Why Mills Can’t Sack Barton Odro

FORMER ATTORNEY General, Martin Amidu has explained the underlying reasons why Deputy Attorney General, Ebo Barton Odro appears to be untouchable by the Mills administration despite intense disapproval of his stewardship.

In his latest series of damning exposés about the inner workings at the Attorney General’s Department released Tuesday, ‘Citizen Vigilante,’ Martin Amidu explains that Barton Odro’s audacious and sometimes costly exploits at the AG’s department is because of his close relationship with President Mills.

Mr. Amidu stated that during his stint at the AG’s in 2011, Barto Odro and the Solicitor-General, Amma Gaisie often unilaterally took important decisions relating to debt settlements valued at millions of US dollars without consulting him.

According to him, Barton Odro exercised these liberties because he claimed to hail from the same area-Cape Coast, as President Mills.

The Deputy Attorney General is perhaps one public officer whose loyalty to his office has been the most widely questioned. Barton Odro’s bad press follows his controversial statement supporting embattled businessman-Alfred Woyome in the controversial GH¢51million judgment debt scandal.

When the scandal broke and the public called for the AG to retrieve the money said to have been fraudulently paid to Mr. Woyome between 2010 and 2011, Barto Odro surprised everybody by stating that Ghana did not have a case against Woyome. Since then, several critics and civil society groups have called for him to be relieved of his position.

Civil society groups like the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) recently called for the head of the embattled deputy Attorney General because they think he is using his position to work against the interest of the country.

Despite the persistent disapproval, the Mills government has been unable make any such pronouncement and has maintained the beleaguered deputy AG at post.

Mr. Amidu complained that during his tenure at the Attorney General’s office, Barton Odro and Amma Giasie often sidestepped his authority to make certain debt settlements that he was not privy to or approved of.

“Not even the President who appointed me as the Attorney-General could under Article 88 of the Constitution delegate my constitutional functions as the Attorney-General to any other person or authority without first relieving me of my appointment by express revocation of my warrant of appointment,” he said.

The former Attorney General disclosed in his statement that he had written several memoranda to the Deputy Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General asking for explanations for the republic having to pay certain settlements or judgment debts. Apparently these memos were never answered in spite of accompanying reminders.

“I did not waste time when I assumed office as the Attorney-General in reminding the Deputy Attorney-General, Hon. Barton Odro, MP and the Solicitor-General, Mrs. Amma Gaisie, that I would not take responsibility for any actions or omissions by either of them or those working up to them unless the acts or omission were done with my knowledge and express authorization.”

Mr. Amidu cites an instance when Barton Odro negotiated a GH¢38million debt settlement with disgruntled workers of the National Mobilization Programme (NMP) who filed a suit against New Patriotic Party (NPP) chieftain, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey for allegedly wrongfully dismissing some staff of the NMP.

According to Mr. Amidu, even though the case was still pending in court, Barton Odro clandestinely withdrew the case without his knowledge and negotiated a GH¢38 settlement with the workers.

Refering to Barton Odro’s action, Mr. Amidu said the deputy AG, “had the boldness, without any direct or express authority from me since I took over as the Attorney-General.”

He explained: “I queried the settlement and instructed that the court be allowed to determine whether or not there was wrongful dismissal. I pointed out that unless the court determined that Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey had indeed wrongfully dismissed the workers it was foolhardy for me as the Attorney-General to settle the matter on the basis of wrongful dismissal and pretend that my decision could be used to prosecute Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey for causing financial loss to the state.”

Mr. Amidu who has been extremely unequivocal about his criticisms of the modus operandi at the AG’s department says he is baffled by the power that Odro wields at the department, “I had been a Deputy Attorney-General and Deputy Minister for Justice for upwards of twelve and a half years and know more than anybody else the limits of the authority of a Deputy Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General.”

Source: Raphael Adeniran/Daily-GUIDE

People are fed up with Ablakwa's "lies"-Martin Amidu

Former Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Martin A.B.K. Amidu says people are fed up with the "lies" churn out by the Deputy Information Minister.

The former AG also descended heavily on Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa over what he says are the Deputy Information Minister's attempts at undermining the powers of the substantive Information Minister, Fritz Baffuor.

Martin Amidu, speaking on Accra-based radio station, Oman FM stated that the actions of the Deputy Information Minister are creating a negative impact on the NDC as well as the electoral fortunes of the ruling party.

According to Mr. Martin Amidu, the Deputy Information Minister had called him to plead that Isofoton SA should be paid the monies that they claimed were due them.
A request the former AG said he turned down with the excuse that the matter was pending in court.

