Government gives ultimatum on cocoa exports
Agona Swedru (Central Region) 14 October 2002 – Four persons, including
two school children were hit by stray bullets when a Military/Police patrol
team and the Agona Swedru police clashed with workers of the Swedru Sawmill.
The injured are Kwame Eyiah and Nii Akotey, both workers of the
sawmill, and Kweku Dufo, a 15-year old JSS student, Alhassan Illiasu, a 13-year
old primary school pupil of the Swedru Holy Quran Primary School.
Kwame Eyiah, who was hit at close range while running to the scene of
the clash, was rushed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, while
Alhassan Illiasu was admitted at the Swedru Government Hospital. Nii Akotey and
Kweku Dufo were treated and discharged at the Swedru Hospital.
The police have confirmed that one of the injured persons is dead but
they have refused to provide details. Madam Esi Mensimah, a 38-year old woman
who rushed Illiasu to the Swedru hospital, collapsed out of shock and was
receiving attention at the hospital.
The clash occurred when the Military/police patrol team intercepted a
truck loaded with chain-sawn lumber being sent to the sawmill.
Mr Ibrahim Yahaya, Organiser of the Agona Swedru branch of the Ghana
Timber Association, told newsmen that the patrol team trailed the truck to the
yard. He said members of the team fired three warning shots to scare the
workers who had besieged the police vehicle.
Mr Yahaya said some of the workers attempted to snatch a rifle from a
soldier. “Barely 15 minutes later, about 20 policemen and soldiers led by
Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Justice Asante, and other
officers surrounded the sawmill and started shooting”, he said.
According to him, more than 50 tear gas canisters were fired to
disperse the workers. He said in the confusion, a shot hit the electricity
lines, which caught fire sending the whole township into darkness.
Mr Yahaya alleged that the security men broke into the offices and made
away with an unspecified amount of money. He said the team on its way from the
sawmill, stopped a truck suspected to be one of the vehicles used to cart the
chain-sawn lumber in the area and deflated its tyres.
Hajia Alimatu Saadia, an 80-year old woman living near the sawmill who
was hit by an empty tear gas canister, collapsed and it took her granddaughter,
Rakia Abdulai and other relatives two hours to revive her. Chief Superintendent
Justice Asante refused to comment when contact. – Daily Graphic
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 October 2002 – The transportation problem in
four of the nation’s cities is likely to ease as from next month.
This is when the 17 new buses recently procured by the government from
Italy start plying the roads under a new company yet to be named. The Omnibus
Service Authority (OAS) has been restructured into that Company to facilitate
the government’s mass transportation programme.
A source at the Ministry of Roads and Transport which disclosed this
said the company would limit its operations to Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi and
Tamale for a start with routes with heavy human traffic.
For instance, in Accra, areas such as Teshi/Nungua, Dansoman, Madina,
Kaneshie, among others would be considered. More of the buses are expected in
the country soon.
The source explained further that though the operation of the mass transportation
was not a profitable venture, government would subsidize the company to enable
it to defray some of its operational costs.
When the buses start operation, the mini-buses in the system would be
encouraged to re-focus their attention on other areas in the cities to improve
efficiency, it indicated. – The Ghanaian Times
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 October 2002 - The declared intention of Dr
Kwesi Botchwey, onetime Finance Minister to contest the Presidential slot of
the opposition National Democratic Congress is losing sleep for a number of
leading personnel of the party who have openly expressed the fear that the baby
of ex-President Jerry Rawlings is gradually being dragged from its natural
habitat into a foster home.
Feelers Weekend Agenda put into the camp of the NDC have picked up
radar readings indicating that the Kwesi Botchwey bandwagon is gathering steam
eclipsing ‘Asomdweehene’ Prof John E. Atta-Mills, former Vice-President of
Ghana and endorsed heir to take over from where his mentor left off. Both
Botchwey and Mills have collected nomination forms to lead the party into the
2004 Presidential elections. They have up to November 23, 2002 to return their
completed forms.
A third force in the person of Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama is likely to enter
the fray. The former Defence Minister and Special Adviser on governmental
affairs, a post akin to Prime Minister in the Rawlings regime, has tendered in
his resignation from the executive of the NDC obviously to pave way for his
challenge. But many in the party do not believe the Wa-born veteran politician
has any chance of leading the party into a battle with sitting President John
Agyekum Kufuor.
The congress is tentatively fixed for December 7 this year but
according to Youth Organizer Iddrisu Haruna, the NDC might be forced to adjourn
the date if as being speculated the ruling New Patriotic Party goes to congress
the same day.
The process of nomination is cumbersome. A candidate has to be
nominated by a delegate from the 200 constituencies of the country and at least
a proposer and a seconder from a member of the National or Regional Executive
of the party.
National executive members contacted are tight-lipped. Asked to
comment, Youth Organizer Iddrisu Haruna was non-committal. “ I cannot give any
answer to that because executives of the party are to remain neutral so as to
give a level field for all the contestants. But Weekend Agenda can confirm that
Dr Botchwey is on cloud nine within the party.
