Government blows GH¢1m on Obama - AFAG

Government blows GH¢1m on Obama - AFAG

Presidents Obama and Mills at the Osu Castle during his visit to Ghana on July The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) government has been accused of spending over ¢10 billion on the 24 hour visit of the United State of America (USA) President, Barack Obama. According to a pressure group, Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) the misuse of the scarce State resources on the visit could have provided three (3) square meals for some families in the country. "This is a defeat of government's commitment to its austerity measures and an enormous rip-off of the tax payer's money," the group claimed. Speaking on behalf of the group at a media briefing in Accra to announce AFAG's intended August 4, 2009 "Atta Adaadaa Yen Demo", Mr Kwabena Bomfeh "a leading member of the group said the ruling government's acceptance of International Monetary Fund's (IMF’s) loan facility with such killer conditionalities was a deadly deal for the citizenry. He indicated that the freeze on public sector employment for 2 years and full cost recovery at all tertiary level of education, had led to an increase in academic user facility fee which he said was a clear demonstration of government's insensitivity to the suffering of parents and a betrayal of the President's promise to create jobs for the people. Mr. Bomfeh, youth organizer of the Convention People's Party (CPP) noted that the welfare of students was no longer a priority to President Mills' administration. "Starting next year August tertiary students would-face another high increase in their Residential Facility User Fees (RFUF) by 18% which is contrary to an earlier agreement with the NPP government to stay same the RFUF for three academic years from 2007," he said. "AFAG bemoans the tendency of mass unemployment in the private sector as a result of the eminent threat of collapse of business for reasons best political and socio economic high interest rates 33% previously base rate of 27% high import previously, based rate of 27% high import duties and cost of inputs or how wages for threat of lay offs", he underscored. Mr. Bomfeh stated that the IMF and the World Bank had no panacea for the countries economy, adding that Ghana as a country can depend on partnerships with other rising powers such as India and China to stabilize the economy in the production capacity and market within the context of South-South cooperation . He announced that the groups' August 4, demonstration would come on as promised. Source: New Crusading Guide

MUMUNI IMPLICATED IN CORRUPTION SCANDAL, AFAG says he MUST RESIGN

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…Insists Leading Member Of AFAG! Two leading members of the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), Mr. Godfred Odame and Mr. Kwabena Bomfeh, popularly known as Kabila, have called on Foreign Minister Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni to resign as a matter of urgency. They have said that with the confirmation that Alhaji Mumuni indeed has an audit report from the Auditor General implicating him in financial malfeasance and wrong-doing, the Foreign Minister is no longer fit to lead this country in international negotiations, particularly in financial matters. Speaking to this newspaper yesterday in various interviews, the two leading members of AFAG insisted that the time has come for Alhaji Mumuni to resign, or for the President to strip him off his post pending the conclusion of the various procedures that would purge Alhaji Mumuni off the various findings against him in the NVTI Audit Report. Speaking to this newspaper yesterday Mr. Godfred Odame, who is a lawyer, said that the laying of the report in parliament goes to affirm the points he and AFAG have been making. “I think that for so long as he has been cited by a report of the Auditor General which has been presented to parliament it would be unfair to the nation for him to continue to hold himself out as Foreign Minister. I say so because he is the Chief Ambassador of our nation, one who is supposed to represent the image of the nation, and the Audit Report is going to create a situation where anytime he mounts an international platform, people would say that he is a person who has been dogged by scandal, and criminality,” Mr. Odame said. He said that until Alhaji Mumuni purges himself fully of the findings in the Auditor General’s report he is not fit to hold himself out as a Foreign Minister of the land. “The question of fitness to represent the nation can be looked at from various perspectives. It is not so much about qualification. It is a question of whether being a public officer he is one that can be entrusted with state resources and power, and reading from the manner in which he conducted himself in office previously, we are sure that he is not one who can be entrusted with state resources and power, that he engaged in conduct that led to the state losing colossal sums of monies,” Mr. Odame said. “We therefore renew our call for his resignation or for the President to tell him to step aside,” he said, adding that Alhaji Mumuni’s continued stay in office was embarrassing to the nation. On his part Mr. Kwabena Bomfeh, who is the National Youth Organizer of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), said that even though they expressed their dissatisfaction with the nomination process in the first place, parliament went ahead to approve Alhaji Mumuni to become a substantive minister. He said that the Constitution was clear on whether a person who has been found liable by a constitutional body can serve as a minister. He said that until those adverse findings are set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction or by the body that made them, the person against whom the findings have been made becomes unwholesome for public office. “This not an individual who can go anywhere as the face of Ghana in seeking anything financially related and for this reason plus the fact that the Audit Report has been properly laid before parliament according to the laws of the land and the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament is now going to sit on it and make further pronouncement we feel that the man cannot be a judge in his own court. He should step aside or resign! That is the only way we can be sure that the executive would not interfere with the work of the legislature in coming out with the truth!” Mr. Bomfeh said.

