NO ACCOUNT FOR JUDGEMENT DEBT

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday, March 27, 2014

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) says it does not have special account designated for the payments of judgement debts.

This was in spite of the Sole-Commissioner’s - investigating the payment of Judgement Debts - insistence that evidence on the records indicated that there is an account at the central bank for judgement debts payments.

The ‘Commission of Enquiry into the payment of Judgement Debt and Akin’ under C.I. 79 to investigate the frivolous and dubious payments of huge monies to undeserving individuals and companies, was appointed by President John Dramani Mahama after public uproar over the payments in what has now come to be termed as Judgement Debts (JD).

Notable among them were payments made to CP (€94 million) and the never-ending case of GH¢51.2million parted to the self-styled National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, both of which many believed were dubious and frivolous.

No Judgement Debt Account

Appearing before Sole-Commissioner Justice Yaw Apau of the Court of Appeal yesterday, Gabriel Bokor a Deputy Chief Manager at the Banking Department of the BoG told the commission that an account number quoted in two separate letters from the Controller and Accountant General in January 2007 could not be a judgement debt account.

He said the account in question (0113060014036) referred to by the Controller and Accountant General as judgement debt account was rather a 5-year Treasury Bond account number.

“Our checks showed that this account quoted could not be an account designated for judgement debt. It is a 5-year Treasury Bond account number.”

Flanked by Saviour Kudze of the Legal Department of the BoG, Mr. Bokor said “there has never been a situation when a special account has been created for judgement debt.”

Counsel for the commission, Dometi Kofi Sorkpor then reminded the commission that an official from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning had already testified and said there was a special account a   t the central bank for the payment of judgement debt.

Justice Apau then asked the witness to go back and cross check the facts and figures quoted by the Controller and Accountant General and return to the commission for further questioning.

Ho Building Palaver

Earlier, the Ho Municipal Assembly in the Volta Region appeared before the commission to dispute compensation claim by one Andrew A. Tefutor a retired civil servant.

According to Felix Seloame, the Municipal Town Planning Officer representing the MCE, Mr. Tefutor did not deserve any compensation from the government because the assembly even on humanitarian grounds built a new house for him after a road construction project.

Mr. Tefutor’s claim was that he acquired a parcel of land in Ho and the assembly took over portions of the land for the construction of a by-pass but Mr. Seloame said the government does not even pay compensation for lands taken for road construction.

The Municipal Town Planning Officer said Mr. Tefutor got building permit in 1989 but built a three-bedroom uncompleted house right within the portion earmarked for a link road to divert traffic from the centre of Ho.

“His land was intact and he built his house in the link road earmarked so when the construction was done in 1998 his building was pulled down but on humanitarian grounds, the assembly built a four-bedroom house and handed over to him in 2000 which was even bigger than what he had built.”

“I do not understand why he is here asking for compensation. As at the time the building was demolished to pave way for the construction, there were not economic trees on the land as he is claiming today.”

Gershon Quamie Tsra, Regional Lands Officer who was also subpoenaed to testify in the matter said “the assembly should not have built a new house for him in the first place because his land was never touched during the construction. It was done for him purely on humanitarian grounds.”

Justice Apau then adjourned the matter sine die for Mr. Tefutor to be traced and also give his version of the story.

COURT DECIDES ON NLA INJUNCTION REQUEST

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday, March 27, 2014

An Accra Circuit Court will on Monday, March 31 deliver a ruling in a case in which the National Lottery Authority (NLA) is seeking to prevent the Veterans Administration Ghana (VAG) from granting license to private lotto operators.

The court, presided by Francis Obiri, is expected to either grant or reject an application for interlocutory injunction filed by the NLA to restrain VAG from going ahead to issue the license pending the final determination of the suit.

Just as the court was to decide on whether or not to grant the NLA’s injunction application, Luck Web Ghana Limited, an online betting firm, filed a motion seeking to join the action and also to ‘arrest’ the court’s ruling until it was also heard in the matter as a third party.

After moving the application, which NLA vehemently opposed, the court granted Luck Web’s permission to join the case as a third party on the grounds that the NLA in its own pleadings had made references to a third party and could not turn around to prevent such third parties from joining the matter.

