BIG Corruption Scandal Under Mills: TAQA Paid $1m To Govt Officials - CEO Confesses

President Mills is he going to take action or it will be business as usual?     In 2009, barely a year into the 4-year term of the Mills-Mahama National Democratic Congress, functionaries of the NDC allegedly received at least US$1 million dollars in bribery payments from TAQA, the United Arab Emirates based majority shareholder of the Aboadze thermal plant. Moreover, according to confessions of TAQA’s former Chief Executive Officer, in its bid to triple the output of its Takoradi Power Station (110MW), TAQA paid multimillion dollar bribes to Ghanaian politicians in the energy sector in 2009, the year that TAQA sought approval for its expansion. “The authorization to triple its output was obtained by inflating the official price of the expansion works” and then paying part of the surplus to Government officials, according to Peter Barker-Homek, the CEO of TAQA at the time. Like the SCANCEM and the Mabey & Johnson bribery scandals which rocked the NDC, it has taken another legal case, this time by Mr Barker-Homek against his former employers, to expose the alleged corruption taking place currently in Ghana’s energy sector. In a detailed letter sent to the Securities & Exchange Commission earlier this year, and revealed by the Maghreb Confidential on May 12 2011, Mr Barker-Homek detailed how TAQA made standard corrupt payments of US$1 million a year to Ghana government officials. In 2010, TAQA formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Ghana and the Volta River Authority in relation to the proposed 110 MW expansion of the Takoradi plant. It is the contract sum that the former CEO claims was inflated to take care of Government officials. Mr Barker-Homek sued the UAE state-owned energy firm TAQA in a US court in 2010, claiming he was forced out in 2009 after he “tried to put a stop to the kickbacks, bribery, accounting fraud and corruption.” Barker-Homek, recruited to Taqa after working at energy companies including BP Plc, was allegedly forced by General Manager Carl Sheldon to sign a severance agreement, according to the breach-of-contract lawsuit filed August 27 2010 in Detroit federal court. The case is Barker-Homek v. Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC, 2:10-cv-13448, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit). This will not be the first time officials of the NDC have been involved in taking bribes for the award of contracts in Ghana. In September 2009, it took a legal case brought by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office against Mabey & Johnson, a firm which pleaded guilty for engaging in bribery and corruption in a foreign country. Ghana, under President Jerry John Rawlings and Vice President John Atta Mills, is one of the countries where this corruption allegedly took place. The Reading based company, owned by one of Britain’s richest families, had admitted on 7th July 2009 at Southwark Crown Court to paying bribes to win contracts in Ghana, Jamaica and Iraq. Contracts worth £22m were awarded in the 1990s for the construction of nine bridges in rural areas in Ghana. Similarly, in 2007, proceedings from the Asker and Baerum High Court (in Norway) alleged that Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings and PV Obeng were beneficiaries of huge sums of United States dollars paid into anonymous accounts by the management of Scancem, a Norwegian cement giant (owners of Ghacem), headquartered in Oslo, Norway. The African representative for Scancem, Tor EgilKjelsaas, was hauled before the court for theft by his employers. Tor EgilKjelsaas was believed to have paid huge sums of money to some African leaders in order to sustain Scancem’s monopoly over supply of cement to the countries concerned. The court proceedings indicate that between 1993 and 1998, a total of US$1,690,000 dollars was transferred to a Barclays Bank account and a total of US$2,460,000 was paid into a Unibank account during the same period. The court proceedings also showed that Scancem management believed at the time that the money lodged in the Barclays account, as intended, went to Nana Konadu and that of Unibank went to PV Obeng, then the de facto prime minister of the Rawlings administration.       Source: The New Statesman/Ghana

