WikiLeaks cables: Ghanaian police 'helped drug smugglers evade security'

African anti-narcotics operation funded with £1m from UK thwarted by corrupt officials at airport, US embassy cables say

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• Robert Booth
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 14 December 2010 21.29 GMT
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Security guards on duty at Kotoka airport in Accra, Ghana. Some unidentified airport police are corrupt, according to the US embassy cables. Photograph: Tugela Ridley/AFP/Getty Images

A £1m taxpayer-funded anti-trafficking campaign to stem the flow of cocaine into the UK through Ghana's busiest airport is beset by corruption, with drugs police sabotaging expensive British-bought scanning equipment and tipping off smugglers, leaked US embassy cables reveal.

Ghana president John Atta Mills even worried that his own entourage could be smuggling drugs through his presidential lounge at Accra's Kotoka airport and asked a senior UK customs official last November for help to screen them "in the privacy of his suite to avoid any surprises if they are caught carrying drugs", according to the US embassy in Accra (cable 234015).

The US embassy reported what it had been told by Roland O'Hagan, the British head of Operation Westbridge – a joint UK-Ghanaian anti-smuggling operation.

The cable said: "President Mills had expressed interest in acquiring itemisers [sensitive, portable screening devices] for the presidential suite at the airport in order to screen his entourage for drugs before boarding any departing flight."

The extraordinary request reveals the depth of the crisis in the bilateral operation to crack down on wholesale drug trafficking into the UK through an airport which has become a main transit hub for South American drug cartels channelling hard drugs into the UK and Europe after the authorities successfully blocked routes from the Caribbean.

Drugs worth £100m have been seized so far, amid growing international concern expressed in the cables that drug trafficking is becoming "institutionalised" in west Africa.

The UN has estimated that up to 60 tonnes of cocaine, worth £1.3bn, is smuggled through the region each year.

According to the cables, Ghanaian narcotics control board (Nacob) officers working in collaboration with British officials:

• actively helped traffickers, even telling them the best time to travel to avoid detection (164939)

• sabotaged sensitive drug scanners paid for by British taxpayers • channelled passengers, including pastors and bank managers and their wives, into the security-exempt VVIP lounge despite suspicions they were trafficking drugs.

Smuggling has become so blatant that on one flight last year, two traffickers vomited up drugs they had swallowed and subsequently died (234015), while parcels of cocaine were found taped under the seats of another KLM plane even before boarding (125133).

Mills had publicly pledged to crack down on trafficking into the UK via the airport and won the presidency with an anti-drugs platform.

But in June 2009 he told the US ambassador to Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum, "he knows elements of his government are already compromised and that officials at the airport tipped off drug traffickers about operations there (214460)."

Embassy contacts in both the police service and the president's office "have said they know the identities of the major barons," but "the government of Ghana does not have the political will to go after [them]", a December 2007 cable said (135389).

A UK official overseeing Westbridge had observed Nacob agents at the airport directing passengers away from flights receiving extra scrutiny, a confidential US embassy cable revealed in August 2008 (164939).

"On one occasion, [the official] returned unexpectedly to the airport at 4am to screen a flight. An arrested trafficker told the UK official that the trafficker had been told that Westbridge was not operating that night. A test by Westbridge officials of the cellphone SIM card of a trafficker found the phone numbers of senior Nacob officials."

He said two itemisers were incapacitated by sabotage, remarking "the knowledge required to remove the filters exceeded the basic knowledge of the operators". The cable concluded: "The government of Ghana does not provide the resources necessary to address the problem and, at times, does not appear to have the political will to go after the major drug barons."

Operation Westbridge began in November 2006 and the UK government has trumpeted its success.

Last year the minister responsible for drug trafficking, Alan Campbell, told a parliamentary inquiry the scheme was a "very good example" of how to tackle the cocaine trade, while the Home Office said in a written statement that "these operations meet our drugs strategy commitment to intercept drugs and drugs couriers before they reach the UK".

A different picture emerges in the cables. Kim Howells, a Labour Foreign Office minister, delivered a "stern message" to the Ghanaian government in October 2007 about its lack of co-operation and responded "testily" to a request from Ghana's interior minister for more scanning equipment, saying: "If a 'criminal' is operating equipment, it is worthless," according to the US embassy.