The betting firm was issued a licence by the VAG under Veterans Administration Ghana Act, (Act 844, 2012) to do online lottery but the action of the VAG incensed the NLA which insisted that under the National Lotto Act, (Act 722) of 2006, they had the sole authority to regulate, supervise, conduct and manage National Lotto and to provide related matters.

Substantive Action

The NLA went to court first asking for a renewal of an interlocutory injunction restraining the VAG and its assigns or agents from “promoting, sponsoring, launching and advertising any lotto or lottery or engaging in any lotto or lottery.”

In the substantive suit, the court has been called upon by the NLA to, among other things, determine which body has the sole right to regulate, supervise, conduct and manage national lotto or lottery in the country.

According to the NLA, the National Lotto Act, (Act 722) of 2006 has given it the sole authority to regulate, supervise, conduct and manage National Lotto and to provide related matters.

However, the VAG indicated that under Act 844, the law mandates them to hold lotteries and cannot be stopped by the NLA from issuing license to other entities in furtherance of the administration’s objective and said it has not and does not intend to conduct national lotto.

It is the contention of the VAG that under Section 22 (1) of Act 844, they have the right to “hold lotteries, or raffles or similar games for the furtherance of its objects in accordance with the NLA Act (2006) Act 722 and the Gaming Act, 2006 (Act 721).

Section 22 (2) of Act 844 specifically states that “a person, who holds lotteries, raffles, or similar games under this Act without the express approval of the administration commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of 100 penalty units or a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months or to both.”

Luck Web’s Position

Moving the motion to oppose the NLA’s application for interlocutory injunction, Ekow Dadson, counsel for Luck Web, urged the court to draw a distinction between National Lotto under Act 722 and private lotto or lottery so that any entity that wanted to do private lotto would have recourse to Act 722.

He said under Act 844, an Act of Parliament had created another public body to conduct lottery for the purposes of realizing the objectives of VAG saying “the law recognizes VAG as a public body under the act.”

He said “we obtained a valid license from VAG which gains its authority under Act 844 and our rights and interests must be guaranteed.”

He said “if the court grants the injunction it will in substance have the effect of suspending the provisions of Act 844 which granted licence to us.”

Mr. Dadson also said the injunction will prevent VAG from issuing licence to third parties or operating lottery under Act 844, adding “this will amount to freezing an Act of Parliament.”

He said the reliefs that the NLA is seeking in the substantive motion are virtually the same as what was in their application for interlocutory injunction and should the court grant it at this stage of the proceedings, it would have determined the case without hearing the other parties involved.

He said the license had already been issued and called on the court to preserve the status quo pending the final determination of the suit.

NLA’s Opposition

 Opposing Luck Web’s application on points of law, David Lamptey, counsel for the plaintiff, said “the NLA is the only institution set up by statute to operate lotto in the country and has the sole monopoly over the business.

“Operation of lotto or lottery is the sole preserve of the NLA,” he said, adding “the respondents are challenging us purely on the grounds of Section 22 of Act 844.”

He said that “it is an established rule of interpretation that a court must give meaning to the entire statute to ensure the purpose is achieved through interpretation.”

He said NLA has the sole power to conduct lottery and prohibit anybody from doing same.

“Section 22 of Act 844 does not say anywhere that VAG should have power alongside NLA. Anything they want to do must come squarely under NLA Act 722.

“They cannot on their own unilaterally give people permit to operate lotto.”

Mr. Lamptey said if the application for interlocutory injunction was not granted, it would cause irreparable damage to the NLA, which might not be quantified in monetary terms and also bring chaos into the lottery industry, adding “we have established a prima facie case that the injunction must hold until the final determination of the matter.”

VAG’s Point

Kwaku Appiatse Abaidoo, representing the VAG, supported Luck Web’s argument and said contrary to the NLA’s claim, VAG was a public institution set up by an act of parliament.

He said VAG issues licence under Act 844 and not under Act 722, adding, “We have not made depositions challenging their right under Act 722 to supervise National Lotto.”

“VAG is thinking about maximization of economic profit. The lawmaker gave Section 22 for them to realize their objective and if the court grants the injunction it will inconvenience the veterans more than the applicant.”