Ghana:Perception of corruption worsens

Suleiman Mustapha ,

Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Joe Ghartey is assembling a Grand Coalition of anti corruption agencies in the country in an effort to reduce the incidence of corruption in the country.

The coalition, which will include both Government and civil society organisations in the fight against corruption, is to form an interface between the relevant corruption monitoring institutions, Government Spokesperson on Governance Frank Agyekum told The Statesman in response to enquiries on the Government reaction to the report of anti corruption body Transparency International which ranked Ghana high on its Corruption Perception Index.

The coalition, which will be known as the Grand Ghana Anti Corruption Coalition, is due to be inaugurated later this month and will meet regularly in a bid to plug the corruption loopholes in the system.

"In fact, the process has already begun and this is to show how serious Government is, in the fight against corruption" said the Governance spokesperson.

Mr Agyekum, who was "shocked" by Ghana's ranking on the index, said "it is unfortunate and regrettable that we should be ranked at that level."

"We do not even know who they talk to when they come to town and all we hear is that we have been ranked high."

Ghana was ranked 70 out of 163 countries surveyed in the global CPI for this year, a five-step fall from last year when there were four countries less.

Ghana received a score of 3.3 out of 10 on the CPI scale, down 0.2 point from 2005, indicating that Ghanaian society is becoming corrupt slowly but surely.

Ghana"s result, the worst in the past 10 years, is now at par with that in 1999, which was recorded when the Rawlings administration was in power.

CPI relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts, and ranges from scores of 10, which is "highly clean," and 0, which is "highly corrupt."

But according Mr Agyekum, evidence abounds of Government’s commitment to fighting corruption on all fronts, and those institutions will continue to be strengthened.

He mentioned the passage of a law to regulate Government procurements, which, though cumbersome, has blocked many loopholes previous exploited, as well as the Internal Audit Act, which makes it possible for auditors to audit Government accounts at short notice.

He said since no Government official has been indicted on corruption charges, it would be unfair to perceive that the incidence of corruption is high in the country.

Mr Agyekum emphasised that it was perception of a phenomenon which may not be the reality, but assured that Government was studying the report and would soon come out with an official pronouncement.

In the report released yesterday by TI, all low-income countries and all but two African states scored below five points, meaning they face serious perceived levels of domestic corruption.

Botswana is the cleanest ranked African state in 37th place on the list, with South Africa (51st ) and Namibia (55th) in the upper third. Nigeria is among the worst-ranked states at place 142. Guinea was the worst placed Africa nation at 160

Finland, Iceland and New Zealand came first with 9.6 points, while Haiti came in last scoring 1.8 points, according to the report.

Britain was 11th with an 8.6 rating, Germany 16th at 8.0 and the United States 20th with 7.3. Italy mustered only a 4.9 rating in 45th place, while Russia was ranked 121 with 2.5.

Countries with a significant worsening of corruption include: Brazil, Cuba, Israel, Jordan, Laos, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and the US, said the report.

Countries with a significant reduction in perceived levels of corruption include: Algeria, Czech Republic, India, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon, Mauritius, Paraguay, Slovenia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uruguay.

The Berlin-based Transparency International’s CPI ranks countries in terms of the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians. It is a composite index, a poll of polls, drawing on corruption-related data from expert and business surveys carried out by a variety of independent and reputable institutions.

The value of the results is sometimes disputed because they are based on the opinions of the people polled and the amount of data used in surveys is different for each nation. TI requires at least three sources to include a country in the CPI.

Corruption under Rawlings: Mabey and Johnson Trial Postponed

The trial of the first major British company to be prosecuted for paying bribes abroad which was suppose to have taken place at Southwark crown court, London, today has been postponed until August 7th.

The firm is accused of corruptly influencing politicians and officials in Ghana between 1994 and 1999 to land build-bridging contracts.