AFAG exposes ‘chop-chop’ at forestry commission running into GH¢3 million

Pressure group, Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), has accused some top board members of the Forestry Commission of awarding a contract at the cost of GH¢3 million to a company, it said, had not yet fulfilled its part of the contract. AFAG expressed utter dismay as to why the Forestry Commission and its board, totally disregarded the laid down rules of procurement under sole sourcing and “in a bizarre twist, handed a juicy contract worth GH¢3,000,000 (¢30 billion old Ghana cedis) to ECOTECH Services Limited,” a company, it said, was two months old with no previous industry experience. It noted that even though the company had been paid already, ECOTECH Services Limited had not delivered on its obligation, calling for the immediate resignation of the Board Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission “to save Ghanaian tax payers' money from further abuse from such greedy and heartless public officials.” A leading member of AFAG, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriyie, at a news conference in Accra on Tuesday, said “as we speak, not a single seedling has been supplied and the deadline for the execution of the project is a few days away.” According to the group, the move was an attempt by the “Forestry Commission and three other companies to deprive the state of eight million dollars invested in mass afforestation exercise commissioned by His Excellency John Evans Atta Mills on 24th July, 2009 at Yefri in the Kintampo South District of the Brong Ahafo Region.” This, it added, was a major setback to the fight against corruption in the country and petitioned the government not to spare anyone involved in the deal. However, AFAG is yet to name the board members and the other two companies involved in the alleged “misuse, abuse and overuse of the public purse,” totalling about GH¢9 million, promising to name the persons involved at its next news conference to be held soon. Documents show that ECOTECH Services Limited was registered at the Registrar General’s office on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 with an authorised business of afforestation, farming, environmental sanitation and disease control services as well as waste management. The supply of seedlings for the National Forest Plantation Development Programme (NFPDP) formed part of the ‘Greening Ghana’ initiative adopted by the government of Ghana after the global warming conference held in Copenhagen. “Subsequently, the then Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Collins Dauda announced government’s plans to expand the National Forest Plantation Development Programme to include areas located outside the forest reserves commencing 10th September, 2009,” the group indicated. With its constitutional mandate as spelt out in Act 269, the Forestry Commission, which was tasked to take oversight responsibility for the successful implementation of the project, sought approval from the minister to initiate action on seedling production contracts, which seemed to have been delayed in a letter dated January 27, 2010. The Forestry Commission Board in a letter dated February 2, 2010, according to AFAG, “requested the then Hon. Minister to waive the procurement procedures to enable large scale producers to be contracted in raising the seedlings.” Therefore, the Executive Director of the Forestry Services Division (FSD), AFAG stated, was directed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission to include in the seedling production guidelines, individuals or groups to the nursery operator supplying seedlings for the programme to be recommended by the respective District Assemblies. This directive, AFAG continued, was communicated further to all the regional managers on February 5, 2010. But the pressure group, on the other hand, smelled some fishy deals within the corridors of the Forestry Commission, especially, when the Chief Executive Officer, it claimed, went contrary to the previous arrangements and went ahead to apply to “the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to seek approval to engage ECOTECH Services Limited, a company formed barely three months earlier to supply seedlings for the plantations.” AFAG expressed the willingness to make available to any committee of enquiry, which would be set up to carry out investigations into the matter. Credit: Nathaniel Y. Yankson

NPP smells corruption in road, school contracts; demands probe

Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie         The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is demanding a probe into some road and school building contracts awarded since coming into office of the Mills-administration. It alleged that 90 per cent of the contracts were awarded without tender. General Secretary of the party, Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, said the president must institute the probe if he is serious about fighting corruption. He said while a six-class-room block cost an average of GH¢80,000 under president John Kufuor, the Mills government was spending such outrageous amounts as GH¢261,000 on similar projects. The huge disparities and inexplicable jump in contract sums, Mr Afriyie said, raises not only questions but also concerns about the seriousness of the government in cutting profligate spending and ensuring that the nation gets value for money. “We demand to know why in spite of the alleged inflationary downward trend, the cost of building a six-unit classroom block has shot up from GH¢80,000 to GH¢261,000,” he said. Source: Joy News/Ghana

NDC Must Explain 1.5 Million Dollars On 50 Achievement Books

The NPP UK and Ireland is calling on Parliament and the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice to investigate the circumstances where 1.5 million dollars was spent on publishing the Green Book of 50 achievements by the Mills-Mahama administration. We humbly request the Minister of finance Dr Kwabena Duffuor, his deputies Mr Fiifi Kwetey, and Dr Seth Tekper, the Minister of Infromation Mr John Tia and his two deputies Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Mr James Agyenim Boateng to provide information on how many copies of the book were published and how much money was spent and how many people got copies.