WITNESS ENDS EVIDENCE IN ABUGA PELE TRIAL

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By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Nuru Hamidan, the first Prosecution Witness (PW1) in the infamous Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) trial yesterday ended his evidence at a Financial Court in Accra.

Incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Chiana-Paga, Abuga Pele and Philip Akpeena Assibit, Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill International Group (GIG), are currently on 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 and 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.

The two have pleaded not guilty and are currently on bail.

Long Adjournment

At the last adjourned date, the court presided over by Justice Afia Asare-Botwe had agreed with the prosecution and defense teams to use two days to conclude evidence from Alhaji Hamidan who was once GYEEDA Deputy Coordinator in charge of Operations and later Administration and currently the Municipal Chief Executive at Asokore Mampong Assembly in the Ashanti Region before the Easter break.

However, the swiftness with which Thaddeus Sory representing Abuga Pele concluded the cross-examination of Alhaji Hamidan, coupled with the fact that the next witness was not readily available to the prosecution, compelled the court to adjourn proceedings until May 5 through to May 9, 2014 to enable both camps to prepare adequately.

Cross-Examination

In the cross-examination, Alhaji Hamidan admitted that he was once in charge of modules implementation at GYEEDA but insisted that there were a team of monitors who reported to progress of work to the National Coordinator.

He told the court that when Assibit presented a document containing how the GIG was going to help to create more jobs for the youth they were all impressed.

“We all said wow! This is a brilliant idea,” he told the court.

He said proposals from service providers are always addressed to the sector minister copied to GYYEDA and until the minister approved it GYEEDA could not put it into effect.

“It cannot be accepted unless the minister certifies it. If the minister is satisfied, it is then minuted to GYEEDA,” he added.

Alhaji Hamidan insisted that the idea that the World Bank  was going to support GYEEDA projects did not come from Assibit and his GIG saying that “in the MoU NYEP signed with them, West Cap was to provide the funds.”

He also said he was not in charge of documentation of the World Bank project and added that there was an desk specifically set up for that job.

He said he became associated with the case when the Economic and Organized Crime Organization (EOCO) first invited him and later asked him to write a statement which he did.

Charges

The NDC MP is facing 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.

POLICE BEGS ABUSED WOMAN, SON

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu
Tuesday, March 25, 2014

The Ghana Police Service has taken a U-turn on the action against a Ghanaian woman based in Italy who was paraded in the media by the Ghana Police Service as a human trafficker, after she had resorted to the court of law for redress.

Madam Victoria Afful’s home in New Aplaku, near Weija Accra was raided by fully armed policemen at dawn on September 14, 2013 and her only son, Frederick Kwabena Osei, who was taking care of the house, was detained by the Anti Human Trafficking Unit of the service for several days.

Media Parade

The day following the arrest and detention of her son, she was published in various media including television and newspapers on the orders of the Anti Human Trafficking Unit that she was trafficking people particularly Nigerian girls to Europe and America for prostitution.

The incident also formed the basis for a documentary which was shown on Metro TV for several days in which many experts on trafficking including Mrs. Patience Quaye, Head of Anti Human Trafficking Unit all made damaging remarks about the plaintiffs.

Extortion

After ransacking her residence and seizing valuable property including two vehicles, two police officers who were investigating the case extorted GH¢4,200 from the victim.

The police even use pepper spray in the residence because they did not believe that Madam Afful had indeed travelled to Italy.

Police U-turn

Just as a suit she filed at an Accra High Court (Human Rights Division) enforcing her fundamental human rights was to be moved on Thursday, the police wrote to her through her lawyers, asking her to come for her cars.

A letter titled: “Re- Petition against raid on house, seizure of vehicles, extortion of money and notice to Attorney General” signed on March 19, 2014 by Commissioner of Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Prosper K. Agblor directed Madam Afful to the Police Headquarters for the release of her items.

“We refer to your letter dated November 8, 2013 concerning the above subject matter and wish to inform you that discreet investigation has been conducted into the matter and some of the concerns raised by your client were found to be credible.”

“Consequently, the two police officers involved have been interdicted and service enquiry ordered into their conduct,” the CID Commissioner said.

In addition, the Commander of Anti-Human Trafficking Unit has been instructed to release the two vehicles and other items seized during the police operation to your client.”

