MoFA UNAWARE OF $2.6 MILLION AVEYIME COMPENSATION

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) appears not to be aware of $2.6million compensation payment to the Carmichael Family in respect of the Aveyime Livestock project in the Volta Region.

Seth Mensah Dumoga, Head of Legal at the ministry yesterday told the Commission of Enquiry Investigating the payment of judgement debts that he had not heard about the Carmichael Family or Christopher Michel who were said to have been paid the amounts.

He admitted that the government acquired the cattle ranch through an Executive Instrument and evidence before the commission indicated that a whopping $2.4million and additional $240,000 were paid to the claimants for the acquisition.

Kwadwo Awua-Peasah, the Director in charge of External Resource Mobilization (Bilateral) at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning had already confirmed the payment and said done in two tranches totaling about GH¢2.6million.

Payment Instruction

Mr. Awua-Peasah had said it was eminent jurist Justice V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe who wrote a letter on the instructions of the President on January 6, 2009 to release the money to the Carmichael Family.

He said documents available indicated that the first payment of GH¢3.2million was authorized on April 28, 2009 while another amount of GH¢530,628.44 was released as the final batch of payment on May 27, 2009.

The witness had further told Sole-Commissioner Justice Yaw Apau of the Court of Appeal that the $240,000 was paid as solicitor fees.

When Mr. Dumaoga appeared before the commission he said land owners have started inundating the Ministry of Agriculture with notices for compensation for the land used for the Aveyime Cattle Ranch following news that the Carmichael Family was paid.

He said the workers at the ranch had not been paid for over two years adding “about 200 cows and bulls are there now but the ranch has ran down and we are in the process of dissolving it.”

He said the Aveyime Livestock Project is a limited liability company but the government owned 100 percent shares and added that the ministry was putting together all documents to assist the commission to unravel the mystery surrounding the payment.

Mr. Dumoga also cleared the air on the payment of GH¢340,000 to claimants who the commission said evidence available indicated they were ‘unkown persons.’

He submitted a case file to the commission and said E.I. 24 covered the acquisition of 395.71 of July 26, 1995 from the Kokutse, Tettey and Abla Families for an irrigation project in the Akuse area.

Earlier, Mr. Awua-Peasah also testified in the case involving the payment of about ¢14billion to Togbe Sakplikpa III following the acquisition of lands for the Accra Plains Agricultural Development in 1977.

Chief Valuer Kwesi K. Bentsi-Enchil also testified in the matter and confirmed that they Land Valuation Division compiled an evaluation report of the land.

Mrs Stella Badu, a Chief State Attorney representing the Attorney General also testified in the Togbe Sakplikpa’s and said the AG had agreed with the claimants to recommend the payment by November 2002 but when the payment delayed the claimants sued.

“The court gave judgement on admission,” she said and added that the claimants were paid and there was no indication the claimants made complaints subsequent complaints about delays in the payment.

REFUGEE BOARD DELAYS COMPENSATION PAYMENT

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Owners of the parcel of land taken over by the government to host refugees from Liberia during the brutal civil war in the West African country have not been paid compensation.

The Commission of Enquiry investigating the payment of judgement debt heard that the payment delayed because the Ghana Refugee Board disagreed with the valuation report on the Ekwarmkrom lands in Buduburam in the Central Region, which led to the delay.

WO1 Agyei Boadi (Rtd) has petitioned the commission, presided over by Justice Yaw Apau of the Court of Appeal to get the government to pay compensation for the lands acquired for the refugees and had cited the Attorney-General, Ghana Refugee Board and National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in the suit.

The Attorney-General, through a Chief State Attorney Mrs. Dorothy Afriyie-Ansah, had told the commission that the court had directed the parties to settle the matter out-of-court at the instance of the plaintiff.

“He served us with a valuation report and we forwarded it to the Ghana Refugee Board and NADMO but the board disagreed with the valuation report. They failed to appreciate the facts of the matter and that has stalled the process leading to the payment.”

She, however, said the processes leading to the acquisition of the land had not yet been completed adding, “it is still in motion.”

Yesterday, the Land Valuation Board of the Lands Commission officials appeared before the commission to explain the valuation and re-valuation of the land in 2008 and 2011 respectively.

Samuel Amah Tackey, a Deputy Chief Valuer flanked by his boss Kwesi K. Bentsi-Enchil, said in 2008 the board, upon a request from the AG, approved a valuation of GH¢119,760 and when it was re-valued in 2011 it was GH¢92,273.