Although the Deputy Information Minister who also spoke to Oman FM admitted calling Mr. Amidu on phone, he however denied portions of the former AG’s submission that he pleaded that Isofoton should be paid monies owed them.

Nevertheless the anti corruption crusader said it was even wrong for the Deputy Information Minister to have called him over the matter without referring it to his (Ablakwa) boss (Minister of Information)at the time, John Tia Akologo.

“Mr. Okudzeto is a young man, and he should take upon himself responsibilities befitting a deputy Minister and not to be usurping positions of substantive Ministers. ..when John Tia was there, he rendered him virtually useless”, Martin Amidu said.

MYJOYONLINE.COM

€94 million payment to CP was the best for Ghana - Betty Mould

The former Attorney General Mrs Betty Mould Iddrissu has stated that the €94 million settlement awarded to Construction Pioneers was the best settlement the AG's office undertook at that time.
Mrs. Mould-Iddrisu was answering questions before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament Thursday, to respond to issues surrounding the settlement debt awarded to the construction company, CP.
According to her, “Ghana benefited a reduction from $162 million to $80 million as far I was concerned, a freeze on the spiraling interest payment and we were also to spread payment over a period of two and half years”.
She stated that settlement to CP was a must as far ending the litigation between government and CP was concerned, hence she took that opportunity, one she says, was a bold one.

The former AG also stated that the Ghana Bar Association Code of Ethics Section 48 says that “When you can settle, you do so; but when you don’t then it becomes misconduct on the part of the lawyer”.

Betty is only incompetent but she is not a criminal - Kwakye Ofosu

A member of the National Democratic Congress is making a strong case against the prosecution of the former Attorney General Betty Mould Iddrisu.

Felix Kwakye Ofosu is convinced the former AG was incompetent in her job but not liable for prosecution in the controversial judgement debt paid to Alfred Woyome.

Betty Mould Iddrisu as Attorney General in 2010 and early 2011, led government to pay 51 million cedis to Alfred Woyome for alleged financial engineering in the construction of stadia for the CAN 2008 and for the abrogation of a contract by the erstwhile New Patriotic Party administration.

She was reshuffled to the Education Ministry but she later resigned in 2012 when the controversial judgement debt saga hit the airwaves and the prints.

Even though the prime suspect Alfred Woyome is in court for causing financial loss to the state and defrauding the state by false pretense, many are questioning why key government actors- Betty Mould Iddrisu and finance Minister Dr Kwabena Duffour are not in court to answer for their roles in the payment described as fraudulent.

Ken Kuranchie, a card bearing member of the New Patriotic Party, and editor of the Daily Searchlight newspaper could not understand why Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu and Dr Duffuor are walking free.

On Peace FM Kokrokoo on Wednesday, he said if President John Mills was minded, he would ask the two officials to answer in court for negligence and dereliction of duty.

He said the money paid to Woyome is so huge it could provide each Ghanaian 3.00 cedis if it was shared and wondered why that amount was given to one person for no work done.

He charged Ghanaians to vote the NDC out in December so a new government will retrieve the money from Woyome.

But in a reaction, Kwakye Ofosu said the NPP had no moral authority to ask for a come back given its track record of corruption.

He did not understand why the EO Group - two officials he said had strong links with the NPP - would be given in excess of $300 million for their roles in Ghana striking oil in 2007.

Kwakye Ofosu berated the concerns of the NPP panelists on the show, Ken Kuranchie and Kwamena Duncan, accusing them of ranting and pretending as though the 51 million cedis will solve all the problems in Ghana.

On the prosecution of Mrs Betty Mould, the NDC Communication team member argued the former AG did not do the necessary due diligence but that was no justifiable reason for her to be prosecuted.

Likening her job to that of a radio presenter like Kwame Sefa Kayi, Mr Kwakye Ofosu said if a presenter consistently shows ineptitude on his job and plays the wrong sound bites all the time, it will not be a good reason enough to haul him before the courts.

He said the best any boss can do under the circumstance is to fire the radio presenter.

"There is no law that says if you are incompetent" you can be prosecuted, he said.

He said critics must be able to establish the criminal intent of Betty Mould before calling for her prosecution.

Okudzeto called me and pleaded on behalf of Isofoton SA - Amidu

Former Attorney-General Mr. Martin Amidu has accused Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Deputy Information Minister of calling him and pleading that Spanish company Isofoton SA be paid the monies that they claimed were due them.

Mr. Amidu, who was speaking on Oman FM said he declined Ablakwa’s request as no final verdict on the case, which was still in court, had been given.

The deputy minister minutes after the former AG's submissions, called into the show to respond to Mr. Martin Amidu's allegations.