Our sources of the Ministry of information have told us an amount of 1.5 million dollars was spent on publishing and distributing these Green Books . We believe this amount and the idea on spending it on these books, is ridiculous and an abuse of tax payers money. Some teachers still have not been paid their salary arrears since November 2010. Children in the Brong Ahafo, Parts of Eastern, Ashanti, Upper East and Upper West and Northern Region have not received the free school uniforms and excercise books they where promised, Some parts of Greater Accra Region, especially Dangme East District ie Kordiabe, Ayikuma, Doryum and surrounding villages did not have any electricity services between 15th November,2010 and 22nd November,2010 and 29th December, 2010 to 2nd January, 2011,Some areas in the capital especially Adenta, Ashalley Botwe,North and East Legon and Mataheko still put up with disco light electricity services and severe water shortages and yet again our leaders just continue to harden their hearts and waste money on misplaced priorities.

Ghanaians are disappointed in our current leaders who sang like parrots when they were campaigning for power , and when they secured the trust of the public, the oath which they swore to protect the public purse was cast into the gutter. We have seen Ministers like Okudzeto Ablakwa, spend 360 million cedis to renovate their offices, we have seen him collude with President Mills to distribute 110 cars to journalists with no names, we have seen Hannah Louisa Ofori Yeboah alias Hannah Bissiw build one of the most expensive double mansions built in Ghana, we have seen 7.2 million US dollars of World Cup money disappear into thin air, we have seen an insensitive government whose members after attending numerous Christmas and New Year Parties eating pork chops and khebabs slap 20% taxes ,300% road tolls, 30% tariffs on Petrol on poor Ghanaians just because they want to raise enough money for the next general elections in 2012 how wicked and callous!!!

Ghana really deserves Better !!!
Nana Yaw Sarpong
Communications Officer
NPPUK and Ireland

Bui City Project: Asiedu Nketiah is being irresponsible or mischievous- NPP

Fred Oware, First Vice Chairman of the NPP explaining issues to the media   The former Chief Executive Officer of the Bui Power Authority, Mr. Fred Oware has described comments by Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), who has threatened to haul former President John Agyekum Kufuor before the Bui Power Authority to account for his stewardship as “irresponsible.” The NDC scribe had threatened to sponsor the invitation of the former president who was the chairman of the Authority, to face the Bui Power Authority to answer questions regarding funding for the project if what he calls “lies” from the opposition New Patriotic Party do not seize. Mr. Asiedu Nketiah further blamed the past administration for not leaving behind any document that could help with the implementation process. But at a press conference attended by some leading members of the NPP, Mr Fred Oware who is also the First Vice Chairman of the NPP, debunked assertions by the NDC scribe that there were no documents, minutes of board meetings or funding for the successful implementation of the project, insisting that “such irresponsible statements can only come from one who does not read materials sent to him" or one who "plainly chooses to be mischievous.” According to Mr. Oware, a look into the Bui Hydroelectric Project, EPC/Turnkey Project Contract Volume 1 Schedule of Payment, subsection No. 17 Provisional Sum would reveal that various funds were allocated for specific aspects of the project. He said a total of $28 million was made available to cater for Employers Permanent Facilities, Irrigation Structures and Facilities for Resettlement. He said “additionally, there was a sum of $12 million under Schedule No. 2 Road and Bridge Works, which was to be applied to road works within the proposed City.” Mr. Oware is of the view that the reasons why the government requires more funding than initially anticipated to complete the project is because the Mills-led government froze all contract payments for the first six months of 2009 which attracted penalties. This, he said, has also pushed back the completion date from 2012 to 2013. He indicated that in view of the government’s quest to increase local content, the current “board has appointed a number of subcontractors to undertake the resettlement housing, with charges higher than the Chinese rates,” adding “the Chinese contractors continue to supervise the resettlement project so they will charge a percentage of the subcontractor’s fees which are additional losses to the state.” Mr. Oware further raised red flags over a company purported to be owned by Mr. Asiedu Nketiah which he said is the only block manufacturing company for the entire resettlement project. He stated that “the higher prices charged by him (Asiedu Nketiah) ultimately affect the project cost.” He promised parliament of some interesting revelations if it critically examines the composition of government’s request for an additional US$118 million to complete the project. Mr. Oware revealed that he had even offered to help to work on the project without taking a salary till the end of his five years contract but the government has not gotten back to him since he was told that he would be contacted when the need arises. He said there is no reason why the then chairman of the Authority, former President Kufour should be asked to answer questions when the Chief Executive responsible for the daily activities of the project is available. He therefore cautioned Asiedu Nketiah that if he “succeeds in calling President Kufour for public hearing, further details would be made of his own contribution to the difficulties he is complaining about.” Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Asiedu Nketia admits selling blocks to Bui contractors but rejects conflict of interest allegations

