 | | | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
A whopping $2,000,000.00 (Two Million United States Dollars), secured by President John Agyekum Kufuor and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, with a Sovereign Guarantee, to rehabilitate some Ghanaian embassies, appears to have vanished without trace.
The amount was part of a $5Million loan, whose term sheet, states “shall be utilized exclusively for the renovation of selected Ghanaian Chanceries for Ghana’s 50th Independence Anniversary Celebrations.”
A statement of account on the Ministry of Finance & Economic Planning (MOFEP) bank Account number 0232002034552 with Stanbic Bank, opened for the transaction did not show a release of the $2,000,000.00 to the Government of Ghana.
The term sheet, dated December 7, 2006 addressed to the Kufuor administration through its Minister of Finance, indicates that ‘US$2,000,000.00 of the loan shall be booked with Standard Finance (Isle of Man) Limited,’ an offshore account.
Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, who was a Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, signed as accepting the terms of the $5,000,000.00 loan on behalf of the Government of Ghana.
On December 11, 2006 US$3,000,000.00 (Three Million Dollars) was released to the MOFEP Account at Stanbic Bank. This amount was repaid on April 20, 2007.
On 14th May 2007, the MOFEP account with Stanbic Bank was again debited with US$3,800,000.00, described as Loan Granted to MOFEP.
The release of this $3.8Million after the repayment of the earlier amount of $3.0Million, all within the term period of the loan made the transaction appear like a revolving loan, with a ceiling of $3.8Million.
Subsequent transactions on the statement following the release of the $3.8Million reveal the various interest charges as well as repayments made to Stanbic Bank.
The $2.0Million was never released to the Government of Ghana, and it was not clear into whose account the amount was paid in the offshore bank.
The $5Million was part of a $17Million Commercial Loan Agreement approved by Parliament on 29th November, 2006. The other $12Million of the loan was to be used for UN Peace Keeping Operations.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) subsequently requested for a disbursement of the approved loan and issued a Sovereign Guarantee to secure the entire $17Million facility.
The Sovereign Guarantee, dated 7th December, 2006 to Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited, was signed by Dr. Akoto Osei.
By a term sheet dated December 7, 2006 Stanbic Bank Ghana Ltd granted the term loan of US$5,000,000.00 (Five million United States Dollars) to the Government of Ghana.
The $5 Million and interest on it was to be repaid in full within 36 months from the date of drawdown, and had October 26, 2009 as the Final Repayment date.
As of October 31, 2009 days after all outstanding amounts on the loan account should have been cleared, however, an amount of $883,332.00 was still owed to Stanbic Bank.
Mr. Akoto Ampaw, lawyer for the Chief Executive of the Ghana@50 Secretariat, had written to the Commission of Inquiry (Ghana@50) on December 8, 2009 denying his client’s knowledge of any transaction with Stanbic Bank.
In the said letter, which was titled: RE: CONTINUING INVESTIGATIONS OF THE COMMISSION OUTSIDE THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, and published by the New Crusading Guide of December 9, Mr. Ampaw complained that the Commission had written to Dr. Wereko-Brobby, ‘requesting for information in respect of a loan transaction between the Government of Ghana and Stanbic Bank Limited’ and that ‘he knows absolutely nothing about the transaction referred to in your letter.‘
According to Akoto Ampaw, ‘Neither the Ghana @ 50 Secretariat nor the National Planning Commission entered into any loan agreement with Stanbic Bank, either directly or through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.’
The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has called on government to immediately prosecute all public officials cited for embezzling about GH¢166.1 million in the 2008 Auditor General’s report.
According to the committee, it will be detrimental for government to ignore the call for accountability on the part of public officials, who have engaged themselves in financial malfeasance and blatant thievery, as has been officially captured by the report.
“Government must, as a matter of urgency, prosecute these crooked officials,” a leading member, Mr. Edward Bawah, charged, insisting that “punitive actions ought to be taken against the offending officials in order to deter others from engaging in similar practice.”
Mr. Bawah, who was speaking at a press conference in Accra, warned that, the CJA will not relent on its call for corrupt officials named in the report to face the law.
He regretted that despite numerous exposures made by the CJA in the past, government, especially the Kufuor-led administration, made no effort at instilling accountability in government agencies by prosecuting offenders. Giving details of the report, Mr. Bawah mentioned that over 20 government agencies, including some ministries were involved in cash irregularities which amounted to GH¢166.1 million, representing 177.4% over that of 2007.
He stated that the cash irregularities accounted for 92.8% of the total financial irregularities mainly due to four factors, which are imprest holders refusing to account for imprests, lack of supervisory controls over revenue collection; failure of officers to obtain supporting documents for funds disbursed, and the ineffectiveness of Internal Audit Units within the Ministries.
