CABINET CONFIRMED $65m GYEEDA CASH - COUNSEL

Phillip Akpeena Assibit with Raymond Bagnabu

Posted on: www.dailygudeghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wedbesday, March 5, 2014

Raymond Bagnabu, counsel for Phillip Akpeena Assibit standing trial in the infamous GYEEDA scandal yesterday claimed that cabinet once wrote a letter to the Ministry of Youth and Sports informing them $65 million had been secured from the World Bank.

However, when he suggested to the first Prosecution Witness (PW1) Nuru Hamidan whether he knew about the Cabinet Secretary’s letter, the former NYEP Deputy Coordinator in charge of Operations and later Administration said “I am not aware.”

“Correspondence from the Office of the President is normally classified and it is privilege information so I was not privy to that information,” Alhaji Hamidan who is currently the Municipal Chief Executive at Asokore Mampong Assembly in the Ashanti Region told the packed Financial Court in Accra presided over by Justice Afia Asare-Botwe.

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 has cost huge financial loss to the state.

Until last year, Abuga Pele was the National Coordinator of 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.

Cross examination

Continuing his cross examination, the witness said he never heard that then Minister of Youth and Sports, Clement Kofi Humado made an announcement at the meet-the-press series that the government had secured $65million and it was facilitated by GIG.

He also said he was not aware of any media publication on the $65million and disputed counsel’s claim that in 2009, the people engaged by the previous government under the NYEP were sacked.

The witness said “we had and exit plan. It is not correct that we sacked them,” but counsel insisted that the exit plan the witness talked about was only launched in 2010.

He admitted that the GIG who were referred to in NYEP correspondence as management consultants had prepared a document that was going to help GYEEDA to create one million jobs but insisted that was not what the World Bank relied on.

The witness repeated his claim that at a point in their engagement with Assibit’s GIG, the World Bank told the NYEP that they were not going to deal with any consultant.

He said he did not have any document to prove that it was Assibit and his GIG which had “mooted” the idea of recruiting 250 people from all the districts for training under the youth enterprise project of the NYEP.

He admitted that it was a team from the NYEP, GIG and NDPI that had jointly assisted in the training of the 250 people recruited.

The witness further told that court that it was not correct for counsel to suggest that it was Assibit’s GIG and NDPI that had prepared that Tracer Study requested by the World Bank saying “A1’s work was to the NYEP and not the World Bank.”

“At a point in the process, the World Bank had said they wanted to deal with the implementing agency alone. The World Bank also rejected the Tracer Study prepared by A1 and the GIG.”

“The Tracer Study was rejected and that was the reason why prepare a new one and a World Bank desk put at NYEP to help us develop it.”

He disputed claim by counsel that the whole World Bank activity including setting up an office at Labone, Accra was initiated by the proposal sent by GIG and MDPI

Abuga Pele leaves the court

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.