“In 2008, we were asked to consider the value of the property and the rental value of the farmland. We were to determine the value from April 4, 1989 to the date judgement was to be given. In 2011, the AG did not advise on the rental value because the rate was already specified,” Mr. Tackey said.

Mr. Bentsi-Enchil also added that “the initial request from the AG’s Department specified a land area of 0.38 acres and also asked for a determination of rent from April 4, 1989 till the date of judgement. I am not sure what transpired at the AG’s Department but in 2011 they came back to us to do the re-evaluation once and for all. The title deed quoted 0.12 acre and that was used in the valuation update.”

Earlier, Nesbit Emmanuel Akai Nortey, Area Manager of High Street Branch of the Ghana Commercial Bank, flanked by Countess Lartey, who is a GCB legal representative, testified on the compensation payment to some policewomen who were retired prematurely from the service.

He said an account was opened on December 12, 2005 and closed on August 8, 2007 specifically to receive payments for judgement debt for the police women.

NO WITNESS IN ABUGA PELE TRIAL

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday, June 16, 2014

The much-touted trial of the former National Coordinator of National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) and Philip Akpeena Assibit could not be heard on Friday because the prosecution failed to bring a witness to the court.

As a result, the trial judge, Justice Afia Asare-Botwe, had to adjourn proceedings until Thursday July 3, for the fourth prosecution witness (PW4) to testify.

It was the third time the trial of the former coordinator of the NYEP, now known as Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) was adjourned.

In the first instance on May 5, the machine used in recording the proceedings was faulty.

On two occasions, the prosecution’s next witness was not ready while the defence lawyers was said to be indisposed.

When the case was called yesterday, Nuella Seidu, who represented Abuga Pele, said they had concluded the cross-examination of Mohammed Pelpuo, head of the Business Development Unit at NYEP who is the PW3.

As a result, a prosecutor from the Attorney General’s Department, Comfort Tasiame, told the Financial Court that their next witness was not in court and requested for a July 14, adjournment.

The judge, however, made it clear that the court was not interested in the prosecution’s witness per month policy and asked them to get their witnesses ready for the case to progress.

She also said apart from not granting the long adjournment, the case had been partly heard and must be disposed of within a reasonable period.

Accused persons

Incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Chiana-Paga, Abuga Pele and Philip Akpeena Assibit, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Goodwill International Group (GIG) are standing trial for the various roles they played, which the Attorney General’s Department said caused 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 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 NDC 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) 140.

NO DOCUMENT FOR GH¢340,000 JUDGEMENT DEBT

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday , June 12, 2014

Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) says they cannot trace documents covering an amount of GH¢340,000 paid as compensation for judgement debt to some unknown persons.

Kwadwo Awua-Peasah, the ministry’s Director in charge of External Resource Mobilization (Bilateral) told the Commission of Enquiry investigating the payment of judgement debts that they are currently relying on the Controller and Accountant General’s Department to get more information on the transaction.

When the case was called yesterday, Mr. Awua-Peasah told Sole-Commissioner Justice Yaw Apau of the Court of Appeal that the Controller and Accountant General had informed the ministry that the claim for the payment had actually come from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

He said as a result, the Controller had informed MOFEP that they had written to MOFA requesting for documents on the transaction adding “until they do so, we would not like to make further comments on the matter.”

It emerged later at the commission that the GH¢340,000 was transferred from a Canadian Grant Account at the Bank of Ghana into an AGG/MOFA Account to be used for the payment of land compensation but it was not clear which land had been taken.

Mr. Awua-Peasah also testified on the compensation paid to the Carmichael Family in the Aveyime Livestock Project.

He said the release letter from the ministry was done on January 6, 2009 and transfer request from the Controller on April 8, 2009.

He further said the British High Commission sent a letter to the Controller asking them to transfer the compensation amount of $2.4million and $240,000 respectively to the accounts with the names Christopher Michel and a solicitor called Arkhust respectively.

He said he could not tell how the British High Commission came into the transaction but added that it was not what he called ‘double payment’ per documents available.

Justice Apau then said that the commission was very much interested in what led to the confiscation of the livestock project and the reason assigned.

Earlier, the Ministry of Education led by its Chief Director, Enock H. Cobbina and assisted by heads or representatives from all the 19 institutions under the ministry appeared before the commission.

