Sammy Crabbe:

GIA Trial Is A Witch Hunt
Posted: Daily Guide | Tuesday, 30 March 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) seems to have succumbed to mounting pressure from party founder J.J. Rawlings and foot soldiers, to prosecute members of the Kufuor-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime.

The first batch of individuals perceived to have engaged in some wrongdoings in the sale of Ghana Airways (GA) to Ghana International Airline (GIA) is scheduled to appear in court today to be formally charged with their offences.

They include former Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Kwadwo Okyere Mpiani; former Road and Transport Minister, Dr Richard Anane; former Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei; and former Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NPP, Sammy Crabbe, who was also the former Vice-President of GIA.

Yesterday, former Finance Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo was also hauled before the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to answer charges relating to causing financial loss to the state.

However, even before they appear before the court to be formally charged, Sammy Crabbe, who represented the minority shareholders in GIA, has questioned the basis of government’s decision to prosecute him for his role in the management of the airline.

Speaking to Joy FM’s ‘Super Morning Show’ host, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah yesterday, Mr. Crabbe described the move as a ‘witch hunt’.

According to him, he was not surprised at government’s decision to bring what he described as frivolous charges against him.

He thus expressed the belief that the entire process was politically motivated since, according to him, he was being pursued for the mere fact that he was the former Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NPP.

This, he said, was evident in the fact that even before assuming the reigns of power, the NDC had indicated their intentions to prosecute members of the NPP.

Mr Crabbe has been charged for allegedly withdrawing $1.9 million dollars from government’s account without approval from the government, the majority stakeholder, on June 27, 2005.

Though he has denied any complicity, Mr Crabbe wondered why the NDC waited for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to conduct extensive investigations into the issue before preferring charges against them.

“Nobody has access to the government of Ghana’s account. Who signs that document, who attested that signature, was it authorized…? Can you just stand up and withdraw money from Government of Ghana’s account?” he asked rhetorically.

At the time of the transaction, Sammy Crabbe argued that he was neither a board member nor a signatory to any account number of GIA and also not an employee of the company.

“If a private person should invest in a company that government also has an interest, does it mean that that person’s money immediately becomes public money?

These are some of the things we need to look at. I believe that the government has goofed from all angles.”

Meanwhile, lawyers for former Roads and Transport Minister Dr Richard Anane have indicated their preparedness to defend their client to establish his innocence with regard to the charges preferred against him.

One of the lawyers, George Nimako, told Oman FM yesterday that he and his colleagues were geared up to defend the Nhyieso Member of Parliament (MP) in court.

“We are ready to defend our client through thick and thin. Let me tell you that there is a vast difference between charging somebody and going to court for the trial to begin,” Nimako emphasized.

He however expressed reservations about government’s decision to put the story in the media to create the impression that Dr Anane had been formally charged for willfully causing financial loss to the state.

Mr Nimako emphasized that his client has not been formally charged. “We have not been notified of any charge against our client; we only heard that in the news.

I think that it is not the proper thing to do. We do not charge somebody in the media,” he lashed out at the report carried as the front banner news in yesterday’s edition of state-owned Daily Graphic.

He explained that when Dr Anane was invited to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service on Thursday, he was only cautioned and not charged with any offence.

“Let me emphasize clearly that there is a major difference between cautioning somebody and charging him, so the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice ought to have known better,” Nimako stressed.
Dr Anane was for several hours detained at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters in Accra last Thursday and he answered questions relating to alleged impropriety at the GIA.