Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By
William Yaw Owusu
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
A senior officer at the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Planning yesterday gave testimony at the Ghana Youth Employment and
Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) trial and made interesting revelations.
Gladys Ghartey, current Head of United Nations
Systems at the ministry told the Accra Financial Court that as the time she was
leaving the desk responsible for the GYEEDA programme, the World Bank money ($65million),
that was to help create jobs for the youth, had not even been determined let
alone secured.
“I came to know the NYEP, now GYEEDA programme in
October 2010 and left the desk in April 2013,” adding that as at the time she
was leaving, there was no indication that the money was coming soon since
securing funds from the World Bank required a very complex procedure, the
second prosecution witness told Justice Afia Asare-Botwe, presiding.
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.
Led in evidence by Mrs Evelyn Keelson, a Principal
State Attorney, Mrs Ghartey took the court through the processes that leads to
securing funding from the World Bank and said it was in four complex stages and
the GYEEDA proposal was even in the first stage.
PW2 said the four stages include preparatory which
included pre-appraisal and appraisal, negotiation stage where financing
agreement is done, ratification stage where the World Bank refers the
application to its board as well as put it in the public domain and the final
stage where an account is opened through the Controller and Accountant General’s
Department among other things.
She said in cases where things go smoothly without
any hitch, the procedure should take an average minimum of nine months before
the funds arrive.
She said by the time she left the GYEEDA desk, the
procedure was at stage one in the pre-appraisal level and said it was due to
the fact that “there were problems with their technical submissions.”
Mrs. Ghartey admitted the World Bank sponsored eight
people on a tour to Latin America to study their system even though the
prosecution says nine people including Assibit made the trip before adding that
she did not know about any tour to East Africa.
She said one Pelpuo who worked with the NYEP was the
first person to introduce the project proposal to her desk declaring the
government’s intent to create jobs for the youth and added that as far as the
World Bank was concerned, they did not have any consultant for the project.
He said the proposal was solely the government’s
idea and the World Bank had no input in how the money was used once secured
adding “every three years, the World Bank gives an envelope and cabinet decides
where to apply the funds.”
She said when it came to the World Bank’s attention
that the NYEP needed capacity to facilitate the proposal, it signed a Project
Preparatory Advance (PPA) with the government at $4.5million.
She said even the much-talked-about $65million would
have to go through what she called ‘costing’ for the World Bank to be able to
pin point how much to release saying “as at the time I was leaving that had not
been determined.”
Cross examined by Raymond Bagnabu who is Assibit’s
counsel, Mrs Ghartey admitted that Abuga Pele once introduced Assibit as the
consultant who was going to implement the project but the World Bank had made
it clear that they did not need consultants.
Counsel:
Who prepared the concept paper?
Witness:
I did not check because it had nothing to do with what the World Bank was going
to do.
Counsel:
A1 (Assibit) prepared it
Witness:
I did not check.
She told the court that she had advised the NYEP
officials to prepare a three-page concept paper introducing the project and
added that the bulky document submitted was not needed.
She said a letter written by the Minister of Youth
and Sports Clement Kofi Humado on October 2, 2012 proposing the Ghana Youth
Enterprise Project was not part of the demonstration to secure $65million
saying “the letter emerged as the preparation went on.
She said the letter emerged to “satisfy a particular
need.”
Sitting continues today.
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