Posted on: ww.dailyguideghana.com
By
William Yaw Owusu
Friday, September 26, 2014
Former Attorney General Martin A.K. Amidu
wants Sole-Commissioner Justice Yaw Apau to determine whether it was lawful for
his predecessor Betty Mould Iddrisu to decide a settlement with Yakubu Kasule,
owner of Gbewaa Civil Engineering Limited in a case against the government.
Mr. Amidu’s relentless effort to fight
corruption in a government in which he is a leading member has endeared the
hearts of Ghanaians and has even earned him the accolade ‘Citizen Vigilante’.
Mr. Amidu is insisting that it was
irregular for an Attorney-General to enter into terms of settlement with Yakubu
Kasule and his company when all the cases involved were not consolidated before
the action.
Terms
of Settlement
The terms of settlement cited by Daily
Guide had been signed by Yakubu Kasule and endorsed by his solicitors Fosu-Gyeabuor
& Co as well as then Deputy Attorney-General Ebo Barton-Odro on October 29,
2010.
Under the settlement the government paid
“$5million in full and final settlement of all legal fees and cost,” as well as
“GH¢1 in full and final settlement of all legal fees and cost.”
Documents at the commission showed that
there were four cases involved. They included Yakubu Kasule and of Gbewaa Civil
Engineering Limited versus Theophilus Cudjoe, Serious Fraud Office and the
Attorney General, Gbewaa Civil Engineering Limited versus Attorney General, The
Attorney General versus Gbewaa Civil Engineering Limited as well as Gbewaa
Civil Engineering Limited and Yakubu Kasule versus Kolon (UK) Limited and the
Attorney General.
According to the commission, the cases
were pending in court when the AG decided to strike a settlement between the
government and Yakubu Kasule in 2010.
Dometi Kofi Sorkpor, counsel for the
commission said “Mr. Amidu’s issue was that so long as there were separate
cases and had not been consolidated the AG had no business striking a
settlement collectively with Kasule,” adding “in law, if anything at all, there
should have been consolidation before the settlement but that was not done.”
“When there is terms of settlement
between two parties, in law the terms would have to be filed and the court
would pronounce judgement upon the terms as if there was a full trial as the
case having been concluded,” adding that “before the petition was filed Mr.
Amidu had been talking about this issue. He wants the commission to examine the
facts surrounding the matter and determine whether it was properly done or not.”
AG’s
Department
Acting
Solicitor-General Helen Akpene Awo Ziwu told the Commission of Enquiry
investigating the payment of judgement debts yesterday that she was yet to see
anything of that sort in the records when Justice Apau enquired whether the
terms of settlement was entered as a consent judgement.
She admitted the existence of the case
but told the commission that they were yet to track all the documents involved
even though she was able to tendered in evidence the terms of settlement, some
memos as well as criminal appeal that the state filed against Yakubu Kasule.
Mrs Ziwu flanked by Chief State Attorney
William Kpobi told the commission that there was a court stamp on the terms of
settlement and that was an indication that the document was filed but was not
certain if it was enforced subsequently.
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