CSCL rebuts habour employee’s claim

…to set records straight
By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Posted: The Chronicle Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Barely 48hours after the leadership of the National Union of Habour Employees (NUHE) raised concerns about certain developments at the Tema Habour, management of Cargo Systems Company Limited (CSCL) has been compelled to react.
Management of CSCL has described as untrue information making rounds in sections of the media which seeks to create the impression that it does not satisfy the requirements needed to operate as a stevedoring company.
In a statement signed by Managing Director of the company, Osei Sarfo-Bonsu, he noted that he wanted to set the records straight to erase any doubts being created in the minds of members of the public.
Whilst admitting that he Sarfo-Bonsu and Bennet Aboagye were the original Directors of Golden Gate Services Limited (GGSL), with Bennet as the Managing Director and he as the Deputy, he noted that later developments led to a serious misunderstanding between them which virtually affected the smooth running of the company.
According to him, Prevailing circumstances at the time led to a closure of the company’s offices at the port.
As a result, he emphasised that the Ghana Port and Habours Authority (GPHA) was compelled to intervene in the standoff by temporarily suspending the company’s operational license until all outstanding issues were resolved.
Subsequently, the statement noted that the sector Minister at the time, Professor Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi intervened to settle the issue amicably.
Later, the Minister was said to have managed to bring the two parties together in a bid to resolve all outstanding issues.
This, Mr. Sarfo-Bonsu said led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between him and his former partner to enable the GPHA to restore the company’s operational license whiles other issues pertaining to the disagreement were still being investigated.
Under the circumstance, he and Mr. Aboagye reached an agreement in the presence of the Minister for a forensic audit to be carried out by an independent private auditor to go into the books of the company-spanning the period of its inception to date.
He emphasised that the Minister then solicited the assistance of the Auditor-General to appoint a competent and truly independent private auditor to go into the company’s books.
Whilst the company was under investigation by the auditors, Mr. Sarfo-Bonsu indicated that Bennet Aboagye went to the Minister with the excuse that he could no longer work with he Sarfo-Bonsu and thus proposed a split of the company’s operational license.
For that reason, the statement said, the Minister invited both parties to his official residence at which Mr. Sarfo-Bonsu was informed of Mr. Aboagye’s proposal for a split of the company’s operational license.
Under the circumstance, Mr. Sarfo-Bonsu said he could not but obliged to the proposal after which the sector Minister wrote to the Director-General of the GPHA asking him to implement the agreement reached by both parties concerning the split.
On the strength of the Ministers letter, Mr. Sarfo-Bonsu said the GPHA decided to split the license and directed that both parties submit the new names of their respective companies for them to be issued with licenses.
Barely a week after the implementation of the agreement reached, Mr. Sarfo-Bonsu mentioned “Mr. Aboagye for reasons best known to him went back to the Minister saying that he was no more interested in the split hence asking the Minister to reverse the earlier decision.”
For one reason or the other, he said the Minister also obliged to his request thereby suspending his earlier directive for the company’s operational license to be split.
This decision, according to him again resurrected the cold-war which existed between him and Mr. Bennet Aboagye.
Contrary to laid down procedures and provisions of the Companies Code, Mr. Sarfo-Bonsu further emphasised that Mr. Aboagye under very bizarre circumstance illegally terminated his (Sarfo-Bonsu’s).
He therefore noted that he was left without an option than to patiently wait for the forensic audit report which waded into the activities and operations of the company.
Finally, when the report came out, he noted that it unearthed negative findings which confirmed his suspicion of financial malfeasance in the company.
Meanwhile, he said the Minister had earlier told him and Mr. Aboagye that the basis for a split of the company’s operational license could only be determined by the outcome of the forensic audit.
When the auditors submitted the final report, Mr. Sarfo-Bonsu who had virtually been without a job for the past nine months said he approached the Minister to find out from him as to what decision he was going to take on the report.
In his own wisdom, he noted that the Minister decided to split the license and therefore wrote another letter to GPHA to effect the earlier decision which was dully carried out after which a letter was written to the two of them to resubmit the names of their new companies for issuance of separate operational license.
For this reason, Mr. Sarfo-Bonsu noted that he complied with all the requirements and conditions set out for the issuance of an operational license and was subsequently issued a license to operate.
According to him, he has since written three different letters to Mr. Aboagye requesting him for a meeting to discuss the assets and liabilities of the company including the future of the workers which the later has flatly turned down.
“Management of Cargo Systems Company Limited (CSCL) therefore finds it not only outrageous but also despicable for Mr. Aboagye to be hopping from one media house to the other peddling all sorts of falsehoods about the company and it’s Managing Director, Mr. Sarfo-Bonsu instead of responding to the substantive issues at stake”, he said.
Management of CSCL has thus asked all media houses to contact them before going out with any such publications in order not to create negative in the minds of people.

