‘Tarzan’s salary claim has no basis’

-Budget Officer
Posted: The Chronicle | Friday, October 30, 2009

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

The Director of Administration at the office of the President, who is also responsible for Budget, Sam Azu Aziakor yesterday told the Ghana@50 probe that Dr. Charles Wereko Brobby, the Chief Executive of the defunct Ghana@50 Secretariat is not entitled to any salary because he does not have any appointment letter.
When Wereko Brobby appeared before the commission recently, he appealed to the Commissioners to ensure that his salaries, which are in arrears, paid to him.

He however recalled that somewhere last year, the former CEO put up a memo which was addressed to him (Aziakor), asking him to initiate processes which would lead to the payment of his salary.

Upon receipt, Mr. Aziakor said he conferred with the former chief of staff, Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani as to what should be done, since Dr. Wereko Brobby needed the money to go for some medical treatment. For this reason, he noted that they agreed to give him an amount of US$ 75,000 as advance payment of his outstanding salary arrears, which dated back to the year 2006, when he was employed as CEO of the Secretariat.

This claim by the Director of Administration baffled the Chairman of the Commission, Justice Duose, who ascertained from him the basis for which the said salary advancement was given to the former CEO, because the latter had not been given any appointment where his emoluments would have been stated.

Mr. Aziakor responded - “My Lord, I think in this case the salary had not been determined, so they were still working around it.” Aziakor, however, agreed that since no appointment letter was given to Dr. Charles Wereko Brobby, he was not entitled to any salary.

He nevertheless acknowledged the amount of GH ¢200,000 that Dr. Wereko Brobby used as a start up capital to establish the Secretariat, which has since been paid to him.

When he appeared before the Commission recently, Dr. Wereko Brobby claimed he was entitled to a monthly salary of GH ¢5000 and the government owed him a total amount of US$ 146,000 covering the entire period he served as CEO of the Secretariat.

Earlier, Mr. Aziakor took time to take the Commission through the role he and the office of the President played in the activities and operations of the Ghana@50 Secretariat, which he said was to convey executive decisions to the Secretariat.

He insisted that no official at the office of the President was directly or indirectly employed, or paid any money for their individual and respective roles.

They only prepared the pay vouchers and forwarded it to the appropriate authorities for payment.

As at Wednesday, October 28th 2009, he said his office had released about GH ¢7.5million to the Secretariat, with an outstanding balance of GH ¢782,262.20. The total debt of the Secretariat as at now stands at GH ¢11million.

Though the office of the President was somehow involved in the disbursement of some of the monies, Mr. Aziakor noted that no payment was made without the knowledge and consent of the CEO, Dr. Wereko Brobby.

He could also not tell whether the Secretariat got any surplus on their accounts as asserted by Dr. Wereko Brobby.

The Director of Administration at the office of the President could also not confirm whether any funds were released by the Secretariat to Ghana’s missions abroad for the celebration.

Fallout from Ghana@50 Chairman's remark

DUOSE GROWLS OVER ATTACKS
...'I did not call for killing of journalists'
Posted: The Chronicle |Fri, 30 Oct 2009

By Charles Takyi-Boadu & George Frimpong

The Chairman of the Ghana@50 Commission, Justice Isaac Douse has told The Chronicle that he has no evil intension against any journalist in Ghana, and that his recent comment that Ghanaian journalists are overly crtitical on public office holders because they are not killed as it happens in other parts of the world, was reported out of contest.

Justice Duose, who invited these reporters to his office to express concern over the report, was also not happy with an editorial by The Chronicle on the issue, which according to him, sought to create the impression that he wanted people to take the law into their own hands and kill Journalists in Ghana.

Justice Duose was quoted as saying - “Rwanda was caused by the press and if the press wants Rwanda to happen in this country, they will get it.

Fortunately for them, in this country, people don't kill Journalists, so they are going on.” Though he admits saying the things attributed to him, the Chairman of the Commission said the import of the message he wanted to convey to the media was taken out of contest.

According to him, it was unfortunate for some media houses to create the impression that he was advocating for violence against journalists. Justice Duose, who is an Appeals Court Judge, told The Chronicle that he respects fundamental human rights and the tenets of democracy, and would therefore not do anything to undermine these values.

“I will not be happy if Journalists are killed because it is part of my obligation to protect the rights of Journalists”, he said, adding “I unreservedly apologize to Journalists, any individual or group of persons who may feel offended by those comments I made”, stressing that he did not have the slightest intention to cause disaffection among the media.