He conceded that he did indeed call the then Attorney General but stated emphatically that he did not entreat him in any way to allow monies to be paid to Isofoton.

According to Ablakwa, he had received a petition from the Spanish company, expressing its grievance over the unfair manner in which the NPP government had handled their case following a breach of its contract with the Ministry of Agriculture under the former Kufuor administration.

He added that as a far as he Ablakwa was concerned he did not see anything wrong with calling a colleague over the petition he had received.

The deputy minister said he thought the best thing to do under circumstance was to call Mr Amidu who was then the AG especially since the matter in respect of which the people were petitioning did not fall within the domain of his (Ablakwa's) ministry.

Martin Amidu, who called into the show again to rebut Ablakwa’s claims, said he was pleased that Mr Ablakwa admitted calling him over the Isofoton SA matter.

He submitted that it was wrong for the Deputy Information Minister to consider himself a colleague of his.

Amidu stated that, Ablakwa by calling him directly had usurped the powers of Mr. John Tia, the then Information Minister under whom Mr Ablakwa worked.

The prudent action Ablakwa should have taken according to Amidu, was to pass the petition to his superior minister and from there steps would have been taken to get the petition to the office of the AG.

“Ablakwa has overgrown his wings. Due to such actions, he undermined the authority of his former minister John Tia rendering him (Tia) virtually useless,” added Amidu.

The government is presently in court over this controversial Isofoton $1.3 million judgment debt which Mr Ablakwa accused former Chief of Staff, Kwadwo Mpiani had caused the nation.

 

Myjoyonline/Lloyd Kojo Sarpong

Osafo Maafo testifies in Woyome case; produces ‘an interesting letter’

Former Finance Minister Mr Yaw Osafo Maafo, testifying in the ongoing criminal trial of businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome over a GHC51 million payment to him, produced a letter he called ‘an interesting letter.’

The letter, according to Mr Osafo Maafo, was critical because it was written by Vamed Engineering, Mr Woyome’s partners, in which they were reacting to a letter from the government terminating a tender process for the construction if stadia for the 2008 African Cup of Nations tournament.

Mr Woyome secured GHC51 million judgment award for roles his M-Powpak played in the transaction.

He claimed monies for financial engineering as well as damages for illegal termination of the contract which his company and its partners won.

But Mr Osafo Maafo testified that what was terminated was not a contract but a tendering process.

He explained that when Ghana won the bid to stage the tournament, the government set about inviting bids for the construction of two new stadia at Sekondi-Takoradi and Tamale as well as the refurbishment of the Accra and Kumasi Sports stadiums.

Vamed and M-powapak entered a joint bid for the contract in 2005, offering to build the two new stadia in Takoradi and Tamale at the cost of $67 million and $60 million respectively.

He said the government considered this too high as the government had budgeted for $40 million each for the projects.

At a cabinet meeting to discuss the matter, he submitted in court, then President Kufuor said he had in a previous trip to China, had discussions with construction firms in that country and believed they could make a better offer.

On the basis of that, a decision was taken to terminate the tendering process and undertake sole-sourcing because given the time frame within which the construction works needed to start, starting a new tender process was practically impossible.

Therefore, the government wrote to the National Procurement Authority for authorisation to do the sole sourcing.

Mr Osafo Maafo said when the companies which had submitted bids - including Vamed cum M-Powapak - were written to about the abortion of the tender process, Vamed in their reply said "VAMED ENGINEERING ('VE') is a company which is active in the sector health care projects only and has no qualification and no interest in the award of contracts for stadia projects."

GETFund dumps Ayariga’s questionable projects

Mahama Ayariga The authorities of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) have rejected a directive from the Education Ministry to build classroom blocks in Deputy Education Minister, Mahama Ayariga’s constituency. A letter sighted by Joy News and signed by the GETFund Administrator Sam Garba in response to the directive states the proposed projects are indefensibly and outrageously expensive. The letter is in response to one dated January 26, 2012 and signed by the Chief Director of the Education Ministry, Major (rtd) M. S. Tara. In that letter, the Chief Director relays the ministry’s approval for the construction of three basic schools in Bawku in the Upper East region at a total cost of 895,000 Ghana cedis. Whilst two of the three projects are estimated to cost GHS325,000 each, the third is said to cost 245,000 cedis. But in a letter addressed to the Education Minister and dated January 31, 2012, the GETFund Administrator Sam Garba said the cost of the projects is completely in discord with standard costs for projects with those specifications. He reminded the Minister of a stakeholders meeting at which they agreed that a standard price of GHS150,000 should be the cost of a six-unit classroom block with ancillary facilities based on the adopted design. He added that 17 six-unit classroom blocks authorized by the GETFund for construction in the Bawku Municipal Assembly were procured at prices within that range. “At any rate, 17 projects for only one assembly in a space of three years is clearly one too many,” the letter stated. According to Mr Garba, “The average for MMDAs (Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies) is four projects. The authorization is unsustainable, neither on grounds of equity, nor of those on need”.