Mills angry with DCEs

…for disrespecting chiefs
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Posted: The Chronicle Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The President, His Excellency J. E. A. Mills, has expressed concern over the way some of the district chief executives (DCEs) have been treating chiefs in the country. “I am aware that in certain cases, DCEs have very little respect for traditional authorities, and yet at the time of campaign, these are the very people who lead us to the traditional authorities,” he noted, and has therefore cautioned DCEs to accord chiefs and the chieftaincy institution, the needed respect they deserve.
Professor Mills, who was speaking at the Osu Castle yesterday, when the Standing Committee of the National House of Chiefs called on him, promised to consult the traditional authorities in appointing thirty per cent of people to the District Assemblies, stressing, “rest assured Nananom, that we will do so in full consultation with you.”
President Mills also noted that nobody could dispute the fact that the chieftaincy institution constituted the very foundation of the Ghanaian society.
This, he said, was evident in the fact that chiefs and politicians have one thing in common, seeking to enhance the welfare of the people.
He, therefore, stressed on the need for stronger collaboration between the two institutions, to develop the nation.
Whilst appreciating the concerns and suggestions raised by the chiefs, Professor Mills noted that he would look at the issues with all seriousness, since according to him, when the chieftaincy institution is strengthened, it would benefit the people.
He, therefore, charged Ghanaians to respect their traditional rulers, stressing “they are the embodiment of the soul of our people, and I’m going to insist that when it comes to the appointment of DCEs, very detailed consultations will have to be held with the traditional authorities.
“Nobody is a repository of wisdom or of knowledge, and therefore, we will be knocking at your doors when it becomes necessary, so that we build a better Ghana for our people.”
On their part, the National House of Chiefs asked to be given the needed recognition and support, to enable them carry out their constitutionally mandated duties.
The President of the House, who also doubles as Wulungunaba, Naa Professor John Nabila, indicated that merely guaranteeing chieftaincy and its traditional authorities, as provided for in Article 270 (1) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic, without providing what it takes to run the institution, does not serve any purpose.
The House of Chiefs therefore appealed to President Mills and his government, to take a critical look at this unfortunate development.
“It is a well-established fact that the budgetary allocation for the institution, is woefully inadequate, and does not permit Nananom, Traditional Councils, Regional Houses, National House of Chiefs to perform creditably, all the constitutional responsibilities assigned to us in the 1992 Constitution,” he emphasised.
As a first step to ensuring this, the Chiefs have asked for the codification of the lines of succession of chiefs, as required by the Constitution, to help minimise the numerous chieftaincy disputes, which have not been resolved because of lack of adequate funding.
The chiefs noted that the various judicial committees of Traditional, Regional and National House of Chiefs, which could have also reduced chieftaincy disputes, are not functioning well, because they did not have counsels.
Considering the role they play in the decentralisation process, the chiefs appealed to the government to critically examine the system of local government, to remove the current minimum representation of chiefs, stressing that “it should also aim at minimising the incessant, unnecessary conflicts between District and Municipal administrators, and traditional authorities.”
The 2005 country report, and programme of action of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) on Ghana, is emphatic in recognition of the role of traditional authorities, particularly in relation to the performance of the country’s decentralised administrative system.
The APRM report demands that “chiefs must remain active participants in, and constructive contributors to the process of decentralisation, democratisation and sustainable development.”
Meanwhile, the new Chieftaincy Act 2008, Act 795, which is in consonance with the 1992 Constitution, has been passed by Parliament, and replaces the old Chieftaincy Act 1971, Act 370.
Article 30 of the new Act, also guarantees the power of chiefs to be arbiters in customary arbitrations in any dispute, where the parties involved consent to the arbitration process.
As a matter of urgency, the National House of Chiefs has appealed to the government, the Attorney-General and the Chief Justice to strengthen this old arm of traditional judicial administration, with the belief that the formal or legally recognised use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in the country’s traditional courts, will help to promote the tenets of the rule law.
In this light, the President the House of Chiefs, Naa Professor John Nabila, said they were in the process of preparing a comprehensive strategic plan, to elaborate its vision for, what he described as effective and cooperative governance, to consolidate the country’s democracy and its ancestral heritage.
The House of Chiefs took the opportunity to congratulate the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), in the just-ended elections, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for gracefully accepting the election results in good faith, whilst commending former President Kufuor for facilitating a smooth transition to the present government.