Procurement and stores irregularities cost the nation GH¢ 898,350 in 2008, indicating an increase of 24% over that of 2007. Payroll overpayments amounted to GH¢ 762,886, while contract irregularities amounted to GH¢3.4 million.
Stating some specific findings, Mr. Bawah mentioned that the VAT Service acquired the Bannet building, near Busy Internet, Accra, for GH¢874,154. He stated that interestingly, the building was rehabilitated at a cost of GH¢ 2,387,216 although it was leased for only 11 years with no possibility of extension.
He added that three Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), which reneged on their scheduled payment plan to the tune of GH¢ 2,768,908.00 were not asked for guarantees and have not paid their debts.
MINISTRY OF TRADE
On Ministry of Trade, Mr. Bawah quoted from the report that “contrary to regulation of the Financial Administration Regulation, the Ministry opened and operated an account at the Accra High Street Branch of Barclays Bank in October 2005.”
“An amount of GH¢2 billion was transferred into it from the ministry’s main account which earned an interest of GH¢7.8 million, and the GH¢ 2 billion withdrawn,” he said, adding that the GH¢2 billion was not accounted for, neither was the GH¢7.8 million,” he asserted.
Still on the Ministry of Trade, the report captured that two private enterprises in the garment industry that were given grants totaling GHc288,000 to undertake capacity building abandoned the projects . “No attempt has been made to recover the monies,” he said, pointing out that a draft agreement commissioned at a cost of GHc 4,650 were never utilized. A building in Kumasi that was renovated by the ministry in 2006 at a cost of GHc11,492 was still standing unused in 2008 because additional funds were not made available for completion of the project.
Also, a strategic plan prepared at a cost of GHc45,696 in 2006 has been left to gather dust, he added.
He stated that the ministry made payments amounting to GH¢ 273,310 for repairs and maintenance without certification.
MINISTRY OF INTERIOR
Under the Ministry of Interior, cash irregularities amounted to GH¢286,241 and US$13,485.
These were in respect of misappropriation of proceeds of tender documents; disbursements from revenue collected and unauthorized use of internally generated fund.
MINISTRY OF HARBOURS AND RAILWAYS
Here, management misapplied an amount of GH¢600,000 out of GH¢2,150,000 voted for the payment of end of service benefits for 674 retrenched Railway workers. “It is worth noting that during this period, workers of the Railway company had not been paid for years,” he said, hinting that it may have accounted for the non-payment of salaries.
MINISTRY DEFENCE
Mr. Bawah stated that in the Support Services Brigade, cash irregularities totaling GH¢473,61) for repairs was unsatisfactory completed and had no certification.
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
An amount of 76,761 euros which was transferred to the Copenhagen Mission on 2nd August 2006, could not be traced to the Mission’s accounts.
MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC PLANNING
The Audit report captured that, total release from Non-Road Accounts in violation of procedures for accessing funds from the consolidated amounted to GH¢3,066,742.
Also, the ministry failed to collect taxes amounting to GH¢2,590,922 at the Abeka Lapaz DTO alone. CEPS The CJA concluded that post clearance short collections amounted to GH¢13,655,166.
Source: Enquirer
| | | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| | | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source: The Statesman |
|
NEW. Watch live television from Ghana plus the latest Ghanaian movies plus OBE TV.
We all know that time is of the essence for Akufo Addo to act respectfully toward the entire New Patriotic Party (NPP) membership across the country including those outside and give accountability of moneys given to him by John Agyekum Kufuor for the 2008 presidential campaign. Akufo Addo must realize it is cynical for him to think that the millions of dollars given to him by NPP and Kufour to run the campaign was his personal money; there must be accountability as soon as possible to the NPP organization.| Source: Amankwah, Nana Kofi |
| | | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
NEW. Watch live television from Ghana, the latest Ghanaian movies and OBE TV.
... Public inquiry not necessary in Mabey & Johnson bribery - AG ... No time line has been given to AG| Source: Myjoyonline |
NEW. Watch live television from Ghana, the latest Ghanaian movies and OBE TV.
The founder of the Democratic Freedom Party, Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah, has reacted to the land mark ruling in a UK court in which a number of Ghanaian politicians have been named as having received bribes from a British Construction firm, Mabey and Johnson, in the 1980s and 1990s.| Source: Ghanaian Times |
107. M&J has conducted business with government departments in Ghana over a number of decades. From the mid 1980’s until approximately 1996, M&J’s interests in Ghana were represented by Kwame Ofori. During the early 1990's Kwame Ofori acted as M&J's agent in Ghana. He controlled a Ghanaian bridge building company, and apparently had influence within the ruling circles of the then ruling party in the Ghanaian government - the National Democratic Congress (“NDC”).
