Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Friday, October 10, 2014
Former Minister of
Youth and Sports Clement Kofi Humado approved GH¢835,000 for the payment of a
tracer study conducted by Phillip Akpeena Assibit’s Goodwill International
Group (GIG), a Financial Court in Accra heard yesterday.
The court also heard
how the payment request letter, written on April 7, 2012 by former National
Coordinator of National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) Abuga Pele, was
approved by then Minister, Mr. Humado, on the same date.
However, Mr. Humado MP
for Anlo, who is the fourth Prosecution Witness (PW4) in what has now become the
now infamous GYEEDA scandal trial, told the court presided over by Justice Afia
Asare Botwe that the approval did not constitute payment.
Under cross-examination
for the second day by Raymond Bagnabu, counsel for Assibit, the witness
maintained that the late President John Atta Mills had appointed him as
Minister to ensure discipline in the financial administration in the ministry
and its allied agencies including the NYEP and disagreed with counsel that he
failed in his duties.
Give-And-Take
Counsel (Mr. Bagnabu): On the same day you
asked your Chief Director to ensure due diligence in the request submitted by
A2 (Abuga Pele), you approved the payment for the tracer study?
Witness (Mr. Humado): Yes
Counsel: So you did not do due
diligence as you claimed in your evidence-in-chief
Witness: The payment plan
differs from the item listed for payment.
Mr. Humado went on to explain
what he meant by putting in place what he called ‘payment plan to monitor the
inflow and outflow of NYEP funds’ and said the word ‘approved’ he had minuted
on Abuga Pele’s letter for the tracer study payment did constitute approval of
the request saying “I did not approve payment but approved a payment plan and that
included the tracer study.”
The Anlo MP told the
court that he did not know about the pay vouchers the NYEP raised because “they
were never brought to my Chief Director for it to be given to me.”
Tracer Study
He insisted the claim
by Abuga Pele that there was a tracer study had been refuted by the Economic
and Organized Crime Organization (EOCO) but counsel pointed out to him that the
tracer study he was denying knowledge had indeed been already tendered in
evidence.
When asked whether the
tracer study was ever done, he said he got to know about that study from the
EOCO even though counsel put it to him that he had approved the payment.
He said the tracer
study was disqualified because it was plagiarised and the position that the
study did not exist was a claim made by EOCO and not him saying “I am aware of
a request for a tracer study but I do not know if it was approved.”
Minister’s Letter
Mr. Humado told the
court that he did not see a letter written on his behalf by a director at the
ministry called Agboada asking the National Coordinator to include Assibit’s
request for $528,000 for consultation services in the payment plan.
He said although the
NYEP was under the Ministry of Youth and Sports, it operated on their own and sometimes
did things without recourse to the ministry.
“We were just in an
oversight capacity and if they chose to ignore us then they must be held
responsible,” he said adding “there was due diligence but those that did not
come to my notice I cannot speak for them,” when dismissing counsel’s
suggestion that he had been negligent.
Accused persons
The accused persons are on trial for the various roles
they played, which the Attorney General’s Department said caused huge financial
loss to the state.
The NDC MP is accused of wilfully 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 Chiana-Paga MP is facing six counts of wilfully
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) 1.
Sitting continues today.
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