When Botchwey returned home from his United States base recently, party
faithfuls took over the Kotoka International Airport drumming and dancing. A
similar crowd from the NDC welcomed Prof Mills from Canada. But since his
arrival his support base is dwindling.
The controversial Sam Garbah, leader of the Reform Movement within the
NDC has openly declared his support for the one-time Minister of Finance who
resigned his post in 1995 in protest against the way Tsastu Tsikata was allowed
to spend state resources with impunity at the Ghana National Petroleum
Corporation. His principled stance against the authority of Rawlings at the
time has won him many pundits in the NDC. Reports reaching the Weekend Agenda
indicate that most of the party’s cadres are pitching camp with Dr Botchwey.
Prof Mills appeared to have shot himself in the foot by his presence at
the Kumawu by-elections where he sought unsuccessfully to hold a rally on the
eve of the elections. Party activists who were in Kumasi say that the
Professor’s failure to contribute to the party’s war chest for the Kumawu
by-elections did his image no good in the eyes of grass root campaigners.
One main charge levelled against the former Vice-President is his
inability to cut off his links with discredited former officials of the NDC.
Weekend Agenda learnt that Prof Mills went to Kumawu in the company of
Kwame Peprah, former Finance Minister who is standing trial in the infamous
Quality Grain saga. President Kufuor also cited Peprah at his recent press
conference that as Finance Minister he negotiated with himself to acquire the
Gulf Stream III as Presidential Jet. The nature of the acquisition of the plane
smacks of underhand dealings.
Party loyalists say that the Mills kitchen cabinet include the Ahwoi
brothers, whose financial dealings and other activities in the past have
contributed to the lowering of the image of the party in the eyes of ordinary
Ghanaians.
In political terms, it is still a long way to congress on December 7
but early indications are that the Mills for President campaign is already
floundering. If the Ekumfi-born law professor fails to catch the eye of the
NDC, he has his mentor Jerry John Rawlings and his hangers-on to blame. – Public
Agenda
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Bolgatanga (Upper East Region) 14 October 2002 - President John Kufuor
has made it clear that the Constitution provides for only one government at a
time and has therefore asked Ghanaians to rally solidly behind the government
to develop the country.
The President, who made the remarks when he addressed a grand durbar of
chiefs and people of the Frafra Traditional Area at Bolgatanga at the weekend.
He said although not all Ghanaians voted for him and the NPP, it is imperative
that the people recognise him and his government and also bury all their
differences in order to move the country forward.
Mr Kufuor declared: “ I know that all the people cannot be members of
my party, but you should accept me as your President and my government as your
government.” The durbar was organised in honour of the President to round off
his three-day maiden visit to the Upper East Region.
President Kufuor said, “we want to leave a landmark in this country so
that you will not regret voting for Kufuor as President and the NPP to form a
government.” “My government is not going to be a government of words but of
deeds,” he added.
He noted most countries in the world are now acknowledging that Ghana
has a good government, so there is the need for Ghanaians themselves to appreciate
the gains chalked up so far by the government. He asked that “If outsiders have
realised this, why not we ourselves?”
The President told the people that freedom and justice are the
watchword of the government, since, as he puts it, without freedom, the wealth
of the nation cannot be tapped and the people will continue to live in poverty.
He said it is the avowed aim of the government to see to it that the
sons and daughters of the country go about their businesses in an atmosphere of
absolute freedom and happiness.
President Kufuor submitted that the Upper East Region is not poor, as
claimed by the people but that there are abundant resources which have not been
exploited to their benefit.
“You are sitting on gold. The Fumbisi Valley is there for agriculture
and the Bawku Cattle Market is a place of wealth, so there is no poverty in
Upper East. If you keep on saying, you are poor you shall continue to be in
poverty,” the President advised.
Mr Kufuor underscored the need for the people to help themselves so
that in return they will be assisted and called on them to improve on their
handicrafts.
The President gave the assurance that the government will do everything
possible to reactivate the meat and tomato factories at Zuarungu and Pwalugu
respectively, by arranging a partnership.
He noted that the two projects when revived in the Bolgatanga District
will create employment for the youth, adding that “l have not been happy about
the manner in which the two factories have been abandoned for so many years
with the machines being in absolute state of disrepair.”
The Paramount Chief of the area, Naba Martin Abiliba in his welcoming
address said, although the President’s visit to the region has delayed, he has
adequately compensated for it by visiting every district and nearly every
traditional area, saying that “this is unprecedented and we congratulate you.”
The Bolga Naba expressed the hope that the President in future will
launch his special initiative on guinea fowl in the region.
The Presidential Initiative, according to Naba Abiliba, will not be
misplaced since the people involved in the production of guinea fowl are able
to reap economic gains from the sale of the bird.
Mr Rockson Bukari, District Chief Executive for Bolgatanga, disclosed
that since the NPP assumed office, the district assembly has been able to
execute 48 projects at a total cost of more than ¢4.578 billion.