Mr. Cobbina said currently there were suits pending against the ministry, Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET).

BARTON-ODRO NAMED IN JUDGEMENT DEBT

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu & Rita Oduro

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

It has emerged that former Deputy Attorney General Ebo Barton-Odro unilaterally raised the cost of the Asafo Market interchange in Kumasi for the contractor who executed the project.

According to David Kwabena Ofosu-Dorte of AB & David Law, Mr. Barton-Odro who was the chairman of a dispute panel on the project increased the debt owed by the government to Sarroch Grandulati/Gelfi Joint Venture to GH¢3.4million instead of the agreed GH¢3.180million.

Mr. Ofosu-Dorte who has indepth knowledge in construction and engineering laws was testifying on behalf of AB & David Law, lead counsel for the government on the project when the issue came up at the Commission of Enquiry investigating the payment of judgment debt yesterday.

The Evidence

Mr. Ofosu-Dorte told Sole-Commissioner Justice Yaw Apau of the Court of Appeal that his firm was appointed to assess the project contract between Sarroch Grandulati/Gelfi Joint Venture and the Ministry of Roads and Highways at a time when Lithur Brew & Co. was already doing the same job and his firm later became the lead counsel for the project saying “we led them to the closure of the whole matter.”

He said the project contract was entered into in January 2004 but along the line, Gelfi exited the joint venture.

Project Commissioning

He said project was commissioned on November 9, 2007 by President John Agyekum Kufuor when technically it was not supposed to be handed over yet, even though, the time for completion had elapsed.

“Once it was commissioned, the question of liability shifted and the government fell into Sarroch Grandulati’s trick because two weeks after the commissioning Sarroch Grandulati terminated its contract.”

The Arbitration

He said Sarroch Grandulati then put in a 4.7million Euro claim and brought a revised claim of 272,427 Euro and GH¢6.1million before initiating what he called a Dispute Review Board proceedings to get the amount due adding “the two parties never appointed the board.”

Mr. Ofosu-Dorte said the case even travelled to international arbitration but the government was able to bring it home for settlement and when the dispute panel was set up Sarroch Grandulati brought a bill of GH¢11.803,809 million and 903,177 Euros.

He said the Attorney General, AB & David Law and Lithur Brew & Co. constituted the government’s dispute team while Sarroch Grandulati was represented by their lawyers as well as one Steve Mawunyega as their power of attorney who was later substituted for Nana Kwame Bediako.

Unfolding Drama

The witness said the government team refused to recognize Sarroch Grandulati’s GH¢11million from the commencement of the dispute resolution and the construction firm finally accepted and signed in writing to be paid GH¢2.8million.

“We thought the matter had ended but we were summoned later to the office of the Chair and informed that Sarroch Grandulati had revoked the acceptance of GH¢2.8million.”

He said the assessment team again went through the records and realized that the best they could get to was GH¢3,180,000 million adding “that was the figure that was recommended.”

“So from the GH¢2.8 which had been accepted after they revoked the paper agreement, we made a recommendation of GH¢3.18 and it is actually a conversion issue as a result of the delay because we insisted in paying Cedis and nothing more. We actually offered the GH¢2.8 hoping that they will fall for the bait because we knew that the real amount we could recommend was GH¢3.18million.”

Barton-Odro factor

Mr. Ofosu-Dorte said that the Chair (Barton-Odro) then decided to call a caucus because there was an impasse following Sarroch Grandulati’s decision not to accept the GH¢3.180million.

“The time we hit the GH¢3.180million he (Barton-Odro) called a caucus and asked if we could do anything about it and we said he is the Chair and he represents the government and whatever he thinks he can do about it he could tell us.”

“We put everything on paper and he decided to increase the amount to GH¢3.4million so we came back to the room but the claimant decided that he will take GH¢3.5million and the Chair said GH¢3.4million was his last offer and he thinks he can end the matter that was why he increased it to GH¢3.4million.”

Taking a flack

“I think quite a lot of efforts were made by all sorts of people to let us go beyond that which I must say in all sincerity, I found surprising but we did not budge. We had said we would not go beyond our recommendation and we stuck to that.”

“We took a flack for incorporating the Chair’s request of increasing the amount from GH¢3.180 to GH¢3.4million. Some people thought that that was not supposed to be in the report but I hold the principle that you should not take a decision that you cannot account for later.”