Three months later the embassy reported that "seizures in Accra drop to almost zero when the Westbridge team ... is back in London (135389)".

In November 2009 O'Hagan told the US embassy that Nacob believes that the airport's VVIP lounge has been a source of drugs leaving the country.

"Nacob placed two officers in the lounge to screen departing passengers, and the number of passengers using the VVIP lounge has decreased," the embassy reported O'Hagan saying late last year

President Mills suspects drug traffickers in his own government?

The troubled yet troublesome Wikileaks cables rummaging nations across the globe has its snowballing damnations hitting Ghana as the Guardian goes public with a detailed account of how security operatives engaged in the fight against drug trafficking are tipping off “couriers” with information of when it is “safe” to board flights to avoid being arrested. President John Evans Atta Mills is also quoted as expressing fears persons in his own entourage could be engaged in smuggling drugs through the presidential lounge of the Kotoka airport and therefore asked a senior UK customs official in November 2009 for help to screen them but "in the privacy of his suite to avoid any surprises if they are caught carrying drugs". According to the leaked cables, not only are officers of the Narcotic Control Board (NACOB) actively helping traffickers and even calling the criminals on their mobile phones to tell them when to travel to avoid detection, they are also noted to sabotage sensitive drug scanners provided to the government of Ghanaian while channeling passengers, including pastors and bank managers and their wives, into the security-exempt VVIP lounge despite suspicions they were trafficking drugs. The leaked cables touch both the Kufuor administration and the present Mills reign, as evident in the full report culled and republished below. WikiLeaks cables: UK's anti-drugs fight in Ghana 'beset by corruption' US diplomats claim corruption in Ghana has ruined costly UK-funded anti-drugs smuggling operation A British operation to stem the flow of cocaine through Ghana has been beset by corruption, with local drug police sabotaging expensive scanning equipment and tipping off smugglers to avoid detection, leaked US embassy cables reveal. Ghana's president, John Atta Mills, even worried that his own entourage may be smuggling drugs through his presidential lounge at Accra's Kotoka airport, and asked a senior UK customs official in November 2009 for help to screen them "in the privacy of his suite to avoid any surprises if they are caught carrying drugs", according to the US embassy in Accra. The request reveals a deep crisis in the bilateral operation against wholesale drug trafficking into the UK through an airport which has become one of the main transit hubs for South American drug cartels after the authorities successfully blocked routes from the Caribbean. Operation Westbridge has so far cost the taxpayer more than £1m and more than £100m worth of drugs has been seized amid growing UK concern that drug trafficking is becoming institutionalised in west Africa. The UN has estimated that up to 60 tonnes of cocaine, worth £1.3bn, are being smuggled through west Africa, mostly into Europe, each year. According to the cables, Ghanaian narcotics control board (Nacob) officers working with British officials: • Actively helped traffickers, even calling the criminals on their mobile phones to tell them when to travel to avoid detection. • Sabotaged sensitive drug scanners provided to the Ghanaian government. • Channelled passengers including pastors and bank managers and their wives, into the security-exempt VVIP lounge despite suspicions they were trafficking drugs. Smuggling has become so blatant that on one flight last year, two traffickers vomited drugs they had swallowed and subsequently died, while parcels of cocaine were found taped under the seats of a KLM plane even before boarding. Roland O'Hagan, the British head of Operation Westbridge, reportedly told the US embassy: "President Mills had expressed interest in acquiring itemisers [portable screening devices] for the presidential suite at the airport in order to screen his entourage for drugs before boarding any departing flight." Mills had publicly pledged to crack down on wholesale drug trafficking into the UK via the airport and won the presidency on an anti-drugs platform. But, in June 2009, he told the US ambassador to Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum, "elements of his government are already compromised and that officials at the airport tipped off drug traffickers about operations there". Embassy contacts in the police service and the president's office "have said they know the identities of the major barons," but "the government of Ghana does not have the political will to go after [them]", a December 2007 cable said. A UK official overseeing Westbridge had observed Nacob agents at the airport directing passengers away from flights receiving extra scrutiny, a cable from the US embassy in Accra revealed in August 2008. "On one occasion, [the official] returned unexpectedly to the airport at 4am to screen a flight. An arrested trafficker told the UK official that the trafficker had been told that Westbridge was not operating that night. A test by Westbridge officials of the mobile phone sim card of a trafficker found the phone numbers of senior Nacob officials." He said two itemisers were incapacitated by sabotage, remarking that "the knowledge required to remove the filters exceeded the basic knowledge of the operators". The cable concluded: "The government of Ghana does not provide the resources necessary to address the problem and, at times, does not appear to have the political will to go after the major drug barons." Operation Westbridge began in November 2006, overseen by the Home Office and Foreign Office, and the government has trumpeted its success. Last year, the Home Office minister responsible for tackling drug trafficking, Alan Campbell, told a parliamentary inquiry that the scheme was a "very good example" of how to tackle the cocaine trade, while in a written statement, the Home Office said "these operations meet our drugs strategy commitment to intercept drugs and drugs couriers before they reach the UK". In the confidential cables, a different picture emerges. Kim Howells, Labour foreign office minister, delivered a "stern message" to the Ghanaian government in October 2007 about its lack of co-operation and responded "testily" to a request from Ghana's interior minister for more scanning equipment, saying "if a 'criminal' is operating equipment, it is worthless," according to the US embassy in Accra. Three months later, the embassy reported that "seizures in Accra drop to almost zero when the Westbridge team …is back in London". In November 2009, O'Hagan told the US embassy that Nacob believes the airport's VVIP lounge has been a conduit for drugs leaving the country. Bank managers, pastors, and their wives were among those given official passports and access to the lounge which circumvents security checks, the embassy reported. "Nacob placed two officers in the lounge to screen departing passengers, and the number of passengers using the VVIP lounge has decreased," the embassy reported O'Hagan saying late last year. Credit: www.guardian.co.uk