108. To promote its business transactions with government departments of Ghana, M&J paid commissions to its agent or agents in relation to the business it won in Ghana. It is accepted by M&J that through the creation of the GDF (the notional fund created by M&J known as the “Ghana Development Fund”), its executives facilitated corruption on behalf of M&J and that its executives were in (or sought to create) a corrupt relationship with a variety of decision making Ghanaian public officials with responsibilities affecting M&J’s affairs. These funds were purportedly for the development of M&J business in Ghana but, in truth and reality, were capable of and were understood to be capable of, being used for corrupt purposes.
109. When appointing and permitting its agents in Ghana to act on its behalf or for it, M&J knew that there was a risk that unknown proportions of the agents' commission totalling £750,000 might be used for corrupt purposes.
110. The budget representing the GDF was managed by Director D, an executive who later became a director of M&J. Whilst Director D had responsibility for different territories during his career, in particular he had responsibility for Ghana. Consequently during the material period, the affairs of M&J in Ghana were heavily influenced by his direction and control.
111. On 3 April 1996 Mr. Ofori and a relative attended a meeting at Twyford with the Office Manager. It appears that Director B and other Directors made their excuses for not attending. The Office Manager' note of the meeting records that Mr Ofori did not have control over the "total 15% commission". Mr Ofori complained that he had problems as he did not believe Director D had distributed 5% to the "relevant personnel" or “local personalities”. The note records Mr Ofori saying that had he been involved in the payment of the total amount of the 15% commission the present difficulties would not have existed and said that this aspect had been dealt with ably by him in the past.
112. On 14 March 1996 Mr. Ofori had sent a fax on “Danielli Mabey Ltd” headed notepaper (a Ghanaian company which was wholly unrelated to M&J and which is understood to have been owned by Kwame Ofori). The fax was marked for the attention of Mrs Margaret Ofori in Accra and appears to have been then passed to M&J. The fax detailed how it was that “the situation in Ghana has been deteriorating gradually ever since Director D came in to Ghana.” There can be little doubt that the contents of the fax had become known at Twyford before Mr. Ofori visited M&J’s Head Office. This is because Director D had himself sent a “confidential memo” dated 25 March 1996 direct to Director B rebutting Mr. Ofori’s assertions, and detailing how it was that he had had a meeting recently with the only person who “can guarantee M&J’s position in this market”: Kwame Peprah. Mr. Peprah was at that time the acting Minister of Finance and the Chairman of the NDC Finance Committee.
113. In fact Director D had been introduced to Mr. Peprah through Baba Kamara (aka I. B. Ibraimah), who was the NDC Treasurer, and ‘political overseer’ for the Ministry for Roads and Highways.
114. The role of Baba Kamara and his value as an agent to M&J is made clear in a document authored by a M&J executive, probably prior to July 1996, and sent to Director A; Director B; Director C and Director E. The document is entitled “Ghana” “Review of existing Agent and introduction of alternative Agent”. Concerning the value of the proposed new agent, “Kamara Ltd is a small Ghanaian contractor owned by Baba Kamara. He is the NCE (sic) Treasurer and also the political overseer for the Ministry of Roads and Highways. He is a member of the all powerful NDC Finance Committee which includes Kwame Peprah (Minister of Finance and Minister of Mines and Energy), Obed Asamoah (Justice Minister and Foreign Minister) and Mrs Rawlings amongst others….[he] has considerable influence over Ato Quarshie, the Minister for Roads, the Deputy Minister and other top ranking civil servants and has been working with us since June 1994. This has been demonstrated over the allocation of the extra Stg 1.3 mil for the Tano bridge and the Stg 4.5 mil allocation for the Priority Bridge Programme.”5
115. Additionally, Mr. Kamara’s wife was secretary to the then President of Ghana - the former Flight Lieutenant ‘Jerry’ Rawlings, who had originally achieved power by means of a military coup in 1981. Unsurprisingly, a person in the position of influence of Mr. Kamara was an attractive prospect to M&J as agent for their business in Ghana, and the SFO contend, that M&J knew and intended that commission paid to Mr. Kamara would be deployed as and when required to corruptly promote M&J’s commercial interests. The SFO believe that because he had demonstrated his effectiveness to attract business corruptly, he was appointed by M&J. This is not accepted by M&J.
116. Allied to the decision to use Mr. Kamara as their agent from some time early in 1996, M&J had plainly also decided to “sideline” Mr. Ofori, and to impose more direct control over the payments made to “local personalities” by Director D supervising and control from 1994 and the creation of the notional GDF.