Raping Ghana Asiedu Nketiah*s way

Asiedu Nketia         The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress has rejected conflict of interest allegations made against him over the construction of the Bui Dam project. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, who is also a member of the Board of the Bui Authority is said to be a major supplier of blocks used in the construction of the project, a practice the opposition New Patriotic Party has cited as potential conflict of interest situation. A former Chief Executive Officer of the Bui Project, Fred Oware accused the NDC scribe of selling the blocks at a higher price which has consequently increased the total cost of the project. Speaking to Joy News on Wednesday, Johnson Asiedu Nketia admitted selling the blocks to contractors of the project but vehemently rejected conflict of interest allegations. He said he noticed the seeming difficulties by subcontractors of the Bui project in buying blocks and therefore decided to extend his block factory, which was originally in his hometown, closer to the project site so the subcontractors could benefit. He added that as a board member of the Bui Project he was not under any contractual agreement to provide blocks for the project, neither were the contractors under any compulsion to buy the blocks from his company. He explained that his blocks are of higher quality and understandably higher priced than his competitors. According to him, his company sells blocks to all contractors in an around Bui and will be difficult to determine which contractor was buying the blocks specifically for the Bui Project. He accused the NPP of deliberately diverting issues about a non-existent Bui City, which he said the NPP had “fooled” Ghanaians and used as political ploy when in reality there were no such plans or funds to undertake a Bui City project in addition to the Hydroelectric Power Project. The Bui Hydroelectric Power Project was started in 2007 by then President John Kufuor led administration to provide additional voltage to Ghana’s electricity. The project however is said to have suffered some setback due to financing arrangements. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

CEPS and Corruption in Ghana: Where Does the Buck Stop?

Recent revelations by Anas Amereyaw Anas showing how the Tema harbour has been turned into a house of thieves is no news to many Ghanaians. The only people who seem to have no idea is President Mills and his ministers who are paid with the tax payers' money to protect and defend the country and yet have failed to lead the country and act decisively when it comes to matters of national importance.

 

President Mills and his ministers paid with the tax payers' money are claiming ignorance about the massive corruption that exist at the harbour and indeed in many of the institutions in the country. The corruption revealed by Anas is just a tip of the iceberg if one considers in totality what is going on in the country. The culture of corruption in the country begins right from the Castle (the Seat of Government). There are people who use the office of the president to solicit favour from the public. There are ministers who are using their offices for financial and material gain at the cost of the nation. Carl Wilson and many of his cohorts are still going around with guns terrorising the people after it became known that he was using his association with Alex Segbefia (presidential aide) to steal cars from Tema Harbour.

Corruption at Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) runs deep from the head to the bottom. The head of the commission of CEPS is corrupt.There are custom officers who own 13 cars  and 5 houses in Koforidua, Accra, Tema, Ho, Aflao. The police is the same. 