The Prediction

“Even at that time I asked that what if we are called tomorrow how do I explain how we arrived at GH¢3.4million when everything show it should have been GH¢3.180million. The attachments clearly does not show GH¢3.4million.”

“Five years ago, I did not know I was going to be called but here I am today, having to explain how we arrived at the figure.”

He said “full settlement report was dated October 22, 2010 and the amount increased from GH¢3.180 to GH¢3.4million because it was imposed by the Chair (Barto-Odro).”

KONADU GRABBED $4M CASH

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu & Rita Oduro

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings yesterday, appeared before the Commission of Enquiry investigating the payments of judgement debts to testify in the case in which her company was given $4,150, 27.50 as judgement debt.

She confirmed the payment to Calf Cocoa International which is partly owned by Carridem Development Company Limited, the investment wing of the 31^st December Women Movement (DWM) where she is the president and China International Corporation Company but insisted that the amount paid was in Cedis and not dollars.

Tony Lithur who had represented Calf Cocoa in court had told Sole Commission that he secured $4.15m for the company because the government at the time refused to release about $2.6million to Calf Cocoa for its operations.

Interestingly Nana Konadu went to the commission with a different lawyer outside Tony Lithur who secured the judgement debt for her.

Testimony

When the case titled: ‘The CEO, Calf Cocoa International versus the Attorney General’ was called yesterday Mrs. Rawlings mounted the witness’s box alongside her lawyer, George Bernard Shaw.

She told Sole-Commissioner Justice Yaw Apau of the Court of Appeal that Carridem decided to go into the manufacturing of cocoa and subsequently got assistance from the government of China.

She said Calf Cocoa was then given concessionary loan by the Chinese adding “So we started Calf Cocoa in 1996 or 1997, acquiring the land and everything. The shareholding was 49 percent for my organization and 51 percent for the Chinese company brought to us by their government.”

“We acquired this concessionary loan and we were supposed to take it in bits. Whenever we needed funds for the project we wrote to the Ministry of Finance and they gave us the amount that was requested for,” she said.

The Problem

Nana Konadu said “sometime in 2002 ending, we wrote to the ministry informing them that we had completed everything and we would like to start the project in 2003. It was at that time that we started having problems of who owned the company.”

She said “politics unfortunately came to play in this project and it was difficult to get the money. From 2003 when we were supposed to have started manufacturing cocoa powder, cocoa cake and cocoa butter, it was impossible to start.”

She said when things got out of hand “the Chinese sort of pulled out because they said there was too much political interference,” adding “we decided to go to court to fight the case in 2005 and judgement was delivered in 2008.”

According to the former First Lady, the government went on appeal but lost against Calf Cocoa and in 2009 “we could actually go to the premises again.”

She said in the process, facilities in the company deteriorated and water and electricity disconnected, making refurbishment of the place very expensive.

Sabotage

Dometi Kofi Sorkpor, counsel for the commission asked Nana Konadu if it was “this unnecessary interference” from the government resulted the truncation of the project and she said “absolutely, it has been so.”

“From 2002 when the problem started, it has not stopped. It carried through to the new government of 2009 and it is carrying through in the government of today. I don’t know whether they really want to let this place function so that we can employ the 2800 people that this factory can employ.”

Justice Apau also enquired from her what was stopping the Chinese from continuing with the project since judgement had already been obtained and she replied that “they have given us option to sell their shares. I think they are not comfortable with what is going on.”

“We tried on a number of occasions to get certain loans for the project but the banks have not been coming forth either. There was a huge amount that they said was going to be given to companies in cocoa production so we also applied to ADB. I know that some companies were given $8million,  $10million and so on but till date our document has not even been processed.”

Mrs. Rawlings added that “we have a new business plan. We are doing the ground works. Two companies we contacted say they want to wait for the economy to get better before they can invest in the country.”

CP
Later, Oladele Kwaku Aribike from the Registrar General’s Department tendered in evidence, documents covering both Carl Plotner and Construction Pioneers (CP) which is at the centre of huge judgement debt payments.

Mandate

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.

CHOP CHOP AT KORLE-BU

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday, June 9, 2014

Staff of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana’s premier health centre are up in arms with management of the hospital for allegedly increasing their allowances by a whooping 200 percent.