The CID Boss then asked Madam Afful to report to one DSP Joseph Oppong at the CID Headquarters for the release of the items to her.

The Suit

In the substantive suit, Madam Afful and her son Osei are suing the Director-General of Ghana Police Service together with the Attorney General for abuse of their rights by the police.

While Madam Afful is demanding compensation of GH¢ 200,000, her son wants GH¢ 100,000 from the defendants for depriving them of the use of her two cars since September 14, 2013 without any lawful order from a court of competent jurisdiction.

The plaintiffs want an order directed at the respondents to pay to them a total of GH¢4,200 with interest being money extorted from them by the CID men whose names were given as Joseph Naab and Emmanuel Gyamfi Yeboah.

They want a further order directed at the defendants to release $2,900, 5,150 Euros and GH¢9,000 with interests which they are claiming were stolen by the police during the raid.

The plaintiffs again want an order directed at the defendants to pay the cost of repairing/replacing the plaintiff’s door and other items the police destroyed in the course of the raid as well as all other electronic gadgets including mobile phones and laptops that were seized.

Finally, Madam Afful wants the court to order the respondents to pay for the cost of her hotel accommodation from September 23, 2013 to October 2, 2013 at $150 per day after the police prevented her from entering her house upon her arrival from Italy.

Issues

In her statement of claim Madam Afful said she had travelled to Italy when on Saturday, September 14, she receive a telephone call from Ghana that the police had surrounded her residence and were ransacking the place.

She said after enquiries, she returned to Ghana on September 23, 2013 only to find her residence locked up by the police without any justification and had to spend more than one week in a hotel.

The plaintiffs are claiming that the police did not have any court order to detain/and or preserve the cars, mobile phones, lap tops and other items including land documents, photographs and also did not have any order when they locked up the house.

The plaintiffs again averred that the police did not have any excuse when they opened the safe locker of Madam Afful which contained money in different denominations and currencies, and stole the monies and the police did not take inventory of the seized items.

JUDGEMENT DEBT COMMISSION RESUMES SITTING

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

In what can be described as a show of patriotism, a witness appearing before the Judgement Debt Commission yesterday appealed to the Sole Commissioner to halt the payment of compensation to claimants in the Jasikan lands acquisition in the Volta Region.

According to Evangelist Nana Sankrankye Attah who presented himself as onetime head of Bentiamina Clan of Jasikan which is the Adonten Division of Buem, the government should not pay GH¢42,000 which has accrued interest up to GH¢760,000 as judgement debt to the claimants until the lands acquired had been revisited.

After three months of no show following a fire outbreak that destroyed the Old Parliament House where the commission operated from, the Commission of Enquiry investigating the payment of Judgement Debts resumed its public sittings yesterday.

The ‘Commission of Enquiry into the payment of Judgement Debt and Akin’ under C.I. 79 to investigate the frivolous and dubious payments of huge monies to undeserving individuals and companies, was appointed by President John Dramani Mahama after public uproar over the payments in what has now come to be termed as Judgement Debts (JD).

Notable among them were payments made to CP (€94 million) and the never-ending case of GH¢51.2million parted to the self-styled National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, both of which many believed were dubious and frivolous.

Power of Attorney

Appearing before Sole Commissioner Justice Yaw Apau of the Court of Appeal, Nana Sankrankye said he gave a power of attorney to one Emmanuel Ofori of Vakpo in the Volta Region to pursue compensation claims for the family but said Mr. Ofori was never instructed to go to court.

He claimed that after receiving the power of attorney to pursue the matter from the Volta Regional Lands Commission in Ho, Mr. Ofori ‘vanished’ and he never heard from him until recently when the commission invited him (the witness) to testify.

He said at a point, the family was given approval for some payment of the 32.68 acre land taken by the colonial government in 1943 per the records but then Local Government Minister, late Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu told him the government had suspended payment of compensations and therefore the family could not claim the GH¢42,170 awarded them.

Legal Battle

Nana Sankrankye said he later read in the newspapers that he had won a court case concerning the land adding, “I don’t admit that I have ever sent somebody including Emmanuel Ofori to pursue this case in court.”