The firm, owned by one of Britain's richest families, is also accused of corruptly paying €422,000 (£363,000) to Saddam Hussein's regime between May 2001 and November 2002 and is also accused of conspiring to make corrupt payments in Jamaica between 1993 and 2001.

Allegations of improper payments in Jamaica emerged when Mabey and Johnson traded allegations of wrong-doing with former sales executive Jonathan Danos in a civil case. Mabey refused to say how it had settled that case. The firm Mabey has also been accused of corruption in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Dominican Republic and Panama.

Mabey and Johnson's prosecution comes after years of attacks on London for its alleged hypocrisy in criticising poor countries over corruption, while failing to tackle the British companies and managers that feed it by paying bribes to win contracts.

The prosecution by the Serious Fraud Office comes five years after allegations of foreign bribery by the Reading-based company revealed.

Rawlings Linked To $6m Bribery Case in UK

Evidence available to The Statesman suggest that perhaps as much as $6 million were paid as bribery money to top government officials under the National Democratic Congress in the government’s dealings with one foreign company alone for three projects.

The company is Mabey & Johnson of UK and the contracts involved are “Priority Bridge Programme 1”, “Priority Bridge Programme 2”, and “Feeder Roads Projects”.

According to the charge sheet of case number 0902300773, the first badges of bribery for the first project, Priority Bridge Programme 1, were paid between 01/01/1994 and 01/01/1995, from one year after the nation returned to constitutional rule under President Rawlings.

The second corruption case took place between 01/01/1995 and 01/01/1997 for the Priority Bridge Programme 2.

The third actually took place much later, still under the NDC. But, the details of the corruption case, comes directly under the watch of President Mills. More on that in the next edition.

The case will go on preliminary trial next month. And, high profile names of government officials who were paid huge sums of money are expected to be dropped.

It is the first case in which a British company is being prosecuted in the United Kingdom for engaging in corruption in a foreign country, and Ghana, under President Jerry John RawlingsandVice President John Atta Mills, is one of the countries where this corruption took place.

It takes place at Southwark Crown Court, London on August 7th.

The firm is accused of corruptly influencing politicians and officials in Ghana between 1994 and 1999 to land build-bridging contracts.

The firm, owned by one of Britain's richest families, is also accused of corruptly paying €422,000 (£363,000) to Saddam Hussein's regime between May 2001 and November 2002 and is also accused of conspiring to make corrupt payments in Jamaicabetween 1993 and 2001.

Allegations of improper payments in Jamaica emerged when Mabey and Johnson traded allegations of wrong-doing with former sales executive Jonathan Danos in a civil case. Mabey refused to say how it had settled that case. The firm Mabey has also been accused of corruption in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Dominican Republic and Panama.

Mabey and Johnson's prosecution comes after years of attacks onLondon for its alleged hypocrisy in criticising poor countries over corruption, while failing to tackle the British companies and managers that feed it by paying bribes to win contracts.

The trial is also the next such case in recent years in Europe to which President Rawlings’ name and government have been linked. Ironically, Mr Rawlings is asking for his political opponents to be prosecuted for corruption.

In 2007, his name popped up in a Norwegian court, when former top officials of cement firm, Scancem admitted in court that they paid millions of dollars of bribe money to President and Mrs Rawlings.

Also in the UK last year, Private Eye magazine quoted the head of Biwater company as saying that he used to pay the school fees of Mr Rawlings’ children. This happened at a time that his company was bidding for a major oil contract in Ghana.

Source: The Statesman

JJ/NDC Slush Fund ‘Baloney’

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Another Nigerian Governor Strikes

• Throws Allegation Into Dustbin

The baseless allegation by a Nigerian private website, amplified by the notorious anti-Rawlings New Patriotic Party (NPP) press in Ghana that some Nigerian Governors bankrolled the 2008 election campaign of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and President John Atta Mills through former President Rawlings, has been met with yet another fierce rebuttal.

Former Lagos State Governor, Mr. Bola Ahmed on Monday in Lagos, reacted to the allegation by pointblanknews.com, on his purported role in bankrolling the election of President John Evans Atta Mills, saying those who are helping Nigeria to stimulate lies and those who are resorting to name-calling and blackmail should not be part of the country’s democratic struggle because they are not democrats.” The Governor of the Rivers State, who was mentioned together with the former Lagos State Governor was the first to react to the damning allegation, describing the report as not only the “figment of the imagination of a mischievous writer” but “rubbish” and “arrant nonsense.”