I did not receive a cedi from Francis Poku -- Vice President John Mahama

Vice President John Mahama has denied allegations by some NDC members that he received any money from former National Security advisor, Francis Poku, during the erstwhile Kufour administration.




Mr. Mahama who was speaking at the national conference of the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) of the NDC at the Winneba University College in the Central Region, and told the student leaders of the party that he cannot be ruffled by such an allegation.



Mr. Mahama revealed that some meetings were being hatched ostensibly targeted at destroying his person. He said “after looking into the crystal ball, they [his detractors] feel I am the most important threat to people’s political ambitions. So every week on Sunday, there is a meeting, cooking up some new mischief against me."



Even though he is hurt by such comments the Vice President Mahama believes these diabolical plans will continue as far as he is in politics but assures that "we have been cooked in the cauldron of politics and we believe that it is God who makes leaders. If God says you will never lead this country you can go to the depths of hell and come up, you will never lead this country.”



On the allegation by some party members that he received some financial inducement from former National Security Advisor, Francis Poku, the Vice President flatly denied the allegation, expressing shock as well. He said “sometimes it hurts, and they say Francis Poku 'bought' you. It is in one of the statements that I was 'bought' by Francis Poku. I pray that one day Francis Poku himself will speak and correct this untruth. But I put on record with all my religious conviction and my belief in God that Francis Poku never gave me a cedi, I have never received a cedi from Francis Poku, but we’ll leave posterity to judge all that.”



He indicated that the New Patriotic Party was not necessarily to blame for all the confusion in the country and that it was vital for the NDC to look inwards to cure the hate politics that is gaining roots in the party.



Mr. Mahama further asked; “If your own party is the one saying you are greedy bastards, your party says you are team B,...what communication can you do? All you do is you give ammunition to your opponents to fire you,” he said, adding that no amount of communication gimmicks can correct the harm done.



The Vice President stressed that even though the communication team of the government is doing enough, they are handicapped as a result of the venom from within the party which is lending the opposition the needed arsenals to hurt the NDC.



Mr. Mahama questioned the rationale behind the tagging of the present government as a Mills-Mahama administration by a high ranking member of the NDC, saying, “today anytime the NPP make a statement, they say Mills-Mahama administration. When have we ever called administrations including the names of Vice Presidents? Rawlings-Ackaah administration or Rawlings-Mills administration or Kufuor-Aliu administration, and yet one of our own is the one who started this Mills-Mahama administration.”



He explained that the NPP has packaged the ammunition that the NDC has given to them and are doing a good job in using it against the government. This, he said, makes it nearly impossible to argue ones way out during a discourse with members of the opposition.