The witness said the Buem lands are controlled by families instead of chiefs and it was in 2010 that Executive Instrument (EI) was done on the land in dispute.

Justice Apau then enquired why a land acquired in 1943 was recently covered under the EI but Nana Sankrankye said since that time there had not been any compensation.

He said the EI was prepared purposely in respect of their family land and added that Mr. Ofori led by a lawyer called Seth Mensah Dumoga should not be given any money.

Interestingly, it was a Ho High Court that had ordered the government to pay a judgement debt of GH¢760,000 after an initial claim of GH¢42,000 and when the Attorney General which was not involved in the calculation of the interest tried to set aside the judgement, it was refused by the court.

Unlawful Detention

Dorothy Afriyie Ansah, a Chief Sate Attorney also appeared to present the case docket in which one Michael Tei Boateng sued the AG for unlawful detention by the police.

Apart from being detained and later released without any charge, his car which the police impounded got lost in the custody of the police and was subsequently awarded a judgement sum of GH¢28,116.70 after putting in a claim of GH¢6,500.

Irrigation Authority

The Chief State Attorney also presented a case docket between some former employees and the Ghana Irrigation Authority in which the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) ruled in favour of the workers but because the authority failed to comply with the order, the CHRAJ had to enforce their ruling in court.

After asking for GH¢28,000 and the Irrigation Authority failing to contest the issue, the judgement debt rose to GH¢153,000.

Although the Chief State Attorney said she was yet to know about any payments to the claimants, the commission’s counsel, Dometi Kofi Sorkpor, confirmed that when the ex-workers counsel appeared before the commission he had said payments had been made.

Mr. Sorkpor also said the judgement was delivered in 2007 and payments made in 2008 but the interests accrued from 1989.

No Serious Harm

Earlier, Justice Apau had said that the fire outbreak that rocked the Old Parliament House where they originally operated from affected the sittings but did not destroy all documents.

“We backed up our proceedings thanks to the vigilance of our ICT people. We have lost a lot but nothing substantial.”

He said the commission is currently in a race against the June 2014 deadline and would not hesitate to ask for extension from the President if the need arose.

NANA RATTLES NDC OVER 2016 RACE

Posted on: www.dailguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday, March 24, 2014

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been hit by what political connoisseurs describe as Nanaphobia following the declaration by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) 2012 presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa to contest for the 2016 presidential race.

Barely an hour after Nana Akufo-Addo declared that he was ready to contest again in 2016, if the NPP opens nominations later in the year, the ruling NDC was running helter skelter, trying to pour cold water on the effect of his announcement calling for a press conference to react.

The thunderous reception that greeted Nana Addo’s intent appeared to have put the NDC in a panic mood.

Panic

The NDC hurriedly organized a news conference at its Kokolemle headquarters addressed by its General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah, claiming to welcome Nana Akufo-Addo’s decision to contests, before saying that it was another opportunity to defeat and politically retire him in 2016.

The NDC, since Akufo-Addo’s announcement has been coming out with theories including their latest propaganda that he’s too old to become President, knowing that the race for president has no age limit.

They are hopping from one medium to another especially radio stations trying to poison the political atmosphere as if Nana Akufo-Addo has already been selected as the NPP’s candidate for 2016.

The NDC is even devoting more time and resources to stop Nana Akufo-Addo instead of finding solutions to the ailing economy coupled with the current energy crisis, the problems that can bring the government down.

Bragging

In spite of the government’s waning popularity over unresolved social and economic challenges, Mr. Asiedu-Nketiah bragged that the NPP had made the 2016 campaign very easy for them because Akufo-Addo is no threat to the NDC.

“We know how to beat him; we will sharpen our campaign skills and give him a third time defeat,” he said.

“In terms of age and energy to prosecute an effective campaign, we have a huge advantage over him. The NPP would have been better-off electing a younger person to lead the party in 2016,” he said, even though Nana Addo only made a declaration to contest the NPP primary when nominations are opened.

Ade Coker

Greater Accra NDC Chairman Kobina Ade Coker also entered the fray with his ‘theory’ that Nana Akufo-Addo is too tired to vie for the presidency for the third time.

He described the possibility of Nana Akufo-Addo taking on the NDC’s John Mahama in the 2016 as a mismatch.

