Parliamentary roasting awaits nominees

… At Appointments Committee

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Posted: The Chroinicle Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Even before they make their maiden appearance before the Appointments Committee of Parliament for consideration, issues have started popping up on four of the President’s nominees, including the likes of Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni and Sherry Ayittey.
Members of the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), led by Accra-based legal practitioner, Godfred Dame, have raised concerns over the nominations and possible approval of the Ministers-designate by Parliament.
They have thus tabled a petition before the Appointments Committee of Parliament, to, not only block, but revoke the nomination of the aforementioned individuals for ministerial positions.
At a press conference in Accra yesterday, the leadership of AFAG noted that the actions, conduct and behaviour of the said Ministers-designate, reeked of disdain and conscious disregard for the basic laws of the country, since according to them, it has brought them into public disregard.
They recalled how a forensic audit report, commissioned by the Auditor-General in the year 2004, into the operations of the National Vocational and Technical Institute (NVTI), made specific findings of financial improprieties, corruption and fraud against Alhaji Mumuni during his days at the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, under the Rawlings National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime.
“It is remarkable that those findings were to the effect that through the gross negligence of Alhaji Mumuni, the state had lost a colossal ¢15 billion (old cedis) through his involvement with the NVTI alone,” they emphasised.
They further noted that the former Minister was found to have authorised the fraudulent release of amounts in excess of ¢19 billion from the Consolidated Fund, into undisclosed accounts.
To them, the fact that no punitive measures or criminal proceedings had not been instituted against Alhaji Mumuni, based on the report, was immaterial, since any future Attorney General could institute criminal proceedings against the Minister of Foreign Affairs-designate.
Mr. Dame, who was flanked by other members of AFAG, including the likes of Abeiku Dickson, Jojo Essel Cobbinah and Arnold Boateng, also raised issues with certain decisions taken by Alhaji Mumuni during his stint at the Ministry of the Interior during the transition, acting as the Representative of President Mills.
At a time when he had not been nominated by the President, they noted that the nominee dismissed the lawfully appointed head of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), and further extended his tentacles to the Ministry of Roads and Transport, to remove the acting head of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).
They also questioned the authority with which Alhaji Mumuni imposed curfews in certain parts of the country, when he had not appeared before Parliament for prior approval.
“We think that for Alhaji Mumuni to engage in such palpable violations of the 1992 Constitution, he is unfit to be nominated by His Excellency the President to be a Minister of State, and also protect and defend the same 1992 Constitution,” they emphasised.
In the case of Sherry Ayittey, AFAG noted that grave and adverse findings of financial impropriety, fraudulent behaviour and forgery had been made against her in an audit report of the Auditor-General.
Ms. Ayittey was the trustee of the 31st December Women’s Movement share in Caridem, a company owned by the movement.
The Directors of Caridem were found, in a report prepared by the Auditor-General in 2004, to have fraudulently procured the GIHOC Nsawam Cannery.
Apart from not acquiring the sale of the GIHOC Cannery, the Auditor-General’s report said Caridem falsified documents, in order to reduce the outstanding liabilities of the company, on the purchase price of the factory.
In consequence, Caridem was said to have not paid the purchase price of the said factory, but still succeeded in securing the execution of a sale and purchase agreement, with the subsequent handing over of the factory in 1997.
It is the view of AFAG that in the face of this report of the Auditor-General, which has not been set aside, it would be totally wrong and prejudicial to the interests of the nation, for Ms Ayittey to be nominated by the President for a Ministerial position, saying, “Ms Ayittey must purge herself of these adverse findings, in order to be fit for consideration by Parliament, for approval as a Minister.
Meanwhile, the individuals involved have indicated their preparedness to institute legal action, to bring defamation charges against members of AFAG, who are making the claims.