Unravelling the Woyome saga - Police grill Waterville MD

Mr Woyome Investigations into the GHc51.2 million judgement debt paid to businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome were taken to another level when the Managing Director of Waterville Ghana, Mr Andreas M. Orlandi, was grilled by the police for four hours Friday. The interrogation, conducted at the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) started 8:30am and ended 12:30pm. Mr Orlandi is expected to return to meet the investigative panel next week to provide documents in respect of some of the issues raised in connection with the payment. After studying the documents, the panel will arrange a cross-examination of the witnesses who have so far appeared before the investigative panel. The Daily Graphic was told by sources at the CID headquarters that the investigative panel wanted to know if, indeed Waterville had a contract with the government. Without giving details and the answers provided by Mr Orlandi, the sources said the panel sought to know whether or not the contract had, indeed, been abrogated. The panel also sought to know why and how the contract had been abrogated and the legal consequences, not only for the state but also any other interested party. Mr Orlandi was also questioned on the relationship between Waterville and Mr Woyome. “Members of the panel are currently reviewing the documents and statements Mr Orlandi made when he appeared before the panel Friday. He had also been told to produce some documents he forgot to bring along”, the sources said. Mr Orlandi is the eighth person to be interrogated by the CID investigative panel, led by its Director General, Commissioner of Police, Mr Prosper Agblor. Besides the principal actor in the brouhaha, Mr Woyome, others who have appeared before the panel include a Betty Mould-Iddrisu, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice during whose tenure the questionable judgement debt was paid, Yaw Osafo-Marfo, former Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, under whose tenure the alleged contract between the government and Waterville was entered into and abrogated and his deputy Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah. The rest are Chief State Attorney, Samuel Neequaye-Tetteh, the Director of Legal Services at the Finance Ministry, Paul Asimenu and Mrs Gifty Neequaye-Tetteh into whose account Woyome allegedly deposited GHc400, 000. They are currently standing trial alongside Woyome at the Financial Division of the Fast Track High Court. Neequaye-Tetteh has been charged with two counts of conspiracy and corruption of public officer, while his wife, Gifty and Asimenu have been charged with a count each of abetment of crime. They are currently on court bail and are to appear before the court on March 5, 2012. Daily Graphic