According to media reports from Nigeria, Mr. Bola Ahmed said he did not find the need to rush to react to the allegation because he was not obliged to react to speculations. He spoke with reporters at celebrated journalist, Wole Soyinka’s, 75th birthday organized by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism at the Muson Centre, Onikan, in Lagos last week.

Surreptitiously drawing an analogy between Ghana and Nigeria as far as democracy is concerned, the former Nigerian governor likened his country to a suckling baby. He called on those behind such unfounded allegations to stop worsening the country’s already bad story by lying to the people, especially about the man who, even though a military leader at the time, kick-started Ghana’s current widely acclaimed successful democracy in 1992 and gave it a shot in the arm in 2001 by surprisingly handing over peacefully to an opposition party after supervising a peaceful election.

“Nigeria is about to be fifty and it is still in the incubator and using diapers; A fifty year old baby that bed-wets in elections, lying to its own people,” the former Governor reportedly fired. He advised those behind such wild claims to redirect their energies to helping build a better democracy in Nigeria.

The former Nigerian Governor’s advice could perhaps be more beneficial to Ghana, which is considered to be at the centre of Africa’s democracy presently, if the Ghanaian collaborators in the spread of these palpable lies would take a cue.

The Nigerian-owned and diaspora-operated pointblanknews.com, on 24th June 2009 published that “intelligence reports” available to it said that about $3.5 million belonging to the people of Rivers State in Nigeria was criminally used by the governor to fund the NDC campaign through former President Rawlings. It also mentioned the former Governor of Lagos State in a similar allegation.

As usual, a section of the Ghanaian media wholeheartedly embraced the allegation by the Nigerian website and amplified it to the high heavens, prompting the Rivers State governor to send an emissary to Ghana to pump some sense into the heads of the Ghanaian propagators of the falsehood, described by him in an official statement as “arrant nonsense.”

Prior to the unexpected visit by the emissary of the Rivers State governor to Ghana to clear the air about his bosses innocence, a man who called himself Ude Jackson and claimed to be the editor of pointblanknews.com who spoke on Citi FM, an Accra-based private radio station, failed to show a single proof to back his claim as he spent the whole time flip-flopping around “credible sources.”

Despite attempts by some elements in the Ghanaian society to demonise former President Rawlings, it is no secret that apart from the unparalleled following he enjoys back home in Ghana, the former President who ruled Ghana for 19 years, enjoys tremendous support internationally with Nigeria being no exception.

Former President Rawlings has been the target of a deliberate ploy by his opponents who have gone to all lengths to dent his image through allegations of corruption, which can be least described as imaginary.

As the evidence shows however, the Rawlings naysayers have time and again failed in their wily track.

Since he left office as head of state in 2001, there have been myriads of claims by former President Rawlings’ sworn enemies like Mr Malik Kweku Baako Jnr to smear the incorruptible NDC Founder with allegations of corruption.

It would be remembered that the then managing editor of the now passive Crusading Guide published an imaginary Swiss bank account number in his paper, which he claimed belonged to the Rawlingses, in which the former President was supposed to have stashed away Ghana’s stolen money ‘Mobutu Sese Sekou style’ whilst in office.

Mr Kweku Baako’s baseless allegation crashed right on the runway before takeoff.

The failed adventurous visit to Norway by Mr Kweku Baako and Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko of now ‘off the newsstands’ The Statesman, to seek out evidence to nail former President Rawlings in the SCANCEM bribery allegation, is another ample proof of a vicious agenda against the former President.

There is a relentless effort to bring former President Rawlings down to the level of former President John Agyekum Kufuor, who is generally believed not only to have prevailed on the most corrupt administration in Ghana as President, but that he was personally involved in massive corruption during his reign.

This belief was reinforced by the exposure by Mr Harona Issekou, then NPP chairman that former President Kufuor was involved in kickback corruption at the seat of government, the Castle, Osu. The belief was also given impetus by the claim by Ms Giselle Yazji that ‘Hotel Kufuor de Waa, Waa’ was not bought by the former President’s 41-year-old-accountant-son as he would make Ghanaians believe but that Mr Kufuor is the real owner of the $8million private property.