Mr Ade Coker said “if Nana Addo wins the NPP flagbearer contest, it would be a cool chop for President Mahama.” 

Kwabena Adjei Factor

NDC National Chairman, Dr. Kwabena Adjei also joined the debate saying his party was not scared of Nana Akufo-Addo’s declaration to run again.

He claimed “I know that we have a group of NDC people who are unwavering in the way they vote. There’s no way Nana Akufo-Addo will get some of our people to add to his vote. We are going to capture more NPP people.”

Ofosu Ampofo’s Take

For Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, a former minister who was recently appointed Board Chairman of the Ghana Port and Harbours Authority (GPHA) said the return of Nana Akufo-Addo “is nothing new under the sun.”

He said the comeback will not be any novelty in Ghana's politics and therefore asked Ghanaians to stop making "noise" about it because in his view, “it’s not news whether Nana Addo decides to contest or not...I’m not sure it’s news.”

Tony Aidoo’s Input

Perhaps, the only NDC stalwart who appeared to sound a note of caution to the ruling party following Nana Akufo-Addo’s declaration was Ambassador-designate to the Netherlands, Dr. Tony Aidoo.

The former Head of Policy, Monitoring and Evaluation said the declaration should stir up the John Mahama administration to live up to expectation or risk being kicked out of government.

He said he believed, Nana Akufo-Addo's return to politics would intensify competition ahead of the 2016 general elections.

“Nana Addo's declaration to stand is good from the national interest point of view; it means that it intensifies competition and it should also be a wake-up call for the Mahama administration...”

 “It's going to be a match between the youth and the aged to the extent that the Mahama administration must put its confidence in the youth, and it means that, that administration must not fail because if it does...the electorate would then think that this group are not delivering what we want...”

Absurd Argument

However, Head of Political Science Department at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (KNUST) Dr. Richard Amoako Baah, described as ‘absurd’ and ‘flawed’ argument that old age was an impediment to political leadership.

According to him, age had no role to play in running for political leadership as long as the candidate was psychologically and morally sound.

“If you are running a country you don’t need strength. If you are doing okay in the normal sense that is even good enough. It takes brains and its only in Ghana that we behave as if you have to be a strong man. What? That you have to be a machoman because you are going to take macho decisions? Is that what they mean?”

He said “it takes brains, determination, commitment, integrity, truthfulness and all of these things.

Still questioning the argument, he asked whether “Nana Addo had lost all these qualities and asked them to provide evidence to prove so if they had any.”

 “If he was good enough a year ago, why are we saying this now? Do they mean one year has changed him, he has become demented now in the spate of a year?” he questioned with surprise.

He said that it was a personal decision Nana Akufo-Addo took which only laid in the power of the majority of Ghanaians to accept or reject him.

Age Not Barrier

Executive Director of policy Think-Tank, Imani Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe rubbished suggestions that Nana Akufo-Addo should take a back stage in Ghanaian politics due to his age.

Contributing to Citi FM’s current affairs and news analysis programme, The Big Issue, Franklin Cudjoe disagreed with such political pundits and said that age did not matter in politics.

“Age should not be a determining factor when one is seeking the highest office of the Presidency…first they said this man was a cocaine dealer, he doesn’t smile and that he is arrogant but he got five million votes during the last elections.”

He said politicians should decouple age from who is qualified to lead the country as President.

“We need to understand that if we do not delink the issues of age from the way we do our national politics we will be running ourselves down.”

'ENERGY MINISTER MUST GO'

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday March 24, 2014

The Executive Director of IMANI Center for Policy & Education, Franklin Cudjoe wants Energy Minister Emmanuel Kofi Buah to resign because he has failed in his duty.

He said the minister has failed to fix the country’s energy crisis and did not deserve to be in office.

Contributing to Citi FM’s news analysis programme ‘The Big Issues’, Mr Cudjoe said “he (Energy Minister) has failed to proffer any serious vision, futuristic solution to the energy crisis; look at the demeanor, look at the public statement, none of them since this man was made a minister have been made in a manner that would give some hope to the business community or ordinary people to be able to plan…,’’ he said.

He said the Ministry of Energy had failed in all predictions and timelines given to them and the power crisis is further compounding the woes of the economy.