Ayariga blows $44m on Atlas

Another scandal of monumental dimensions is brewing at the Ministry of Education where a contract of $44million for the supply of Atlas books for Junior High Schools (JHS) has been awarded, with Deputy Minister of Education Mahama Ayariga ordering the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to look for money at all cost and pay. Mahama Ayariga, though in charge of Tertiary Education, was neck-deep in the supply of books to Junior High Schools, and this had raised eyebrows. He said five publishers had been contracted to “print text books for the pre-tertiary schools”. The cost of the Social Studies book was to be borne by the GETFund, which said it had no budget for the Social Studies Atlas book. The book itself did not meet the standards, according to sources, and it was likely to be rejected by the schools. “Under the terms of the contract, 50% mobilization is expected to be advanced to the publishers against advance payment guarantee from a financial institution. “Due to the urgency of the request, we trust that you will deal with the matter expeditiously,” Mr Ayariga wrote in a letter dated January 31, 2012, a few days after Betty Mould-Iddrisu had resigned as Minister, owing to the Alfred Agbesi Woyome GH¢51.2million gargantuan scandal. Questions however were being asked about the rationale behind buying $44million books for just one subject and why Ayariga was the person leading the crusade since he was not in charge of Pre-Tertiary Education, but Mrs Elizabeth Tetteh-Amoah, who recently lost her bid to represent Ati Mokwa constituency in Parliament at the NDC primary. Tongues were wagging as to why a single publisher, Approachers, was given a whopping $25milion of the contract. The five publishers and their allocations were Approachers Ghana Ltd, $25,000,000; EPP Books Services, $7,496,000; Winmat Publishers Ltd. $5,500,000; Adwinsa Publishers, $5,000,000; and Sedco Publishing Ltd., $1,000,000, all totaling $43,996,000. With a tone of urgency in his letter, Mr Ayariga directed GETFund to secure a loan for the purchase of the book from a financial institution. “It would be highly appreciated if you could take steps to source a loan facility to cover the advance mobilization not exceeding the prime interest rate of 17% p.a. interest,” he indicated in the letter he wrote on behalf of the then acting Education Minister, E.T. Mensah. But in response to the request, GETFund Administrator Sam Garba on February 2, 2012, rejected the request to take a loan to buy the books, saying that the organisation was not in a position to source funding from financial institutions. “All the necessary steps I need to take to expedite the procurement of funds for the project have been taken without success. “The GETFund Board of Trustees struck down any efforts to source a loan expressly for this at its meeting held on the 30th December, 2011,” Mr Garba stated. The Administrator called the bluff of Ayariga, saying that he would not put the matter before the Board chaired by Dr Kwabena Adjei, NDC National Chairman again. Strangely, the loan facility was being arranged by NDK Financial Services owned by a known NDC chieftain, Oko Nikoi Dzani. Approachers had already approached NDK asking for a loan of $12.5million with interest of 12 percent, making it one of the most expensive loans because of the currency. The process to acquire the Atlas book started from the Betty period and Ayariga was fast-tracking it before the new Minister, Lee Ocran, took office. “With reference to the meeting held at the GETFUND Secretariat with the Ministry of Education representative and chaired by the administrator of the GETFUND in December, 2011 and the subsequent discussions with the Chief Executive Officer of your reputable financial institution, I write to request for the aforementioned 50% advanced mobilization of the contract. The 50% of the contract sum is twelve million, five hundred thousand us dollars. The agreed interest to be borne by Approachers (Ghana) Limited is 12% per annum for a maximum period of 4 months,” Alfred Kojo Obeng, Managing Director, stated in a letter to NDK. In a letter dated February 22, 2012, sent to Ayariga, NDK Financial Services indicated that it was ready to pay 50% of the contract sum to all the five companies as mobilisation fee. But the GETFund Administrator said he was not ready to accept arrangement. Meanwhile, Daily Guide has learnt that all the companies are printing the books in India and China in order to maximise profits, instead of printing them locally. The Ghana Publishers Association is holding a meeting on the scandal today, Daily Guide can confirm.

Ghana's corrupt and negligent Ministers and Civil Servants

CP walked away without paying 284m Deutsche Marks in tax ...The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has established that Construction Pioneers Ltd (CP) was owing the government 284 million deutsche marks and GH¢5.2 million in tax liabilities at the time the government entered into an agreement to pay the company 94 million euros as settlement debts. Irrespective of this, CP was able to claim the 94 million euros without paying what was due the government in respect of its tax liabilities to the state. This came to light at the committee’s sitting Thursday at Parliament House. When asked why the amount was not deducted when CP’s claims came up for payment, Mr Enoch Cobbina, Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, said documents for both the claims by CP and its tax liabilities should have been prepared simultaneously to enable the tax to have been deducted while the claims were being paid. He said, however, that the CP’s claims were prepared separately and as a result the company’s tax liabilities were not captured by officials in charge of the Public Sector Financial Management Systems of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies. Mr Cobbina conceded that he learnt about CP’s tax liabilities to the state as far back as 2005 in a report prepared by Mr James Quarshie, an official of the Ministry of Finance in charge of special duties, who compiled a report on CP’s activities. He said since parliamentary approval was not obtained before the tax was waived for CP to walk away without paying the tax liabilities, the action amounted to a breach of the Constitution which stipulates that only Parliament has the mandate to waive taxes in respect of companies in the country. Mr Cobbina said the Ministry of Finance authorised the payment based on a letter from the Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Justice because its officials were certain that the Attorney General had done her homework with due diligence before sending a memo to the Ministry of Finance to pay and they had no reason to doubt the integrity of the AG. At this juncture the chairman of the committee asked whether they could make payment of that colossal amount based only on the memo from the Attorney General and Minister of Justice which was signed without a witness and without a proper title, to which the Chief Director replied that, that was outside the normal practice. When the members of the committee asked for the authorisation limit for officials in respect of cheques, Mr S. P. Kyei, Director of Budget at the Finance Ministry, said directors at the ministry had authorisation limit of GH¢50,000 and any amount above that had to be referred to the higher authority such as the chief director whose authorisation limit was GH¢I00,000. He said a Deputy Minister’s authorisation limit was GH¢300,000 and any amount above that had to be referred to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. Mr Kan-Dapaah and the committee members were surprised that basic controls such as insisting on the provision of supporting documents before payments were made as it was the practice in the payment systems, were breached. They wondered why the alacrity used to honour payments to companies like CP was missing when it came to retrieving monies due to government from such companies. Mr Kan-Dapaah called on public officials to put an end to such unpatriotic attitude and let the government’s interest become paramount in such matters.