Source: Catalyst Newspaper

Dr Duffuor Denies Directing Donor Inflows Through his Bank

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The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor has expressed shock at a media report imputing acts of impropriety on him. The Independent newspaper in its Thursday, May 28th, 2009 edition, reported on its front page that the Finance Minister has suggested to some “donor partners that, donor inflows to the country must be channelled through his bank, Unibank”.A statement by his Media Liaison, Abdul Hakim Ahmed, said Dr Duffuor has stated categorically, "that it is not true that he has ever made a suggestion or even contemplated making a suggestion for donors to channel their assistance through the Unibank or any other private bank. In fact it is not a convention anywhere that anybody can take such a decision." The statement also said it is again not true that the issue has been discussed anywhere in government as speculated by the newspaper, "much less bringing the Minister and President on collision course as the newspaper reported. In any case, GoG does not have an account with the Unibank and does not intend to have one.""It must be put on record that cash transfers from donors to GoG are done through the Central Bank, and when he was even the Governor of the Central Bank and in control of all government’s accounts, the Finance Minister did not do such a thing. So it is unthinkable that he will do that in this different position. "For the sake of the general public, the Ministry would like to explain below the process that loans and grants go through before disbursement by government or the beneficiary Ministry, Department or Agency (MDA)."When the Ministry and a donor, for example the World Bank, have negotiated and reached an agreement on the amount, the interest rate etc, for a facility, the document is sent to Office of the President for Cabinet approval, after which it is sent to Parliament for parliamentary approval as required by the Constitution. Then after these approvals the agreement is signed or executed by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. "After this, the documents are sent to the Attorney General’s Department for final legal opinion. The A-G’s department is required under our laws to certify that all due process had been adhered to. They will then issue a letter giving the government the go ahead, without this letter the loan or grant will not be effective i.e. the World Bank would not release the money for government to use. A copy of this letter is therefore sent to the World Bank Office."If the money is a grant, the account to hold the funds is at the Bank of Ghana (BOG). If it is for budget support it goes straight to the consolidated fund at the Bank of Ghana. However, if it is a credit for a programme or project the money is lodged in a commercial bank selected by the beneficiary MDA and approved by MOFEP. The process is as follows; "After obtaining the A-G’s legal opinion, MOFEP through the Controller and Accountant General then directs the Bank of Ghana to open an account in a commercial bank for the disbursement of the facility. The Ministry would before this ensure that the beneficiary entity has a qualified accountant and adequate staff to manage the project. "It is important to note that the full amount is not paid into the account; only an agreed percentage is paid into the account and is replenished upon submission of statement of account and statement of expenditure on all eligible expenditures showing Government and the World Bank how the money has been used. It would only be replenished when the World Bank is satisfied that the money was used for the purpose for which it was obtained." Source:GNA

AMA Boss in "Kuluulu" Contract

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... Awarded multi-billion dollar contract to "invisible" firm
... Refutes allegations
Dr. Alfred Vanderpuije, Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) on Thursday refuted the contractual allegation levelled against him by the media.

The MCE is accused of awarding a multi -billion -dollar contract to a newly formed sanitation company (EWS Ghana Limited), which has not been registered with the Registrar General's Department. Dr Vanderpuije was also blamed for having a vested interest in the contract, which inspired him to approve the contract which would last for 25 years.

Addressing a press conference in Accra, Dr Vanderpuije said EWS Ghana limited was formed earlier this month as part of the company's Holdings, which had branches in Germany and the US. He denied being a shareholder of the company. The MCE said the company did not go through the tendering process because it had accepted to bear all the cost of production for which government was not required to pay a penny. The contract would also last for 10 years and not 25 years.

He said the Ministry of Local Government was fully aware of all the negotiations with the company and that nothing was done in the dark. Dr Vanderpuije cited the recycling of waste products to generate electricity as one of the main benefits of the contract. The emotionally charged MCE urged journalists to cross check their facts before publication in order to avoid feeding the public with falsehood.

He said he had the city of Accra at heart and that he would not be deterred by such frivolous allegations.