He however encouraged the students to be united and forge a common front to support the government’s quest at achieving its “Better Ghana” agenda, insisting that “there is no way the NPP can stand a united NDC, I tell you.”





Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Government denies ordering fresh probe into Muntaka's $20,000 saga

Communication’s Director at the seat of government, Koku Anyidoho has categorically denied that President Mills ordered the Civil Service Council to commence fresh investigations into the $20,000 which Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka was alleged to have allocated to himself whiles in office.

Koku Anyidoho told Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah on the Super Morning Show Thursday morning that the Daily Guide's report that the President has ordered fresh investigations into the matter could not be true as no such order had been given by the President.

Daily Guide, in the Thursday, November 25, 2010 edition reported that it had gathered credible information from the government indicating that the President had ordered new investigations into Muntaka’s controversial $20,000 saga.

The report by Halifax Ansah-Addo said the paper’s “checks from the seat of government revealed that the Presidency has directed the Civil Service Council to set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the mystery surrounding the $20,000 taxpayer’s money and who should be held accountable for it, despite the fact that the issue had been investigated by the National Security, upon which Muntaka was sacked.”

Mr. Muntaka Mubarrak, the man at the centre of the controversy, in an interview on the same programme accused the Daily Guide of waging a mischievous campaign against his person since he resigned from the Sports Ministry.

Mr. Muntaka, who espoused his believe in press freedom, said he is very livid with the trend of reportage by the paper, stressing that “this level of mischief by Daily Guide must be stopped. Isn’t it unfortunate that Daily Guide, I don’t know for whatever reasons, have always tried as much as possible throughout this period to align and always put my name in bad reportage?”

Mr. Muntaka said the Daily Guide consistently draws his name into unnecessary controversies that occur in his constituency even when he is no where near it.

He however explained that the civil service council has constituted a panel to deal with the $20,000 case which he is alleged to have pocketed. He further confirmed that he has been invited along with other officials who were at the ministry during that period to participate in the hearing in order to bring closure to the controversy.

Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

National Democratic Congress is allegedly stealing materials meant for the building of the Bui dam, NDC gives Fox FM three days ultimatum

A Kumasi based radio station, Fox FM has been given three days to name officials of the ruling National Democratic Congress it allegedly accused of stealing materials for the building of the Bui dam. The ultimatum was given by the Ashanti Regional General Secretary of the NDC, Joseph Yasmeen in an interview with Joy News on Wednesday. The station is alleged to have serialised circumstances under which cement bought for the construction of the Bui Dam had been diverted into private hands. The station is reported to have said that the diversion had stalled progress of work on the Bui Dam project. Mr. Yasmeen said the station also alleged that members of the NDC had a hand in the diversion of the cement and promised to expose those individuals. He said the party's ultimatum is aimed at a speedy resolution of the matter, adding it is just to give “moral support” to the station. “If government officials are indicted in such a corrupt and criminal act the party needs to be concerned and make sure such people are evicted from the party,” he said. Mr Yasmeen said the party will consider taking punitive action against the individuals if they are found culpable. He said they have reported the case to the Bureau of National Investigations, the police and other security agencies. Mr. Yasmeen said failure by the station to mention the names of these officials will give credence to the notion that the media is creating fear and panic in the country. But the Morning Show host of Fox FM, Blessed Smart, said the ultimatum by the NDC in the region is without foundation. According to Blessed Smart, at no point did the station alleged that officials of the NDC were behind the diversion. He said it was the BNI the station criticised for not doing enough to unravel the truth behind the diversion. Story by Nathan Gadugah/myjoyonline.com/Ghana

What have I done to Ghanaians? –Sports Minister questions critics' about world cup expenditure