It comes in the wake of fresh accusations by the staff that the same board members voted for themselves nine luxurious cars which were subsequently purchased, sparking public outcry and intense agitations from the cash-trapped facility.

According to Accra-based Joy FM, the senior staff of the about 90-year old facility are accusing the board of looting hospital when they increased their sitting allowances to almost Gh¢42,000 per month.

As it is, their allowance will be increased from Gh¢500 to Gh¢2,000 per sitting and the staff think it is a clear case of mismanagement.

The premier hospital has a 12-member board headed by businessman Eddie Annan and other members include Rev. Albert Okpoti Botchway (ag.CEO), Mrs. Victoria Kumah Mintah, Mr Godfred Ahianyo, Prof. Yao Tettey.

The rest are Prof. Jennifer Welbeck, Prof. Grace Parkins, Dr. Samuel Asiamah, Mrs. Elizabeth Bruce, Mr. E. Anan-Kakabaah, Mrs. Victoria A. Quaye and Mr. Nuru - Deen Mohammed.

The board’s move has sparked agitation among the workers and brought tension to an unprecedented high.

Apart from the expensive luxurious VW Passat cars purchased, the staff is also claiming that although the Acting Chief Executive Officer Rev. Okpoti Botchway already has an official vehicle, the board had given the green light for him to buy the latest luxurious Audi A6 for his personal use, the cost of which runs into billions.

Charles Ofei-Palm, a staff meeting last Thursday, said the payments demonstrated Korle-Bu's management lacks a sense of direction.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) subsequently intervened and ordered management of the hospital to return the nine cars purchased for its directors.

Tony Goodman who is the Public Relations Officer of MoH said due processes were not followed in procuring the vehicles.

The hospital’s management later revealed that the cars were brought in under a hire-purchase agreement available to individuals and agencies under the Ministry of Health.

Korle-Bu is using Internally Generated Funds (IGFs) to buy the cars and is paying GH¢21,000 per month for three years. The unit cost of each car is GH¢82,290.

Rev. Okpoti Botchway, defended the management’s decision to purchase the vehicles, citing the plight of the Finance Director, claiming his director uses taxi to work because he has no official vehicle.

Mr. Goodman however said checks had revealed that the sector, Hani Sherry Ayitey, had not received any letter requesting for the cars.

“The letter [applying for the cars] did not go through the sector minister it was addressed to the chairman of hire-purchasing and that is not right.”

He said the ministry halted the acquisition because using internally generated funds to buy the cars ought to follow a properly laid down procedure.

Alternatively, the directors in need of the vehicles should apply individually for them and ‘pay from their salary,’ Mr Goodman said.

The ministry is also questioning the rationale behind using internally generated funds to buy vehicles when monies the hospital owed the ministry had not been paid.

NDC GOVERNMENT IS BUSINESS UNFRIENDLY

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday, June 9, 2014

A financial analyst, Sydney Casley-Hayford says the National Democratic Congress (NDC) – led government as “the most unfriendly to the business community.”

He said the introduction of the 17.5 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) and National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) on non-core banking services “are unreasonable and ridiculous.”

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) last Friday released a list of 32 fee-based services by the banks that would attract tax from July 1, 2014 but sections of the business community have raised concerns about the rationale behind the taxes on non-core banking services.

Contributing to Citi FM’s news analysis programme ‘The Big Issue’ at the weekend, Mr. Casley-Hayford said “this is the most business unfriendly government I have ever had to be alive to witness in this country; this is so bad.”

“Whoever it is who conceived or brought this up and thought they were doing government a service has really just blundered completely and they have blundered with the assistance of the Central Bank,” he complained.

He said the Bank of Ghana is supposed to be the custodian of ensuring that “the economy of this country is buoyant,” but wondered what had gone wrong.

He questioned why a customer should be charged for a Cheque Book and also pay VAT on the same cheque book.

“How can you charge me for giving me a Cheque Book; you want me to pay VAT on the amount that the bank charges as fees for work that it is normally supposed to provide!” he queried.

He hinted that he was preparing to go to court to challenge the idea of why a Goods and Services Tax was being hidden as a value added tax saying “we are going to go and challenge the whole idea of what actually a value added tax means and this is not value added tax; you do not add value to me by charging me more.”

Franklin Cudjoe, Chief Executive Officer of IMANI Ghana said the 17.5 percent VAT on the noncore banking services might discourage people from banking.