Source: GNA

MP Accuses Mills of causing financial loss

Below are excerpts from an open Letter to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of President John Atta Mills from a New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP). "Dear President Mills, This open letter was written soon after the visit of U.S. President, Barack Obama. However, I have had to revise it following last Tuesday's Meet-The-Press by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs. Betty Mould Iddrisu. It is clear that the visit of Obama to Ghana was because over the years, all the stakeholders, especially the NDC (in 2001) and the NPP (in 2009) agreed to let the will of the majority of Ghanaians prevail. I believe that Prof. Mills winning with less than 41,000 votes in 2008 was perhaps the closest on the African continent. Many of us were against the manner in which the NDC, then in opposition in 2001, screamed 'murder' when some of their leading members were put before court for 'offences relating to causing financial losses’. It is in the same vein that many of us in the NPP will not be shouting at the top of our voices when some of our leading members are taken through the due processes and sent to the courts. It is clear that given what happened to some leading members of the NDC in2001, 2002 and 2003, the burden of proof will be far greater on the NDC government than it was on the then NPP government. This is clearly to allay the fears of some persons in our party that the NDC wants to embark on a witch hunt. I must admit that even whilst in government, the attitude of certain leading members, not only Ministers, gave the impression they had forgotten that there is a law on causing financial loss. Many NPP activists strongly believe that the party's defeat in 2008 was mainly punishment against the NPP for taking Ghanaians for granted and in the main, not doing enough to disabuse the minds of Ghanaians on the perception that the NPP was allegedly corrupt. I strongly believe that the NDC government should be able to reassure informants that they will be adequately protected under the Whistle Blowers Act, the recent Muntaka case and the role of the principal accountant would deter many useful witnesses." Source: Daily Dispatch

$2000 Bribe For Selected Media Houses

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Vodafone Deal (1): $2000 Bribe For Selected Media Houses

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More revelations are emerging from the Vodafone bribery scandal that rocked the nation following the disclosure made by P.C. Appiah Ofori, Member of Parliament (MP) for Asikuma Odoben Brakwa constituency.

The Daily Democrat has discovered another bribery scandal in the same deal; this time around it involves some members of the inky fraternity.

Some prominent journalists have been cited as having collected various amounts of money in dollars from the company that took over the ownership of Ghana Telecom, the national communications organization.

The amounts range from US $1,000 to US $3,000 dollars to each of the journalists and media houses. In addition to that, they were promised juicy adverts in the event of Vodafone Plc winning the controversial sales.

The nation was shocked to the bone when Hon. P.C Appiah Ofori, a member of the then ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), which approved the deal in parliament, revealed that all those on the then majority side who voted for the deal were given US $5,000.

He said the money was allegedly sent to the Castle, the NPP’s “kickback headquarters” and distributed to the members, perhaps including Nana Akufo-Addo, since he participated in the voting.

Attempts have been made to discredit him by revoking his membership, which would result the loss of his parliamentary seat, leading to a bye-election in his constituency.

Concerning this new revelation, some of the media houses were used to promote Vodafone Plc. as a viable company to handled the milky Ghana Telecom. Vodafone bought 70% of Ghana Telecom at a cost of $950 million, a fee considered as very low when viewed against the assets of the company and the liabilities that the government of Ghana incurred.

The Daily Democrat is withholding the names of the persons and media houses involved, some of whom were called to secret meeting and briefed on how to promote the deal, in a similar fashion as the sale of shares in Goldfields Ghana Limited, now Anglogold Ashanti Goldfields.

Prior to the real deal, many media houses turned into experts who knew everything about the deal. Whiles some supported Randgold, others gave their weight to Anglogold, with monies allegedly changing hands.