Minister of Youth and Sports, Akua Sena Dansua         The Minister of Youth and Sports, Akua Sena Dansua has expressed disgust at suspicions and allegations cast in her direction in relation to expenses said to have been incurred by the nation over the Black Stars' participation in the 2010 World Cup. She was in Parliament Thursday to answer a question on how much it cost the nation to engage in the World Cup. Responding to the issues on Asempa FM on Friday, the Minister explained that even though she traveled with her house-help and driver to South Africa for the World Cup, she paid for her daughter to go on the trip as it was an opportunity for all Ghanaians to go and support the Black Stars. She further denied using state funds to facilitate anyone’s private trip to the World Cup. “I took my secretary, I took my driver and I took my body guard. These are the people who are here with me day and night,” she added. She pointed out that the World Cup expenditure budget document was prepared by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and that officials of the association should be contacted to clarify issues for the public. Ms Dansua explained that the budget is always prepared by the GFA to be approved by the Chief of Staff after the ministry has perused it thoroughly. She added that the Chief of Staff specifically invited officials of the GFA to justify whatever information was contained in the budget before it was forwarded to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department. She further stressed that an accountant of the ministry accompanies officials of the GFA to the tournaments and verifies all purchases made with receipts to show what has been spent. Ms Dansua decried the situation where journalists and commentators make allegations without seeking her side of the issue and asked the media to stop blaming her for the expenditure made at the World Cup and rather direct their concerns at the appropriate quarters. The minister believes that there are people who are sabotaging her position as Minister of Sports and are working assiduously to ensure that she fails at her work. She however vowed to continue working and assured her detractors that they will not succeed in their effort to undermine her. She promised Ghanaians that she will continue to work effectively despite the numerous distractions. Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Minister Took Driver, House-Help And Bodyguard To World Cup

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Akua Sena Dansua has expressed disgust at suspicions and allegations cast in her direction in relation to expenses said to have been incurred by the nation over the Black Stars’ participation in the 2010 World Cup.

She was in Parliament on Thursday to answer a question on how much it cost the nation to engage in the World Cup.

Responding to the issues on Asempa FM on Friday, the Minister explained that even though she traveled with her house-help and driver to South Africa for the World Cup, she paid for her daughter to go on the trip as it was an opportunity for all Ghanaians to go and support the Black Stars.

She further denied using state funds to facilitate anyone’s private trip to the World Cup. “I took my secretary, I took my driver and I took my body guard. These are the people who are here with me day and night,” she added.

She pointed out that the World Cup expenditure budget document was prepared by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and that officials of the association should be contacted to clarify issues for the public.

Ms Dansua explained that the budget is always prepared by the GFA to be approved by the Chief of Staff after the ministry has perused it thoroughly. She added that the Chief of Staff specifically invited officials of the GFA to justify whatever information was contained in the budget before it was forwarded to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department.

She further stressed that an accountant of the ministry accompanies officials of the GFA to the tournaments and verifies all purchases made with receipts to show what has been spent.

Ms Dansua decried the situation where journalists and commentators make allegations without seeking her side of the issue and asked the media to stop blaming her for the expenditure made at the World Cup and rather direct their concerns at the appropriate quarters.

The minister believes that there are people who are sabotaging her position as Minister of Sports and are working assiduously to ensure that she fails at her work.

She however vowed to continue working and assured her detractors that they will not succeed in their effort to undermine her. She promised Ghanaians that she will continue to work effectively despite the numerous distractions.
 

Source: JFM

Sena Dansua clashes with Asiamah, OB Amoah over World Cup expenses

Youth and Sports Minister, Akua Sena Dansua is unimpressed with what she says are mischievous attempts by Isaac Asiamah, the New Patriotic Party’s ranking member on Youth and Sports to provoke a needless controversy over the 2010 World Cup expenditure.

The Minister in an answer to a question on Wednesday presented itemized expenditure incurred during Ghana’s participation in the football mundial.

The total expenditure was quoted at seven million dollars, but the minority insisted the expenditure lacked details and substance.

Their attempt to ask supplementary questions of the minister was blocked by the Speaker in line with the Standing Orders of the House which allowed only an hour for question time.

Isaac Asiamah in an interview with Joy News’ Sammy Darko described the expenditure as “outrageous” and “profligate.”

He did not understand why such an amount will be spent on people he described as supporters when winning bonuses for the Black Stars remain outstanding.

He vowed to present a motion on the floor, the purpose of which will drag the Minister back to the House to answer questions about the expenditure.

But Akua Dansua told Joy News’ Dzifa Bampoh that her ministry has nothing to hide and will be ready to provide answers to clear any doubts in the minds of people.

She also accused the NPP ranking member on Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah, of misunderstanding the whole issue.

“My colleague, Asiamah in his haste to cause mischief,” “… does not even understand the question that was asked of me,” she said.