‘’The Ministry sat down and allowed the three entities; VRA, GRIDCo and ECG to be mis-communicating then I am saying that there is no coherence in thought, in concept, in application of even that thought process…,’’ he said.

He said the Minister's continued misinformation to the general public on the real and proper state of the energy situation in the sector has serious implication for the nation’s economy. ‘’You need somebody to come and give you vision,’’ he said.

“When he keeps telling you that this gas problem we will deliver it, announcing the numbers as if they are lotto numbers. The implication for the nation is serious; …every statement you make on important matters like energy you’ve got to be very serious,” he said.

Mr. Cudjoe said the current situation had caused a cut down in investment by some companies and added that Ghana might be open for business but “with this kind of mis-speaking, we send the wrong signal to investors.”

He also said that the government is struggling to solve the energy problem because “the whole gamut of the NDC governance system lacks focus and does not understand the policy space in terms of energy.”

“The President has made a substantive appointment, but, he is being fed with lies (on the energy situation), they deceived him to say the ‘dumsor’ was over. You can’t continue to fool the President that way,’’ he charged.

Sydney Casely-Hayford, a Financial Analyst who was a panel member on the same programme supported the call for the resignation of the Minister.

“There is no reason why Kofi Buah (Energy Minister) should be at post,” he said.

Mr. Casely-Hayford further said President John Dramani Mahama should also be blamed for poor leadership because “he has failed to hold his ministers to task.”

“If a minister is not performing and you cannot call him to task…, (the President must be blamed too),” he opined.

NO SHOW AT ABUGA PELE TRIAL

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday, March 21, 2014

The much talked about Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) trial could not proceed at the Accra Financial Court because the machine used to record the proceedings was breaking down.

As a result, the trail judge, Justice Afia Asare-Botwe had to adjourn proceedings until Tuesday, March 25 and Wednesday, March 26 for the case to proceed.

The case had been fixed for March 20 to be continued the next day but the judge also said she had been selected to participate in a training programme.

She apologized profusely to the bench for the development and explained that the notice to participate in the training programme rather came in late.

Accused persons

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.

The two have pleaded not guilty and are currently on bail.

Charges

The NDC MP is facing 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.

Prosecution’s Facts

According to the prosecution, in 2009, Abuga Pele was appointed the National Co-ordinator of NYEP, a social intervention programme to provide job opportunities to unemployed youth.

He was subsequently said to have been introduced to Philip Akpeena Assibit somewhere in 2010, as someone who could help the NYEP meet some of its objectives.

Soon after the meeting, Abuga Pele was said to have, on behalf of the NYEP, entered into a MoU with GIG represented by Philip Assibit.

The prosecution said contrary to the normal practice, the MoU was signed on behalf of the NYEP by Abuga Pele without any recourse to the then sector Minister, Akua Sena Dansua or the Attorney-General.

Under the MoU, the NYEP was described as the “Host” and GIG as a “Strategic Partner”.

The parties agreed to “combine their labour, properties and skills for the purpose of engaging in resource mobilization, investor sourcing, management consulting, capacity building, career development and training services among others,” according to the prosecution.

GIG was responsible for resource mobilization and undertook to provide preliminary funds for the development of the programme. The parties, according to the prosecution, agreed to share profits equally.

The prosecution however, noted that there was nothing on record in terms of business proposals or documents forming the basis of engaging GIG as a Strategic Partner.

Between May 2011 and May 2012, Assibit was said to have made a number of payment claims for consultancy services allegedly rendered to the NYEP.

These representations were noted to have been supported by Mr. Pele, who used them as the basis for justifying, recommending and approving a total amount of GH¢3,330,568.53, the equivalent of $1,948,626.68, to Assibit.

Abuga Pele was alleged to have claimed that Assibit’s work had directly resulted in a $65million World Bank facility for the NYEP.

The prosecution however, disclosed that all these representations were false and that GIG was never appointed a consultant to NYEP, while Assibit did not provide any exit plan and strategy for NYEP modules.

Apart from that, he was also said not to have conducted any financial engineering for the approval of a World Bank facility of $65million since there had not been any approval by the World Bank for the facility.