Source: DEMOCRAT

Corruption under Rawlings in UK court

Former President Rawlings “No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves...No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top...” This is what President Obama said in his address to parliament when he visited Ghana. Former President Rawlings has always ceased the slightest opportunity to preach the virtues of instilling probity, accountability, integrity and ethics into Ghanaian politics. He recently did so after the state of the nation address delivered by President Mills and again after President Obama’s speech to parliament last week. But in a sudden twist of events, the first major British company is to be prosecuted for paying bribes abroad for contracts awarded. A little-known family who became one of the richest in Britain have been accused of making excessive profits, by building what their critics call "bridges to nowhere". Mabey & Johnson have been charged with corruptly influencing Ghanaian politicians and officials between 1994 and 1999 to gain bridge building contracts in Ghana. They are charged with further corruption offences in other countries namely Jamaica and Iraq. The history of bribery among NDC officials is legendary. In 2002, the former Managing Director of Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL), Mr. Etienne Arthur Marie Popeler told an Accra Fast Track Court that he gave monies to Dan Abodakpi, the former Minister of Trade and Industry, Sherry Ayittey, Treasurer of the 31st December Women’s Movement and Mr. Emmanuel A. Agbodo, (former Executive Secretary) of the Divesture Implementation Committee (DIC) under the previous NDC Administration to influence the divestiture of GREL. The 51-year old Belgian said he paid $1 million bribe to the 31st December Women’s Movement (31st DWM), an NGO run by Rawlings’ wife, for his French company SIPH to secure GREL. Sherry Ayittey is back under the Mills-administration as Minister for Environment and Science. Another bribery and corruption scandal hit the Rawlings administration in 1995/96 when CHRAJ conducted investigations into allegations of corruption and illegal acquisition of assets made against four ministers of state and some senior government officials. The case involved Col E.M Osei-Owusu (Retd), a former Minister for Interior; P.V. Obeng, Presidential Staffer, Ibrahim Adam, Minister for Agriculture and two others from the Agriculture Ministry and Adjei Marfo, chief executive officer of a state owned company. The Commission made adverse findings against the three of the officials and exonerated one for lack of evidence. Rather infamously, the government presided over by President Rawlings at the time issued a White Paper contesting the findings made by the Commission. The prosecution by the Serious Fraud Office in the UK comes five years after allegations of foreign bribery by the Reading-based company were revealed. The firm is expected to appear at Westminster magistrate’s court on Friday in a ground-breaking SFO prosecution, according to sources close to the firm's lawyers. Mabey & Johnson, a bridge-building company, said it would pay compensation to Jamaica, Iraq and Ghana after admitting it had paid bribes to win contracts in the three countries. The firm is accused of seeking to corruptly influence politicians and officials in Ghana between 1994 and 1999 to land build-bridging contracts. There will be a preliminary hearing of these charges at Southwark Crown Court in London on Friday 17 July 2009. It is to be expected that the names and details of those persons and officials involved will be revealed during the course of this hearing. Five of the firm's eight directors have already resigned their positions as a result of the UK Government's investigations into a range of alleged corrupt practices by this company, including dealings with Saddam Hussein in Iraq in breach of UN sanctions. Source: Statesman

Ghana parliament in bribery scandal?

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A New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) has revealed in his testimony before the inter-ministerial committee tasked to review the Ghana Telecom sale, that all the NPP MPs who voted for the sale were each paid $5,000.

According to the NPP MP, the money came from the Office of the President and was dished out to the MP's by former Chief of Staff, Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani.

The MP, who has petitioned the current administration to review the sale of Ghana Telecom, said the money was used to influence the NPP MPs to vote for the deal.

Hon. P.C. Appiah-Ofori, the MP for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa Constituency in the Central Region, told the Committee reviewing the sale of Ghana Telecom that he was so disappointed about the blatant 'bribery' by the then Presidency that he wrote to the Office of the President complaining about it.

Speaking in an interview with The Enquirer, the anti-corruption crusader said even though the office of the then president refused to respond to his letter, Kwadwo Mpiani accosted him, saying that if the letter had fallen into the hands of the opponents it could have spelt disaster for the party.

"They didn't respond, Kwadwo Mpiani rather reprimanded me, saying that don't I know that if the letter had gotten into the wrong hands, it would negatively affect the image of the government?"

According to Hon. P.C. Appiah-Ofori, the money was paid to only the NPP MPs and that because he was the only person who was not paid part of the money because he voted against the sale.

Asked why he did not bring up the matter earlier than now, the MP said that he did not because he did not want the NPP to lose the elections.

According to the MP, if President Mills' government does not revoke the sale of Ghana Telecom, he will take the matter to the Supreme Court.

He added that he was surprised that Parliament itself even violated its own rules and went out of its way to commit such grave illegalities.

He said according to Article 108 of the 1992 Constitution, any motion that is moved on the floor of Parliament, which will result in a charge on the consolidated fund must be tabled on behalf of the President.

"The letter dated July 7, 2008, from the President asked Parliament to approve the sale to Vodafone PLC UK. But the motion which was moved on the floor of the House was at the instance of the ministers of Communication and Finance. They wrote to Parliament for the sale to Vodafone Holding in the Netherlands. This makes the whole transaction null and void," the MP said.

On why he has petitioned the President, Hon. Appiah-Ofori said it was basically because the NPP government failed to do a proper cost-benefit analysis and that the sale of Ghana Telecom is not in the interest of the nation.

According to the MP, the sale agreement between Ghana Government and Vodafone required the government to absolve several debts and liabilities.

Hon. Appiah-Ofori noted that after Government of Ghana absolved the debt and liabilities of Ghana Telecom, the net value of the sale will be only $162 million.

Besides the above, the MP noted that there were certain strategic assets of Ghana Telecom which cannot be sold because they are state monopolies.

According to him, it is very dangerous to hand over state monopolies to private foreign entities.

