Ghana: Upper East Regional Minister Mark Wayongo in court for fraud

Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Wayongo Two employees of the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council have filed a writ against the Regional Minister for fraudulently awarding contracts to his nephew. Ibrahim Yahaya and Sumaila Abubakari claim Mr Mark Woyongo awarded a contract with a value of over a million Ghana Cedis to his nephew in contravention of procurement procedures. They want the Bolgatanga High Court to declare the award of the contract null and void. According to them, the minister published the contract a month after he had already awarded it to his nephew. That for them, was meant to cover up the shady deals of the minister. Lawyer for the two, Seidu Douglas, told Joy News the minister was in position of conflict of interest because “he awarded the contract to himself by giving it to his nephew....he knew that the contract was going to his nephew.” He said as part of the frantic efforts by Mr Wayongo to cover up his criminal conduct, he clandestinely interdicted two workers at the RCC. “In the letter of interdiction, they say that the people have leaked [confidential] documents when indeed these letters you gave to the contractors were public documents because you copied several other people. [How] can you turn around and blame somebody in the office for the leakage of a document you have already sent to the public?, Mr. Douglas asked. The two interdicted employees say they are contemplating legal action if they are not recalled by next week. One of them, Rosaline Akanwa, told Joy News she was accused of leaking letters she typed as the secretary at the RCC, meant for distribution to contractors. “They awarded some contracts and as the secretary I typed the letters and we sent the letters to the various contractors, about a week ago they came and said some letters were in circulation and they are suspecting myself and the records officer because we are in charge of confidential letters,” She said subsequently, she and her other colleague were given queries “and [when] we answered the queries, they said they were not satisfied with the queries, and gave us interdiction letters a week after.” Ms Akankwa said they were told they would be invited for questioning but nothing had been heard for about a week now. The Regional Minister admitted awarding the contract to his nephew but insisted the process was fair and transparent and satisfied all procurement regulations. “My nephew has been a contractor since 1988 and he tended for the job, it was assessed, they did their evaluation and the tender committee awarded the job to him. It would be ridiculous to say because he is my nephew, he shouldn’t be given a job,”he said. Mr Wayongo denied the charge that he advertised the contract after awarding it to his nephew. He said there were two different contracts all together but his accusers were mixing them up. He also denied any heavy-handedness in interdicting two employees of the RCC, saying their interdiction was done in accordance with civil service procedures. “There is every indication that the information was leaked from the Regional Economic Planning Officer’s office so the chief director asked that the two should step aside for investigations to commence”, he said. Related to this, a group calling itself the Coalition for the Welfare of the Masses in Bolgatanga has challenged Mr Woyongo to produce documentary proof that he indeed advertised the contract in question before awarding it to his nephew. According to the spokesperson of the group, the regional minister had been brazenly violating procurement laws in the region. He claimed he had a tall list of contracts that had been awarded under the watch of Mr Wayongo in clear contravention of procurement procedures. While he was due to address the media, a group of youth believed to be Mr Wayongo’s loyalists stormed the venue and scuttled everything. Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

GHANA:$850,000 fraud case takes another turn

The $850,000 fraud case involving two lawyers took another turn Thursday when the trial judge who had been authorised by the Chief Justice and the Attorney-General to hear the matter told parties in the case that he had been restrained from further hearing the matter by a High Court judge. The trial judge, Mr D. E. K. Daketsey, told the prosecution and the defence teams that he had been served with an order of injunction restraining him from hearing the case until the determination of a suit brought against him by the two lawyers. According to the judge, the lawyers, Joseph Kwame Owusu Asamani and Ekow Amua-Sekyi, who are facing charges of forgery and fraud, sought the order from the Human Rights Court, presided over by Mr Justice U. P. Dery, last Friday. According to counsel for the two lawyers, Mr James Agalga, November 12, 2009 had been fixed for hearing the motion for an order of prohibition directed at the judge whom his clients had accused of making bias statements against them. The prosecution had stated that the two allegedly prepared a Deed of Assignment, unknown to the complainant, Gordon Etroo, scanned his signature on it, registered it at the Lands Registry and presented it to Howard Eric Ewen, the Managing Director of Keegan Resources, who also signed. On March 18, 2007, the two allegedly forged a judgement titled 'Axex Company Limited versus four other defendants' and inserted an order by a High Court judge for the recovery of a mine known as Bonte Esaase Gold Mine. According to the prosecution, the two lawyers, without the knowledge of Samuel Etroo and Mr Kwame Opoku, initiated a civil suit number BL35/07, as 'Kwame Opoku versus Sametro Company Limited'. However, the two have not appeared before the court to answer the charges. The trial judge, Mr Daketsey, who did not disclose the grounds of the injunction, said he had since been served with a writ of prohibition by the two lawyers. The lawyers were said to have sought the order on the grounds that the judge was likely to show bias if he went ahead to hear the case against them. The judge told prosecutors and defence lawyers that he had instructed his solicitors to contest the case because he had no personal interest or whatsoever in the case. He also told the parties in his chambers that he felt aggrieved because the two lawyers had, on a countless number of occasions, refused to appear in his court to answer charges levelled against them. Obviously aggrieved at the turn of events, Nana Ato Dadzie, who is counsel for the complainant in the case, told journalists that the common practice was for the lawyers to be in court to state why they were absent. He said the case had had a chequered history because it took more than two years for the lawyers to be put before court. He said the Attorney-General called for the docket for study and on October 22, 2008 she formally wrote to the court authorising it to proceed with the case, adding that the Chief Justice had also authorised the judge to hear the case. Nana Ato Dadzie said although the two lawyers were at liberty to go for a prohibition order, he was of the view that such antics were calculated to frustrate the court process. He also indicated that his client was an interested party and he, therefore, intended to join the suit the Human Rights Court. He further indicated that the interest of justice would be served if all parties had their day in court. No definite date has been fixed for the hearing of the criminal matter due to the latest twist. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana

Malpractices uncovered in NHIA in Volta - Akototse

Ho, GNA - Mr Elliot Nestor Akototse, Volta Regional Manager of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), has said that serious malpractices were uncovered during "clinical auditing" of the scheme in the region.

He said that the NHIA would evaluate the findings and take the necessary actions.

Mr Elliot Nestor Akototse was speaking at the opening of a three-day strategic planning seminar for personnel of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in the Volta Region, in Ho on Friday. The seminar which was on the theme: "Delivering on the NHIS promise", was to brainstorm on the successes and challenges of the policy five years after it was started, and to strategize to strengthen it. Mr Joseph Amenowode, the Regional Minister, who opened the seminar, promised to facilitate efforts aimed at preventing people from sabotaging the scheme.

The Minister said that he was aware that some miscreants had been identified in the exercises and that Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) would help tackle fraudulent deals. "We members of VRCC shall broaden and intensify our monitoring and coordinating activities to strike out and bring to book persons whose activities seek to frustrate the suucessful implementation of the NHIS in the region and the country at large", Mr Amenowode said. Mr Syvelster Mensah, Chief Executive Officer of the NHIA, in a speech read for him, said the Authority would provide training to raise the competencies of the staff and also build administrative linkages among the various schemes on one hand and the schemes and Authority on the other hand. He said that managers of the scheme would be required to sign performance contracts and that "performance management would now be a very vital part of our staff appraisal and reward system".

Source: GNA