According to her, the question was to find out the expenditure on the Black Stars, not on the supporters as Asiamah attempted to suggest.

She also challenged the NPP to present the 2006 report of expenditure by the Black Stars before demanding that of 2010.

She said the NPP did not even present “a one-page report” of expenditure in 2006 and wondered why they are pontificating about 2010 expenditure.

Akua Sena Dansua also stated emphatically that the arrears owed the Black Stars is ready and that the individual players must now decide what procedures to use in getting their money.
Ex-Deputy Sports Minister, OB Amoah insisted questions being asked of the minister are legitimate, contesting the minister’s assertions that there was no report in 2006. He said the report was presented to Parliament by Prof Dominic Fobih, then Minister of Education and Sports.

Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

$7.2m Blown At World Cup

Even before the players of the senior National Soccer Team, the Black Stars are given their full bonuses, an amount of $7.2 million has been spent by government on per diem, protocol and souvenirs for Ghana’s participation in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The Minority in Parliament has described the expenditure as outrageous and profligate, calling on government to give a full disclosure on how the huge sum was spent.

The Minister for Youth and Sports, Akua Sena Dansua, indicated that $186,650 was spent on per diem, protocol - $100,000; souvenirs, laundry and other incidental expenses , $30,035.01; media relations - $50,000.00 and appearance fees $4,200,00.00.

The rest are winning bonuses, $2,541,500; transport, $6,608.29 and bank charges, $80,389.10 all expenses totaling $7,197,185.40.

The Minority, led by the ranking member on Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah in an interview with Daily Guide, questioned the expenditure, asking government to disclose to Ghanaians, the recipients of the disbursed money.

Hon. Asiamah, who is also the MP for Atiwa-Mponua, said the Mills administration could not throw such colossal figures at Ghanaians without telling them which individuals or groups received the money.

Earlier on the floor of the House, MPs could not interrogate the Youth and Sports Minister for her to give a detailed account of the expenditure because the House’s Speaker Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo, had ruled that the stipulated time of one hour for questions had elapsed.

This provoked some of the Ministry MPs who angrily walked out of the House, since it appeared the Speaker was protecting the Minister from more probing questions.

She however ruled that the oral answer provided by the Minister be captured in the record of proceedings as having been answered. However, Hon. Asiamah called for a parliamentary inquiry into the matter to ascertain the veracity of the expenditure.

He was however overruled by the First Deputy Speaker and MP for Avenor/Ave, Edward Doe Adjaho, who took over from the Speaker and chaired proceedings later.

Mr. Asiamah insisted government should exhibit transparency and accountability in the management of the nation’s scarce resources, especially when people around the presidency consistently claimed the government had been cutting down on its expenditure.

“The expenditure figures are outrageous. It smells like the transitional committee tea expenditure. An expenditure that is too profligate and does not make sense to me, If you spend a huge sum of 100,000 Ghana cedis (One Billion old cedis) on protocol expenditure and you don’t explain that protocol. What is the meaning of that when school children are still studying under trees? About seven billion old cedis spent on accommodation and you don’t explain who benefited from it.“You also spent per diem of 1.8 billion old cedis without explaining which people benefited from it. And as we speak now, the Black Stars are yet to receive their appearance fees and you found it necessary to spend all these monies,” Hon. Asiamah told Citi FM.

It is not clear whether the amount presented by the Youth and Sport Minister excluded the expenditure incurred by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in flying hundreds of soccer fans who were largely NDC supporters to the World Cup tournament in South Africa.

Michael Owusu Darko Bonsu, son of Kojo Bonsu, the Board Chairman of the National Sports Council (NSC) was alleged to have been involved in a ¢7.2 billion scandal over the World Cup.It was alleged that Michael Bonsu aided by some public officials, presented documents with inflated figures to the government of Ghana to make gains.

According to the media reports, the money was allegedly paid to Posterity Capital Group (PTY), owners of the Muzinda Residence in South Africa and others. They allegedly received the cash in order to provide accommodation for about 1,100 Ghanaian soccer fans at the 2010 World Cup who were there to support the senior team, the Black Stars.

Both Kojo Bonsu and his son have since debunked the allegations, denying any wrongdoing in the financial saga.