"Take the Armed Forces, Office of the President, Ministries for example. If government of Ghana is unable to pay its telephone bill to Vodafone, they can decide to disconnect the government. Can you imagine what will happen if these institutions are disconnected?" he queried.

Source: The Enquire

MPs, Vodafone $5,000 Bribery Saga

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Kufour Mentioned

The raging saga of five thousand (5,000) dollar bribery allegations leveled against the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority Members of Parliament by the anti-corruption crusader, P.C. Appiah-Ofori, MP for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa Constituency in the Central Region, has assumed a very interesting development as more people have waded in the controversial debate.

Among those who have joined the debate are Chris Ackumey, Lawyer Bright Akwetey and Lawyer Kweku Mortey. These legal practitioners have described the issue as too frightening and critical to be swept under the carpet, calling on the government to act quickly to save the country’s image before the International Community reads any other meaning into it.

Mr. Mortey, one of the fine legal brains in Ghana, was very decisive about the issue, suggesting that former President John Agyekum Diawuo Kufour be made to answer questions on why he failed to act on the matter when the MP had notified him about the alleged nefarious deal.

He maintained, “I think President Kufour needs to be brought to explain issues to us. If he wasn’t briefed, then President Kufour was very negligent whilst running the country. If he was but did not take any action that is another matter. Either, the former President needs to come and talk on this matter and tell Ghanaians what he did about it.”

According to him, the matter needed not be limited to only Parliament since it included the presidency. He described the issue as so potent that it can destroy the reputation of the country if it is left in the hands of Parliament alone to handle.

On telephone interview on Radio Gold, an Accra-based radio station, newspaper review segment, Wednesday, July 8, 2009, Mr. Mortey, a leading member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), also argued that the issue goes beyond mere allegations of bribery and corruption and that the issues ought to be examined critically to clear the minds of the people.

He said, “I think the issues should go beyond Parliamentary Privileges Committee Matters. We should go into the root as to why no action was taken by the former President to investigate such a serious and important matter.

I heard others; Chris Ackummey, lawyer Bright Akwetey's sayings, but it should not be limited to perceptions of bribery and corruption. There should be broader investigations to even know why the system failed.

Parliament is such an important organ of our country. It is the one making our laws to regulate our democracy and to rule us so if somebody comes to say functions of Parliament are being undermined, we don’t just say please withdraw it, it will embarrass us.”

Read excerpts of the interview:

“Where are your hypotheses?”Alhassan Suhini asked.

Response: “You see, I think that if we don’t do this whatever Parliament does will be seen as whitewash and the credibility of the house will be damaged and foundations of democracy will suffer very serious shocks.”

“What is your guess that the Executive didn’t take any action on the serious allegation?” Suhini pressed further.

Response: “You know the former Chief of Staff said it would embarrass them. My question is why will he say it will embarrass them if there is no truth in it? There are issues we all really need to be made to understand.”

“Interaction was between the former Chief of Staff and P.C. Appiah-Offori. Where does the President come in?”Suhini sounded inquisitive.

Response: “My understanding is that the letter was addressed to the presidency, therefore if the Chief of Staff hijacked it, former President Kufour should come and tell us and then we will ask the former Chief of Staff questions.

One assumes that in any case former Chief of Staff shouldn’t be acting on his own and that President Kufour should be briefed on such important fundamental issues that touch on our lives.

There are facts that are established now at least what is in the press. First one is that there were allegations of $5000, second that, the report was made to the Presidency and third that what former Chief of Staff called the MP and said it would embarrass them so withdraw it.

Now what is the issue? First, His Excellency the former president has sworn to the Constitution of the law of Ghana. Second, Parliament, the august house, which is legally mandated to make laws for the country, then Honourable Member of the house writes to the Presidency that, look Mr. President there is bribery in the house as a result of which functions of Parliament are being undermined.

These are very serious and grave allegations that were made that touched the very foundations of our Constitution, our democracy and our lawmaking body that it's not to just call and say if you embarrass us we will expel you from the party.

We are trivializing the issue as if it was just an issue of the bribery. This touches on the very existence of our democracy and legality and so we shouldn’t just make it seems like it was a spurious allegation. I’m not saying it is a fact or not.

But if the Presidency receives allegations that the very foundation of legalities are being undermined, then we just go and sleep and call the one and say withdraw it. I think it is a very wrong approach. We shouldn’t just trivialize.”

Source: Crystal Clear Lens