“The comments were not made to invite people to kill Journalists”, he emphasised. This, according to him, is due to the fact that both Judges and Journalists are enjoined to protect human rights and life.

Justice Duose's alleged comments on journalists and the Rwanda factor came after the former Chief of Staff who was also the Chairman of the National Planning Committee of the country's 50th independence anniversary celebrations, Mr. Kwadwo Okyere Mpiani raised concern about the way people express suspicions against public officials, when he appeared before the Commission recently.

“I hope the press which is leading the campaign of vilification in this country has heard you well. As I sit here, they have started vilifying me.

I'm going to sit here just for a short while but they have already started pulling me down,” myjoyonline quoted him as saying.

Ghana@50 exposes MCEs, DCEs

…over poor record keeping, abuse of discretion
Posted: The Chronicle | Tue, 27 Oct 2009

By Charles Takyi-Boadu & George Frimpong

The Commission probing the country's 50th Anniversary celebration is getting increasing worried over the rate at which Municipal and District Chief Executives (M/DCEs) abuse their discretion in record-keeping.

This became evident at its sitting yesterday, when some of these former public servants who appeared before the Commission, virtually admitted using their discretion in taking decisions which affected the sale and distribution of Ghana @50 cloths, polo shirts and souvenirs before, during, and after the celebrations.

First to admit his guilt, was the former MCE for West Akim, Kwabena Sintim-Aboagye, when he openly told the Commission that he might have committed an error of judgment by using his discretion in taking certain decisions.

This was after he and others were subpoenaed to respond to allegations leveled against them by some people who had earlier appeared before the Commission.

Though he denied the allegation of pocketing any of the proceeds from the sale of the anniversary items, he admitted taking a few for onward distribution to some key and influential people in the Municipality, including traditional leaders and senior citizens for free.

He however did not have any documentary evidence to show the individuals and group of persons he gave the items to.

That, notwithstanding, Sintim-Aboagye said he was extremely surprised when the incumbent Director of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) came to make unfounded allegations against him, stressing that he was unhappy when he listened and watched him on television.

According to him, he realised a lot of factual inaccuracies and discrepancies in the Director's presentation.

Accounts
He gave a vivid account of how the Assembly expended the GH¢10,000 allocated to them by the Ghana@50 Secretariat for the organization of the celebration, an amount he said was nothing to write home about, emphasising that they received 50 pieces of the anniversary cloth, and sold them at GH ¢30 each, all amounting to GH¢1,500.

Considering the high demand for the cloth, he noted that the Assembly requested for more, leading to the supply of another 30 pieces, bringing the total proceeds of the sale to GH¢2,400.00, an amount Sintim-Aboagye said, he personally handed over to the then Eastern Regional Minister, Yaw Barima.

As the demand for the polo shirts also increased, he said, they managed to secure some 720 pieces from private sources, and paid for it.

He talked of how the Assembly used some of the already scanty resources to save the life of a 24 year old National Service person, who was injured by a stray bull on the day of the anniversary celebration, to the admiration of members of the Commission.

Though not part of the programme and activities for the celebration, he noted, the Assembly used part of the money to foot the medical bills of the lady with a yet-to-date outstanding debt of GH¢603.00.

Sintim-Aboagye said there were receipts at the RCC to support his claim, whilst the incident involving the National Service person was reported in the newspapers.

Mavis Allotey, who acted as the Store Keeper of the Assembly, and Alhaji Ibrahim Tijani, former Director of the RCC, also took their turns to clear allegations leveled against them.

On his part, the former District Chief Executive for the Kwahu West Municipal Assembly, Nana Kofi Kesse, had a tough time explaining the laxity with which the Assembly kept records.

Though, he admitted receiving and keeping the items in his office, he later invited the Store Keeper and the Director of the Regional Coordinating Council to take inventory of it.

He could however not give a proper account of the items received for the celebration, since, according to him, they arrived on March 4, 2007, when he was under pressure.

The Commissioners criticised him for his inability to exercise proper supervision over the items entrusted to the care of the Assembly.

Akuapem North
The then Principal Accountant of the Akuapem North Assembly, Mr. David Mensah, said about GH¢7,100 was accrued from the sales of the Ghana@50 souvenirs, but the money was handed over to the DCE.