Kufuor Grabs 1.4 Acre Government Land For GH¢4,000

Related Stories   A man of power is usually ruined by power, a man of money is ruined by money and of pleasure is ruined by pleasure, But former President John Agyekum Kufuor, appears to have been ruined by money, power and pleasure. In an act which could easily pass as the ultimate political heist in our country’s history, former President Kufuor allocated to himself, a 1.42 acres of premium government land at a ridiculous price of GH¢4,000. President John Agyekum Kufuor bought the said premium land located on Plot number 8, Residency Link Ridge Residential area, Kumasi, in the year 2004, just before he ran for re-election.Kumasi residents who spoke to The Enquirer newspaper about the price at which former President Kufuor bought the land was dumbfounded saying “if you know the land that he bought for such a price, you will pick a gun and shoot him”. A real estate guru in Kumasi sad “a land of that magnitude at that location in Kumasi will cost a minimum of $50,000. It is actually an area you will compare to Cantonment or ridge. It is the most affluent neighborhood in Kumasi. That is where you have Golden Tulip and the Military Mess. That is where most of Ghanaians abroad and the expatriate community reside”. President Kufuor whilst as president doubled the Presidential salary and quadrupled the presidential per diem and in his final term in office, commissioned his special advisor to repackage his end of service benefits which saw the allocation of premium government bungalows, one in Accra which he lavishly renovated and another house to be located anywhere of his choice but within the country. The new package also made provision for several chauffer driven bullet proof vehicles maintained and fueled by the state as well as a $1 million grant for him to set up an NGO. He was also to retire on his presidential salary. The next person on the list of buyers of government land in Kumasi is Mr. Kwadwo Okyere Mpiani, who bought a premium plot I, located at Acacia Close, Ridge Residential area for a laughable GH¢1,000. Mr. Mpiani was President Kufuor’s Chief of Staff. He was also the chairman of the National Development Planning Committee which committed the nation into the famous Ghana@50 celebration. Mpaini bought his land in 2004. Mr. Sampson Kwaku Boafo, a former Ashanti Regional Minister during Kufuor’s presidency, and later Minister for Chieftancy and Culture at the Office of the President, also bought plot 4, a 0.42 acre enviable real estate at Acacia Close Ridge Residential Area for a paltry GH¢1,000. He bought his land in 2004. One Prof. Yaw Boafo, also bought plot 2, at the same Acacia Close Ridge Residential area. The size of the plot is 0.46 acres. Prof. Boafo is believed to be brother of S.K. Boafo. Prof Boafo was the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast and was later appointed by Kufuor as ambassador to Cote D’Ivoir and also held an appointment at the Get Fund. Emmanuel Owusu Ansah, also a former Ashanti regional Minister on his part acquired a Plot at No. 5, New Lands Ave. Ridge Residential Area for GH¢1,000. The size of his premium government land is 0.54 acreage and it was allocated to him in 2008. Moreover, former Mayor of Kumasi, Cecelia Appiagyei purchased 0.28 acreage of premium government land for GH¢1,000. The land was located at Militia Ave Ridge Area and allocated to her in 2004. Hon. Cecilia Dapaah, MP for Bantama also purchased a 0.28 acres on Plot 7, at Militia Avenue Ridge Residential Area and paid Gh¢1,000. She bought her land in 2006 and is said to have already erected a massive building on her plot. Another lucky purchaser of the land is one Osei Assibey believed to be a former Ashanti Deputy Regional Minister. On paper a plot at Ridge Residential Area stands in his name and was allocated to him in 2008 but there is no indication as to whether he has paid for the land. The land was 0.44 acres of premium land. One Nana Kwame Kyeretwie and Akwasi Prempeh, believed to be the father of the MP of Manhyia, Hon. Napoleon Prempeh, in 2006 also bought 0.29 acre plot at Militia Close Ridge Residential Area for Gh¢1,000. Alhaji Hamidu Ibrahim Baryeh, said to be an employee of Lands Commission also bought a 0.22 acre plot at Circular Road Ridge Residential area for GH¢1,000 in 2004. Plot 4, at Residency Link Road, Residential Area, sold at GH¢1,000 stand in the name of one Barima Kwaku Dua, believed to be the Asantehene. The land was allocated in 2004.

Source: The Enquirer