“What is the purpose of this, because clearly you are not encouraging people to go and do banking, you are not even encouraging technology…There is a policy disconnect,” he said.

Mr. He called for review of the law saying “I am not saying you shouldn’t charge but I think you can do it nicely; there are some services that obviously you want to impose certain taxes on. Do we even know the quantum of resources that would be generated as a result of these rules…?

“I do not see why we need newer taxes; it is not as if there is even any real growth within the banking sector to add value to my money… you get peanuts for long term investments and savings,” he added.

ABUGA PELE DID NOT SIGN FOR MONEY - WITNESS

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Saturday, June 7, 2014

A witness in the ongoing National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) trial has admitted that its former National Coordinator, Abuga Pele did not sign for money used to conduct feasibility studies.

The Accra Financial Court presided over by Justice Afia Asare-Botwe heard on Thursday, how a whooping GH¢59,000 was spent on feasibility studies at the NYEP and how Abuga Pele’s co-accused Phillip Akpeena Assibit collected GH¢53,000 out of the amount for the study as consultant.

Abuga Pele who is the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Chiana-Paga and Mr. 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.

The MP 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.

Cross-Examination

The witness, Mohammed Pelpuo, Head of the Business Development Unit at NYEP now Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) told the court under cross-examination by Nuella Seidu, counsel for Abuga Pele that, the decision to conduct the feasibility studies was a collective one from the management of NYEP.

Even though he said he was not part of the meeting that had asked for the feasibility studies, the minutes of the meeting clearly showed that Abuga Pele as the Coordinator, could not have taken the decision alone.

He agreed with counsel that “it was not a personal decision of A2 (Abuga Pele) to conduct the feasibility studies,” and also agreed with counsel that “it was a collective decision at the management level.”

He said it was Abuga Pele did not sign any portion of the documents used to collect the money from the NYEP accounts and also agreed with counsel that the MP did not collect any of the amount.

He said it was Abuga Pele who handed him some documents including the minutes and was asked to prepare a voucher for the amount to be released.

Earlier, Raymond Bagnabu counsel for Assbit had concluded the cross-examination of Mr. Pelpuo where he admitted that all tasks assigned Assibit were by the NYEP were performed.

He said the NYEP opened an office for Project Resource Mobilization and Assibit at Labone, Accra and his GIG were given an office over there.

ASSIBIT TOOK GH¢53,000 - WITNESS

By William Yaw Owusu

Saturday, June 7, 2014

It has emerged that Phillip Akpeena Assibit, the ‘supposed’ Consultant who is standing trial with Abuga Pele, former National Coordinator of National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), took GH¢53,000 to conduct feasibility studies.

When the much-touted NYEP now Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) trial resumed yesterday, a third Prosecution Witness (PW3) told the Accra Financial Court how he was asked by Abuga Pele to prepare a voucher for the money to be released to his co-accused for the feasibility studies.

Accused persons

The incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Chiana-Paga, Abuga Pele as the National Coordinator and Mr. 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.

The MP 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.

Evidence-in-chief

The witness, Mohammed Pelpuo, Head of the Business Development Unit at GYEEDA, led in evidence by Marina Appiah Opare, a Principal State Attorney, told the court presided over by Justice Afia Asare-Botwe that the total amount requested for the feasibility studies was GH¢104,000 but the auditor slashed it down to GH¢59.000 after some items were cancelled on the voucher.

“My boss (Abuga Pele) handed to me minutes of a meeting and on that document the NYEP was to conduct feasibility study to collate data. It came with a budget and the GIG and MDPI were to conduct the study.”

Mr. Pelpuo who said he joined the NYEP in November, 2009, told the court that the items on the list cancelled by the auditor included accommodation, logistics and MDPI consultancy services, adding “I don’t know who prepared the budget but it was given to me by my boss to prepare a voucher to the accountant for the release of the amount.”

PW3 said that out of the GH¢59,000 released, Assibit signed for GH¢53,000 while about GH¢6,000 were for NYEP staff who were going to monitor, the feasibility studies.

“I signed in the presence of Mr. Assibit and some NYEP staff. He signed for the GH¢53,000 and he said he had pre-financed the study.”

He further told the court that the signed sheets were supposed to be returned to the accountant but it was not clear if that was done.

Managing Consultant

Mr. Pelpuo said Assibit was introduced to them by Abuga Pele in a meeting as a consultant who was coming on board to help the government to create employment opportunities for the youth adding that “Mr. Assibit signs as the Managing Consultant for Goodwill International.”