Despite its intensive public relation work

More rot uncovered at Golden Gate
…As management pay monies to ‘ghost’ staff, companies

Posted: The Chronicle Thursday, January 29, 2009.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Though the management of Tema-based stevedoring company, Golden Gate Services Limited (GGSL), headed by Mr. Bennet Aboagye have embarked on an intensive face-saving media campaign over the last couple of days to safeguard its interests, there are still lingering questions of financial impropriator hanging on its neck.
A forensic audit report conducted by Messrs. Baffour Awuah and Associates at the instance of the Auditor-General continues to unearth damning findings on the activities and operations of the company.
In the course of its investigations, the auditors detected that huge amounts of monies mostly in dollars denominations had gone unaccounted since management could not reconcile the amounts involved with any documentary evidence whatsoever.
For instance, it was uncovered that during the period of February 23, 2005 to December 20, 2007, cash withdrawals totalling US $184, 354.03 were made from various bank accounts of GGSL, allegedly to pay salaries of the company’s staff.
However, a review of the company’s payroll, salary vouchers and a statement of account on the sale of dollars presented to the auditors by management revealed that for the period under review, the payment of management and staff salaries were made from cedi bank accounts of GGSL through the bankers of the management and staff.
The auditors were therefore unable to obtain documentary evidence from management on how the amounts involved were paid and to whom they were paid to.
In the absence of any documentary evidence to prove the otherwise of its findings, the auditors recommended that the amount of US $184, 354.03 should be recovered from the company’s Commercial and Administrative Manager, Mr. Rudolf Engmann.
Additionally, an amount of US $85,000.00 was alleged to have been exchanged for cedi equivalent from Index Link to pay for the wages of Ghana Dock Labour Company (GDLC).
However, there was not a single document to either confirm or prove that GDLC indeed received either the US $85,000.00 or its cedi equivalent.
It was again recommended that Mr. Engmann be made to refund the amount involved.
Similarly, management of GGSL failed to account for a total cash withdrawal of US $83, 500.00 allegedly paid as ‘special stevedore consultancy fees’ on five vessels during the period of December 2005 to December 2006 since management could not provide any documentary evidence in that regard.
It also emerged that from the period of June 13, 2002 to November 20, 2007 management of the company withdrew a total amount of US $187, 439.11 from various GGSL bank accounts, including those of the Tema branches of Standard Chartered Bank, Ecobank and Stanbic Bank.
However, management could not provide any documentary evidence to account for the total of US $187, 439.11 withdrawn.
In the absence of the documentary evidence to account for the amounts withdrawn from the various GGSL accounts, the auditors therefore recommended that the total amount of US $187, 439.11 should be recovered from the company’s Commercial and Administrative Manager, Mr. Rudolf Engmann who is also the officer in charge of accounts.
Also, between the period of July 2004 and December 2004, management of GGSL issued seven cash cheques totalling US $150, 880.00 which was cashed by the company’s staff and debited GGSL Tema branch of Merchant Bank account number 0250358016.
Management of the company could however not provide the auditors with any documentary evidence, such as payment vouchers and other relevant documentation to account for the total amount of US $150.880.00.
It therefore proved difficult for the auditors to confirm actual payment in order to ascertain the beneficiaries of the amounts withdrawn.
Besides, the investigations revealed that the transactions were not recorded in the out-going cash/cheques register.
Further, the auditors observed in the course of their investigations that management of the company issued two cash cheques totalling US $23, 500.00 which were cashed at the GGSL Tema branch of Merchant Bank account number 00001/01/002516/61 between June 10, 2005 and November 30, 2007.
That notwithstanding, it was detected that there were no payment vouchers and relevant supporting documentation to confirm actual payment, whilst the transactions were not captured in the outgoing/incoming cash/cheques registers.
This became evident since the cash withdrawals or corresponding cedi equivalent was not captured in the company’s statement on sale of dollars made available to the auditors.
Further, management could not explain and or provide any documentary evidence whatsoever to account for the total amount of US $23,500.00 cashed from the bank.
It was also unable to provide the auditors with any documentary evidence such as payment vouchers and other supporting documentations to confirm actual payments and to whom the amounts were paid.
In the absence of documentary evidence to account for the total amount involved, the auditors recommended that the amount should be recovered from the company’s Commercial and Administrative Manager.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of GGSL and the Commercial and Administration, Messrs. Bennet Aboagye and Rudolf Engmann have sought to ridicule the forensic audit report verbally but without any substantial and substantive documentary proof to back their positions.