In August 2012, Assibit was said to have been paid an additional GH¢835,000 under the guise of what was referred to as tracer studies for the World Bank which he did not deserve, the prosecution said.

3RD PARTY JOINS NLA, VAG TUSSLE

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

An Accra Circuit Court on Monday granted an application for joinder filed by a third party in the case in which the National Lottery Authority (NLA) is seeking to prevent the Veterans Administration Ghana (VAG) from granting license to private lottery operators.

Luck Web Ghana Limited, an online gaming firm successfully argued that it stood to suffer irreparable damage if the court refused to hear their side of the raging matter involving the NLA and VAG.

The betting firm was issued a licence by the VAG under Veterans Administration Ghana Act, (Act 844, 2012) to do online lottery but the action of the VAG has incensed the NLA who are insisting that under the National Lotto Act, (Act 722) of 2006, they have the sole authority to regulate, supervise, conduct and manage National Lotto and to provide related matters.

Main Action

The NLA therefore went to court, first asking for a renewal of an interlocutory injunction restraining the VAG and its assigns or agents from “promoting, sponsoring, launching and advertising any lotto or lottery or engaging in any lotto or lottery.

In the substantive suit, the court presided over by Mr. Francis Obiri has been called upon by the NLA to among, other things, determine which body has the sole right to regulate, supervise, conduct and manage national lotto or lottery in the country.

According to the NLA, the National Lotto Act, (Act 722) of 2006 has given them the sole authority to regulate, supervise, conduct and manage National Lotto and to provide related matters.

However, the VAG is insisting that under Act 844, the law mandates them the power to hold lotteries and cannot be stopped by the NLA from issuing license to other entities in furtherance of the administration’s objective and said it has not and does not intend to conduct national lotto.

It is the contention of the VAG that under Section 22 (1) of Act 844, they have the right to “hold lotteries, or raffles or similar games for the furtherance of its objects in accordance with the NLA Act (2006) Act 722 and the Gaming Act, 2006 (Act 721).

Section 22 (2) of Act 844 specifically states that “a person who holds lotteries, raffles, or similar games under this Act without the express approval of the administration commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of 100 penalty units or a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months or to both.”

Just as the court was to decide on whether or not to grant the interlocutory application by the NLA pending the final determination of the matter, Luck Web filed a motion seeking to join the action and also to ‘arrest’ the court’s ruling until it was also heard.

Luck Web’s Motion

Moving the motion, Ekow Dadson, counsel for Luck Web argued that in the interest of natural justice, the court needed to hear them on the matter between the NLA and the VAG since they had become a necessary party to the suit.

“The court has a duty to hear us so that all matters in controversy shall be dealt with once and for all.”

He said the NLA in its reliefs is seeking an order to nullify permits issued by the VAG to any other third party and said the court had the duty to hear such parties that would be directly affected should the court grant the order.

“We have a contract with the defendant. We have already invested about $400,000 into our operations. We have engaged about 50 people to work for us and have also imported modern equipment for our operations which is the first of its kind,” he argued.

“The plaintiff’s reliefs when granted will interfere the enjoyment of the legal rights of the applicant.”

NLA’s Opposition

Asking the court to dismiss Luck Web’s joinder application, David Lamptey, counsel for the NLA had argued that there was no law or provision in Act 844 which affected the applicant (Luck Web) as far as the issues in dispute were concerned.

“Act 844 which granted the license does not recognize the applicant,” he said, adding “the applicant has not been mentioned anywhere in the law.”

He said license issued by the VAG under 844 which was not in accordance with Act 722 was what was in issue and Luck Web’s presence would never assist the court to adjudicate the matters arising, urging the court to dismiss the application with punitive cost.

The VAG

When he took his turn, Kwasi Appiatse Abaidoo, counsel for the VAG told the court that the VAG was remaining ‘neutral’ in the matter and said they did not intend to make any argument.

Court’s Ruling

In his ruling, the judge said that the NLA in its own pleadings had made references to a third party and could not turn around to prevent such third parties from joining the matter.

The court said that once the NLA did not amend its pleadings, the applicant could be considered as a third party and therefore any decision taken by the court could affect the third party.

The judge therefore ordered the plaintiff to serve Luck Web with the processes within three days and adjourned the case until March 25.