 

Take the Accountant General's department for example where people who have gone on pension are made to pay thousands of cedis before their money is released to them. Those who are not able to pay money to the accountants sometimes die and leave their money behind. 

It is no secrete that the Lands Commission and the Town and Country planning are one of the corrupt institutions in the country. The many land disputes scattered all over the country have come about because of the corrupt officers who in cahoots with some traditional leaders are making millions of cedis at the expense of the people of Ghana.

At the Immigration Headquarters there are people who have turned their office into money making jackpot. I can give the example of one officer called George who after going to University of Sheffield in Britain to study learnt nothing but how to take bribe. This George (a senior officer) is teamed up with one officer called Victor and are making money using their office. Nobody goes to the Immigration Office without paying money. The officers there use tactics that force people to give them money. 

 

Does anyone know any institution in Ghana that is not corrupt? I am struggling to find one.

It is not the existence of corruption that make people unhappy and angry, it is the lack of effort by the President, his ministers and the institutions to fight corruption with the potency it needs that makes people angry. There is the tendency for people accused of corruption to be allowed to continue their corrupt activities without any penalties. Take the Elubo corruption case revealed by Anas for example. The Attorney General's office has shown no interest to prosecute CEPS and other officers who were caught on tape aiding and abetting smuggling. Take the Osu Children's Home saga also revealed by Anas in which officers were caught manhandling children, and food and items donated to them systematically stolen by the officials. No one got punished, no one got sacked. The same people who were stealing and beating the orphans are still in charge doing as usual what they have been caught on tape doing: stealing items and abusing the children. 

Take the other classic revelation by Anas i.e. the Accra Psychiatry investigation. The nurses and officer who were caught abusing inmates, and selling food and other items are still in charge doing their old stuff.

This is what makes we the people of Ghana angry. We have leaders who cannot take action. We have leaders who are happy milking nation and failing to protect the interest of the people. We have a president who is always preaching and yet failing to practice what he preaches. We are slowly documenting all these crimes one day the people of Ghana will take the law into our own hands and give ourselves justice: justice that will make sure that CEPS officers stealing, aiding and abetting smuggling; police officers taking money from drivers; accountants failing to pay pensioners; immigration officers taking money from travelers. 

We know the government is on the side of the corrupt and the powerful that is why nothing is being done to prosecute and punish the corrupt and the greedy in the country. But we know our day will come.

One day all will account to us. We the people will deliver instant justice to make the poor and the powerless strong and happy. The Sipa Yankey's and their cohorts will account to us. We shall take away from them all that they have stolen from the poor people of Ghana.

 A day will come in which those turning Ghana into the epicentre of international cocaine business will answer to the people of Ghana. A day will come in which we will deliver justice to the people of Ghana and restore true democracy, freedom, development. A day is coming in which we will rescue the nation from the wolves, and vampires in the country; from the corrupt CEPS, police, accountants and immigration officers and restore dignity to our dear nation.

We are watching and following closely what our North African brothers and sisters in Tunisia and Egypt are doing; their effort to defeat corruption, cronyism, nepotism, poverty and restore hope to the people. We are watching their effort to demand accountability, probity and justice from those entrusted with the responsibility to manage the resources of their countries. 

Our day will come very soon.