117. As will become apparent, whereas in Jamaica corrupt payments were directed towards a specific individual, payments allocated against the GDF were more general and numerous government ministers and officials were potentially in line for a bribe. Each such payment required the authorisation of two M&J directors.
118. Payments allocated against the GDF did not relate specifically to stages of contracts in progress. The SFO says that they were obviously made with the intention of securing and maintaining those contracts when it was deemed prudent to do so. It is accepted by M&J that in creating and making payments from this fund corrupt payments would be made to public officials in order to affect the decision making process in favour of M&J. Thus payments were made for a variety of purported purposes to a variety of ministers and officials. Some of those purposes were self-evidently unrelated to M&J’s legitimate business such that the payments can best - and, indeed, only - be described as bribes. Not only were the bribes overt, so too was the means of collection on the part of the Ghanaian ministers and officials, most of whom had UK bank accounts. Some, indeed, visited the UK in order to collect their payments in sterling.
119. During the 1990’s M&J entered into three principal contracts with the Ghanaian Ministry of Roads and Highways (“MRH”) for the provision of bridges: Priority Bridge Programme Number 1, worth £14.5 million, was agreed in 1994; Priority Bridge Programme Number 2, worth around £8 million, was agreed in 1996; and the Feeder Roads Project, worth £3.5 million, was agreed in 1998.
120. Throughout the relevant period, and until the general election in 2000, the NDC formed the Government of Ghana and many of the GDF payments were directed to its members. Thus the then Minister at the MRH, Dr. Ato Quarshie, received a cheque when he visited London in July 1995 in the sum of £55,000 for “contract consultancy”. The cheque was drawn on M&J’s Clydesdale Bank account at the Victoria branch in Buckingham Palace Road, and signed by Director A, and another M&J director at that time. Director A also faxed the bank instructions to enable Dr. Quarshie to cash the cheque.
121. The payment to Dr. Quarshie and the following payments are but examples of a wider-ranging series of bribes to various ministers and officials, which will be set out in a schedule. Even relatively junior officials were the willing recipients of bribes. In 1996 Saddique Bonniface was the ECGD desk officer in the Ministry of Finance (he was recently until the change of government a highly placed politician within the Ghanaian administration). He had a bank account at the National Westminster Bank in Rickmansworth. On 29 February 1996Saddique Boniface received a transfer of £10,000 from M&J to an account at Barclays Bank Plc in Watford. On 29 October 1996 the same account received a transfer of £13,970 from M&J. On or about 29 October 1996 Amadu Seidu, the Deputy Minister at the MRH, received £5000 in his Woolwich account held in St. Peter Port, Guernsey and Dr. George Yankey the Director of Legal and International Affairs at the Ministry of Finance, received £10,000 in his Midland Bank account in Hill Street, London W1; and Edward Lord Attivor, the ex minister at the MRH, also received £10,000 in his London bank account. This was the same branch of the Clydesdale Bank which was used by M&J. Authorisation from M&J directors for each of these transfers was requested by Director D. Amadu Seidu received a further £5,000 on 7 March 1997, the same date on which Saddique Bonniface received a further £2,500. The latter two transfers were authorised by Director B.
122. Mr. Bonniface’s son was a student at Exeter University, where, on or about 26 March 1998, he received a cheque from M&J in the sum of £500. Although this is a relatively small sum it is indicative of the nature of the corruption M&J was then practising: it is a payment which could have no conceivable legitimate commercial purpose.
123. M&J's payments to Dr. Yankey were not confined to the payment on or about 24 October 1996, since his Hill Street account received £5,000 on 26 August 1998 from M&J. Dr. Yankey was subsequently convicted in Ghana of conspiring to wilfully cause losses to the state and served a prison sentence, along with Kwame Peprah. Their convictions cannot be directly related to payments from M&J, but reflect the culture of government corruption at the time, a culture with which M&J was only too willing to engage.
124. From December 1994 to 18 August 1999, M&J used the GDF and associated accounts to pay bribes directly to named Ghanaian public officials totalling £470,792.60.
125. None of the payments set out above, obviously, could be said to have anything remotely resembling a legitimate commercial purpose. Thus M&J was able to engage in wholly corrupt business practices without any effective level of external scrutiny being applied. Plainly, those who governed and directed the affairs of M&J were responsible for arranging and authorising payments which, no matter they were eagerly sought and accepted, were considered vital in securing M&J’s business in a developing nation – at the expense of those least able to avoid the expenditure that is inevitably involved in the making of corrupt payments: the people of Ghana.
SOURCE: http://www.sfo.gov.uk/mabeyjohnsonltd/SFO-Annex2-Statement-01-250909.pdf
|
 We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on. - By:roylexi.com  More Quotes | Submit a Quote |
