the defence team of one of the accused persons under cross-examination.
Incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Chiana-Paga,
Abuga Pele and Philip Akpeena Assibit, Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill
International Group (GIG), are standing trial for their various roles which the
Attorney General’s Department says had cost huge financial loss to the state.
Until last year, Abuga Pele was the National
Coordinator of National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), now the GYEEDA.
He is accused of willfully causing financial loss to
the state to the tune of GH¢3,330,568.53 while Assibit is being tried for
defrauding the state of an amount equivalent to $1,948,626.68.
Assibit’s
Bail
The presiding judge, Justice Afia Asare-Botwe after
Tuesday’s proceedings had asked Assibit to remain seated in the courtroom until
the court closed as there were problems with his bail bond but Abuga Pele had
satisfied the bail conditions and left.
Daily Guide enquiries showed that Assibit could not
complete the bail process and had to be kept by the investigators and it was
also not clear if he was able to satisfy the conditions as at press time
yesterday.
The
give-and-take
Raymond Bagnabu, lead counsel for Assibit took on the
Asokore Mampong MCE who served as Coordinator for Operations and later
Administration at the NYEP and he insisted before the packed court that he
witnessed for only two Memoranda of Understanding entered into between
Assibit’s firm GIG and the NYEP.
When counsel put it to PW1 that he signed more than
two documents in respect of the youth enterprise development project the MCE
exploded: “My Lord, you have to prove” and as a result, the judge advised him
to answer questions and not challenge counsel.
Counsel again put it to the witness that apart from
the two MoU, PW1 also witnessed another document on July 26, 2013 which specified
the term of work for the project which had been put together by Assibit’s GIG
but the witness denied.
The witness insisted that he together with the two
accused persons visited the office of then Vice President John Dramani Mahama
but said he did not know in what capacity Assibit had accompanied them to the
presidency.
He also said he was not aware of a document Assibit
had sent to the presidency when he accompanied them after counsel said his
client had sent the proposal on June 15, 2010 and pursuant to that GIG has
prepared concept paper and budget leading to the signing of the MoU.
The witness insisted that after the meeting with then
Vice President, his involvement in the whole project to which the MoU was
signed became limited because a desk officer had been put in charge to liaise
with the World Bank.
Abuga Pele
“I am aware a proposal was sent to the World Bank but
I am not aware who had prepared it,” the witness said.
He told the court he did not specifically remember a
project called Youth Employment Strategy launched at the plush Alisa Hotel in
Accra by then sector Minister Akua Sena Dansoa claiming “the NYEP had a lot of
programmes within a week.”
$65m Palaver
He said as at July 2013, when he was leaving GYEEDA,
the World Bank $65million had not arrived and said that the stringent
requirements attached made it impossible for the funds to arrive so soon.
Counsel: Do
you know Solomon Nii Afutu Quartey, Greater Accra Regional Coordinator of NYEP who worked directly
under you?
Witness: Yes
Counsel: He granted an interview to the Ghana News Agency and said the World
Bank had given $65 million to the NYEP
Witness: He was not under me. I had moved from operations to administration
Counsel: The then Minister of Youth and Sports Clement Humado had said at the
meet-the-press series that the World Bank is to give Ghana an amount of $65 million to
support the NYEP
Witness: I am
not aware
Counsel: The Vice President John Dramani Mahama also announced
that the World Bank has supported the National Youth Employment Programme with
$65 Million.
Witness: I am not aware
Concluding his
evidence-in chief, Nuru Hamidan
had told the court that the World Bank at a point wanted to know what GYEEDA
was doing on the ground and therefore the management took the officials to the
Kumasi Metropolis where all the modules were being run.
He said the bank requested for impact assessment
through the exit programme and what he called a Tracer study was prepared and
added that he later heard that GIG had prepared that study.
He said however, that when the Tracer Study was
submitted the World Bank said there were certain requirements they were looking
for which were not in the study.
He said he was not involved in the screening and
selection of service providers that sent proposals for consideration but
admitted that he witnessed the signing of MoU in which Assibit’s company was
supposed to share profits with the NYEP.
Phillip Assibit
The Charges
In the new charges preferred by the AG, the NDC MP for
Chiana-Paga will face six counts of willfully causing financial loss to the
state under Section 179A (3) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 Act 29, two
counts of abetment under Sections 20(1) and 131(1) of the Criminal Offences
Act, 1960 (Act 29) and one count of intentionally misapplying public property,
contrary to Section 1(2) of the Public Property Protection Act, 1977 (SMCD)
140.
Mr. Assibit, who is the first accused person on the
other hand, is facing six counts of defrauding by false pretences contrary to
Section 131(1) of the Criminal and Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) and five counts
of dishonestly causing loss to public property contrary to Section 2(1) of the
Public Property Protection Act, 1977 (SMCD) 140.
Sitting continues today.
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