By Lord. A. Adusei

Government seeking advice to review operations at Tema Harbour - Duffuor

Dr Kwabena Duffuor         The Government is seeking legal and administrative advice to review operations of Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and the Destination Inspection Companies including GCNET. Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, announced this in a statement issued in reaction to the "Enemies of the Nation" video by Mr Anas Aremeyaw Anas, an Investigative Journalist. He said a committee has been instituted and begun work in earnest to ensure that "not only do we retrieve the revenue lost and punish all culprits involved, but we also put in place measures to ensure that these nefarious activities are totally eliminated or reduced to the barest minimum". Dr Duffuor said the reform of the revenue institutions which started last year with the establishment of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) would be intensified particularly in the area of automation to reduce the human interface that often led to bribery and collusion among stakeholders. The Finance Minister appealed to the judiciary and security agencies to give the Ministry the necessary support to ensure that all found guilty of involvement or aiding and abetting corruption exposed in the video were duly punished. He commended Mr Anas and his team for their patriotism, a thorough and meticulous work and assured them and Ghanaians that no one involved would be spared. "Indeed Anas risked his life to undertake such investigative work and the Ministry congratulates him on that effort", Dr Duffuor added. Dr Duffuor expressed concern about the collusion and unpatriotic activities of some officials of the Customs Division of the GRA, individuals and institutions that had led to massive loss of revenue at the Tema Harbour exposed by the video. Source: GNA

Mills charges Judiciary to help ‘crush Enemies of the Nation’

President J.E.A. Mills         President John Evans Atta Mills has paid a surprise visit to the Tema Harbour, in apparent response to the latest investigative documentary by journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas. The documentary details widespread corruption at the Tema Harbour, frustrating a lot of importers. Interacting with officials, President Mills condemned the corruption and urged them to work professionally to generate revenue for the state. The president was outraged that the revelations were not reported to him by the security agencies operating in the port. “You have security agencies which are operating here, I wish that the revelations from Anas had come to me through the security agencies which are here. No. that has not been the case,” he regretted. Speaking to findings of the journalist that millions of Ghana Cedis have been lost to the nation owing to the evasion of import duties, as a result of the abuse of tax exemption regulations. President Mills said, “If anybody comes with the president’s name, the first thing you should do is to arrest that person.” He also spoke of his disappointment that a High Court in Accra has discharged a group of customs officials who were implicated in a similar documentary by Anas Aremeyaw Anas. “I want to use this occasion also – with the greatest of respect – to appeal to our judiciary… please, help each one of us to account for our stewardship. What happened with the Elubo video causes me so much distress, what happened? What happened? Is it a good example?” he asked. President Mills suggested that all CEPS officials should be required to fill asset declaration forms once they are recruited into the service. He said from time to time, new forms should be filled so that property acquisition of CEPS officials can be tracked. Joy News’ Seth Kwame Boateng who was with the president during the visit to the port, said he had never seen the president so angry. Source: Joy News/Ghana

15 'corrupt' harbour officers to be sacked, prosecuted

Koku Anyidoho, Director of Communications at the Presidency         Fifteen officials at the Tema Harbour caught on camera ripping the country off in 'bribe takings' face summary dismissal. That, according to the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Koku Anyidoho, is the first line of punitive measures being taken against the corrupt officials. They will then be hauled before court on charges of bribery and corruption, he told Joy FM’s Dzifa Bampoh. Koku’s comments are in reaction to the damning revelation of CEPS, police and other security personnel caught red-handed collecting bribes from investigative journalists disguised as importers at the Tema Harbour. The revelations have angered President John Mills who did not hide his disappointment when he paid an unannounced visit to the Harbour on Friday. He said he will not hesitate to transfer all CEPS officials at the Harbour, if it became necessary, as well as institute an asset declaration regime for all customs officials to declare their assets. He swore also that officials implicated by the investigative piece will be dealt with accordingly, and expressed disgust at the Judiciary for not prosecuting CEPS officials arrested in Elubo for their apparent involvement in the illegal smuggling of cocoa out of Ghana late last year. Koku Anyidoho told Joy News the president intends to “crack the whip” in what he said is the “horrendous” acts of bribery and corruption uncovered by the Crusading Guide’s Anas Aremeyaw Anas. “Things that were in the clip are horrendous,” he said, adding “women collecting bribes in glee” and dancing whiles at it, is worrying. He said 15 officials directly implicated by the investigation will be dealt with according to CEPS’ rules of engagement spelt out in their code of conduct. Per that code, he said the officials will be summarily dismissed as the first line of action. However, the officials will be allowed an opportunity for fair hearing, and natural justice when they are hauled before the court, he added. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com