MILLS SUCCUMBS TO ‘BOYS SCOUT HONOUR’

…As he confirms he is not ‘his own man’
Posted: The Chronicle Wednesday, January 28, 2009.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Political observers in the country have expressed the fear that President John Evans Atta Mills is gradually giving in to the perception being held by sections of the Ghanaian populace especially members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) that he is not his ‘own man’.
Some, including the likes of former Presidential Spokesperson under President Kufuor’s administration, Kwabena Agyepong and NPP General Secretary, Nana Ohene-Ntow have started reading meanings and drawing conclusions into certain decisions that the President have had to take since assumption of office as President of the republic.
Key among the issues of reference included the President’s decision to revoke the appointments of thirty percent of government appointees from the local assembly level and the and the sudden removal of the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), Major-General J.B Dankwah and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong from their respective positions on forceful retirement.
These come against the backdrop of certain comments and reservations expressed by former President Jerry John Rawlings, who happens to be the founder of the ruling party of which Mills is the leader.
In all these instances, the sitting President, Atta Mills is noted to have taken action after former President Rawlings had expressed grave concern and reservations about the continuous stay in office by the affected individuals and group of persons since he doubted their commitments to the government.
This is what the two leading members of the NPP believe goes to confirm the fears the party expressed during the political campaign season, to the effect that ‘a vote for Mills is a vote for Rawlings’.
Under the current circumstance, they both believe that Professor Mills has virtually bowed to the whims and caprices of Rawlings since in their opinions ‘he is being remotely controlled’.
In an exclusive interview with The Chronicle, Mr. Agyepong said he was not the least surprised by the actions and inactions of President Mills since according to him, ‘he is still reeling under the shadows of Rawlings’.‘But of course how can Mills control things, the party does not belong to him, it is Rawlings’ party, we have said this long before, I mean we didn’t need this for anybody to prove anything.
The fact of the matter is, Rawlings formed his party out of the PNDC government, finished; it is his personal party that he formed and Mills cannot do ‘foko’ without Rawlings…’like some sort of ‘boys scout honour’.
Kwabena Agyepong noted that thus is evident in President Mills’ appointment of Colonel Gbevlo Lartey as the National Security Coordinator, saying ‘it means Rawlings has taken over security; that is his boy who commandeered the disbanded 64Battalion who visited all sorts of brutalities on Ghanaians’.
For him, the posture that former President Rawlings and the NDC government has taken is likely to affect the level of investment and interest businesses into the country, stressing that it has the tendency of driving away investors.
Instead of focusing on the nation, Mr. Agyepong emphasised that the NDC is rather engaged in pettiness whilst nothing is functioning in the country, with contracts having being put on hold.
He asked rhetorically ‘what is it that the likes of Tony Aidoo and Victor Smith are walking about and running riot and creating confusion’.
For him, the action of some NDC functionaries after the elections amounts to nothing but impunity.
The former Presidential Spokesperson thus had cause to warn ‘but they should know that nobody will allow them to do that, the country does not belong to them, they are going to run this country by the law, not by the law of one man; the country will be run by the laws of this country, by our constitution and not by the dictates of Jerry Rawlings’
On their parts, Nana Ohene-Ntow and the Editor-In-Chief of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. who spoke on the Peace FMs ‘Kokrokoo’ Morning show also condemned the action of former President Rawlings since in their opinion, it sought to undermine the authority and independence of the sitting President in taking certain decisions that affect the nation.
According to Ohene-Ntow, Rawlings’ behaviour goes to confirm the NPPs assertion that Mills would be subject of his (Rawlings’) control when elected into office, but Kwesi Pratt disagreed with him.