He said the first time that the Youth Enterprise Development Project (YEDP) tried to source for funding was when Assibit introduced West Cap as a company that was going to help to secure the funding.

Mahama Factor

He admitted that the NYEP signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Assibit’s GIG in pursuance of the YEDP but they were later informed by Abuga Pele at a management meeting that then Vice President John Mahama had asked the NYEP to explore a World Bank facility to serve the same purpose and therefore the West Cap idea was abandoned.

He said his first involvement in the process to secure the $65million World Bank facility was when Abuga Pele asked him to send the concept paper to Mrs Gladys Ghartey, current Head of United Nations Systems at the Ministry of Finance and Economic who was then on the World Bank desk at the ministry.

Mr. Pelpuo said Mrs. Ghartey at a point queried why the NYEP bypassed her office and sent the concept paper directly to the World Bank before cautioning them not to repeat that mistake again.

Latin America Trip

He said when a list was prepared by the NYEP on the request of the World Bank for sponsorship for a study tour in Latin America, Mr. Ghartey questioned why Assibit’s name had be included.

“She saw Assibit’s name as the consultant and was furious. She said the World Bank would not finance the trip because the bank was not in the business of funding consultants,” witness told the court.

He said the bank bought eight tickets for the NYEP to travel to Bolivia, Dominican Republic and Jamaica for a study tour but only six were able to make the trip.

No Consultants

He also said the World Bank officials who came to Ghana to assess the project said they were not comfortable with Assibit and his team’s presence at their meetings and asked the NYEP to exclude them in future engagements with them.

Mr. Pelpuo said the Tracer Study report prepared by Assibit and his GIG was rejected by the World Bank and the NYEP was tasked to prepare fresh report adding “their reasons for rejecting the Assibit’s report are documented.”

Cross-examined briefly by Raymond Bagnabu counsel for Assibit, the witness admitted that it was the World Bank that requested for the Tracer Study and not Assibit.

LAWYER DEFENDS JUDGEMENT DEBT PAYMENT

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu & Rita Oduro

Friday, June 6, 2014

A lawyer who represented one Peter Abbam to secure about ¢2 as judgement debt has been defending his actions.

According to Kwami Amponsah Agati Esq. he followed due process to secure the payment for his client and insisted that he was not aware that there was any report excluding Mr. Abbam’s name from claimants who were due compensation following the demolition of their property in the redevelopment of the Kanda Highway, Accra in the 1990s.

In spite of Mr. Agati’s insistence, The Commission of Enquiry investigating the payment of judgement debts said that per documents at the Department of Urban Roads, Mr. Abbam did not deserve to be paid the whooping sum.

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.

Mr. Agati who was subpoenaed before the commission said an amount of ¢127,000 was to be paid but because the government refused, accrued interest brought the total debt to about ¢2billion.

He told the Sole-Commissioner Justice Yaw Apau of the Court of Appeal that he took over the case from E. Allotey Mingle & Co in August 2003 and proceeded to diligently pursue the matter.

He said the Attorney General’s (AG) Department had entered appearance in the case but never filed any defence and also added that at some point the AG’s office had responded to Mr. Abbam’s letter assuring him of an amicable settlement.

Mr. Agati further said that in the course of the case, valuer was brought in to testify on behalf of Mr. Abbam before the judgment was delivered. He added that it was after they garnisheed the account of the Department of Urban Roads that the AG tried to set aside their entry of judgement even up to the Court of Appeal level but failed.

“They were trying to set aside a non-executable judgement but it was a blunder,” he said and added that the emerging evidence that Mr. Abbam did not deserve compensation was never made known to him at the time.

AG’s Turn

The AG, represented by Chief State Attorney Mrs. Dorothy Afriyie-Ansah also testified in various judgement debts matters in which the AG was party.

She confirmed compensation payment of ¢151million to the family of one Dickson Lumor where the police had admitted negligence.

It emerged that the AG in 2010 consolidated a criminal and civil case involving one Yakubu Kasule in the Gbewaa Civil Engineering Limited against the AG and subsequently paid huge compensation but Mrs. Afriyie-Ansah said she would crosscheck from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and revert to the commission.

She also submitted the case file involving Rockshell International and the government in which they were paid a reduced amount of $35 million instead of $70 million.