Damning final audit report out

A-G HUNTS GOLDEN GATE MD GM

…Over missing GH¢2.4m

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Posted: The Chronicle Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Mr. Bennet Aboagye, MD of Golden GateAn audit conducted by accounting firm, Messrs Baffour Awuah and Associates at the instance of the Auditor General, Edward Dua-Agyemang into the records of Golden Gate Company Limited (GGCL), a Tema-based stevedoring company, of which a final report had been issued, has uncovered massive fraud and underhand dealings in the activities and operations of the company.
The report, which covered the period of March to September 2007, indicates that the financial operation of the company, which has been battling to settle its tax liabilities to the state, was fraught with serious irregularities and lapses. This has culminated in the failure of Management of the company, headed by Mr. Bennett Aboagye, its Managing Director to account for a total amount of US$ 1.650,913.00, ∏56, 000.00 and GH¢291, 600.51 respectively.
The equivalent of the amounts involved, at the current exchange rate in the new Ghana cedis, stands at a whooping GH ¢2.437, 618.07.
In the process of the audit, the report noted that it became evidently clear that there were virtually no internal systems in place, stressing that “financial policies, accounting procedures and proper books of account and proper accounting records, among others, required for efficient and effective performance and financial operations and proper keeping of the company were absent.”
Besides, the report noted that the provisions of the Companies Code of 1963 (Act 179) and the GGSL regulations were violated. The auditors noted that the breaches of the GGCL regulations and the Companies Code, as well as the apparent absence of financial policies and accounting procedures manual, as well as failure to keep proper books of account and accounting records, among others strongly suggested that “there were serious deficiencies and absolute lack of transparency in the financial operations of GGSL.”
For the period of April 12, 2007, and October 29, 2007, the company submitted invoices totalling $1,186.63 to Meridian Port Services (MPS). Out of the amount, GGSL received a total amount of $1,186,496.63 leaving a balance of $11,505.78 to be settled by MPS.
It was also detected that the management of GGCL did not issue official receipts for monies received from some companies and other sources such as proceeds from the sale of foreign currencies to companies like Index Link, Ecoplast, Eco-Air limited and others.
The Auditors thus noted that “the practice of not using official receipts to cover monies received from companies and other sources do not only breach the provisions of the Companies Code, but can also lead to manipulation and perpetration of fraudulent acts, including the embezzlement of company’s fund.”
In the course of the investigations, the Auditors uncovered that four officials of the company- Messrs. John Evans Adjei, Robert Bortieh, Lawrence Atale and Allan Ofosuhene collected a total amount of $96,531.00 - covering the period of August 14, 2002, to May 16, 2006.
The amounts involved were, however, not recorded in the company’s incoming cash/cheques register, since the Auditors did not sight any documentary evidence to indicate how the listed collections were accounted for.
Management of the company could also not produce any documentary evidence to account for the total amount of $96,531.00 collected by the four officials.
In the absence of any documentary evidence to confirm that the amounts collected were brought to account, and paid for into the bank account of the GGCL, the Auditors have recommended that the total amount of $96,531.00 should be recovered from the four officials involved.
A total amount of ¢1,381,450,000.00 being part of proceeds from the sale of bidding was also allegedly paid into various bank accounts of GGCL during the period November 25, 2002, to August 2006.
Management could, however, not produce deposit slips and bank statements to confirm that the money was actually paid into the bank accounts of the company.
Similarly, the investigations revealed that for the period September 2002 to December 2007, a total amount of ¢596,346,600.00 was allegedly lodged into the bank accounts of the company. However, Management could not provide the names of the receiving banks and the relevant deposit slips and the bank statements to confirm this.
In this case, the Auditors recommended that “in the absence of documentary evidence to confirm the lodgements, the total amount of ¢596,346,600.00 should be recovered from Mr. R.S.L Engmann, the Commercial and Administrative Manager, who is also the officer in charge of accounts.
Meanwhile, the two individuals who have been implicated in multiple complicity by the audit report, Messrs. Bennett Aboagye and Rudolf Engmann, Managing Director and Administrative Manager respectively, have sought to ridicule the report since according to them, there are a whole lot of ‘holes’ in the report.
In separate interviews with The Chronicle, the two individuals described the report as boogie and bogus. “I’ve been to Mr. Agyemang Dua himself and I’ve told him about the problem, that we had lots of evidence to give, they refused to do it because they had an agenda”, Mr. Aboagye noted.
On his part, Mr. Engmann said the report was not discussed with him, stressing that “I have a whole lot of response to give if they have discussed it with me earlier, you know most of those things would have been resolved”, he noted.
The report emanated from the instructions of the Auditor-General, Edward Dua Agyemang, who was acting on a request by the then Minister of Ports, Habours and Railways, Professor Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi, following a disagreement between the Managing Director of GGCL, Bennett Aboagye and his Deputy, Osei Sarfo-Bonsu, over the finances of the company.