Among the President’s entourage were Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of
Local Government and Rural Development, Dr R. W. Anane, Minister of Roads and
Transport, Prof Christopher Amayaw Akumfi, Minister of Education, Ms Elizabeth
Ohene, Minister of State at the Presidency, Dr G A Agambila, Deputy Minister of
Finance, Dr Majeed Haroun, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture and Mr Moses
Dani Baah, Deputy Minister of Health. – Daily Graphic
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 October 2002 - The World Bank and
International Monetary Fund are concerned about government’s inability to meet
its revenue targets so far this year, which has consequently necessitated
significantly larger than envisaged domestic borrowing.
Both institutions are also said to be worried about the potential
impact of the International Finance Consortium’s expected US $1billion loan on
Ghana’s foreign debt stock and on money supply growth.
The Business and Financial Times investigations have revealed that the
Finance Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo and a high-powered delegation returned to
Accra last Friday from nerve-racking negotiations with the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund (IMF), both of which are uneasy over government’s
fiscal performance this year.
To iron things out, Osafo-Maafo and his delegation had to stay in
Washington, several days longer than originally planned. Although government
has made determined efforts to reduce the public domestic debt, it has actually
risen to ¢11,429.6 billion, up from ¢7,842.3 million when the Kufuor
administration took over.
In 2001, domestic debt rose by about ¢2 trillion and if the second part
of 2002 is anything like the first half, the debt stock will rise by a similar
amount this year. However government points out that lower interests rates and
longer maturities (in the case of its three-year index linked bonds) have
reduced interest payments on the domestic debt.
In 2001, interest payments on the domestic debt were down to ¢477.7
billion, significantly lower than ¢587.2 billion paid during the last year of
the Rawlings administration.
Higher on the IMF and World Bank’s list of priorities however is the
issue of Ghana’s commitment to the controversial ¢I billion loan from the
International Finance Consortium.
Another complaint is that Ghana should restrain itself in giving
sovereign guarantees to secure new loans at a time some old foreign creditors
including the World Bank and IMF are writing off chunk of medium to long term
debts. - Business and Financial Times
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Wellingborough (United Kingdom) 14 October 2002 - A Ghanaian woman has
admitted using a dead baby’s birth certificate to obtain a British passport for
herself.
Cecilia Cole, 33, of Talbot Road, Wellingborough, pleaded guilty on
Thursday to dishonestly obtaining from the Home Office a British passport on 16
April 1997 by falsely representing that she was Angela Anderson, a baby who
died aged just one week in 1969.
Cole, who is now married to a British man and seven months pregnant,
was arrested earlier this week as part of a national police crackdown on
passport fraud.
Mandy Rowlatt, prosecuting at Wellingborough Magistrates Court, said:
“On Tuesday, a search was carried out at Cole’s house, and she gave her name as
Angela Anderson.
“Documents including bank and credit card details were seized.”
Mrs Rowlatt said Cole then gave her true identity to police. Mrs
Rowlatt said Cole’s accounts had been run satisfactorily, although obviously
fraudulently, because they were in a false name.
In mitigation, Amo Baines said Cole cooperated fully with police and
pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. He said Cole fled from Ghana to
this country in 1994 to escape violence from her husband and went to live in
London. A friend suggested she apply for a passport in the name of Angela
Anderson.
Mr Baines said: “She wanted to cancel her own identity because she was
afraid her ex-husband would find her and she’d be subjected to considerable
violence.” He said Cole, who has a son who was born in England, realised the
seriousness of her actions and had already changed a number of her documents
back to her real name.
The magistrates declined jurisdiction, saying they felt their powers
insufficient to deal with such a serious offence. Cole was given conditional
bail until 8 November when she will appear at Northampton Crown Court. Friday
11 October 2002. - Evening Telegraph (USA)
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Dallas (United States) 14 October 2002 - American Airlines said it
plans to increase its routes throughout Europe and Africa through an expanded
codeshare agreement with Swiss, Switzerland's national carrier.
Beginning 16 October 2002 Fort Worth based American will place its AA
code on Swiss flights on routes between Zurich and Johannesburg, South Africa;
Accra, Ghana; Lagos, Nigeria; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Budapest, Hungary;
and Tirana, Albania.
American, owned by AMR Corp., flies to Zurich from Dallas/Fort Worth
International Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.
Over the past year, American has put increased emphasis on expanding
cooperation with its strategic alliance partners. Among the new routes added in
recent months were service to Delhi and Bombay, India, with Swiss via Zurich
and to Seoul, Korea, with Japan Airlines via Tokyo.
American said it hopes to add in the near future code-share service to
Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific via Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, as
well as codeshare service with Japan Airlines to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi,
Vietnam, via Tokyo. Government approval for these agreements are pending.
"American's goal to expand its international reach is ever more
critical during the industry's financial crisis," said Henry Joyner,
senior vice president of planning, in a statement. "Expanding through
cooperative relationships is a smart, efficient way to add service
strategically during this challenging time in the industry." - Business
Journal (USA)
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 October 2002 - The government has said the
Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) is the only recognised entity allowed to export
cocoa and has therefore asked all Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) to present
their licence within seven days.
Speaking to the Accra Daily Mail last Friday after a press conference
to announce the new producer price of cocoa, the Minister of Finance Yaw Osafo-Maafo
said it has come to government's notice that most of the LBCs in the country
are operating in Cote d'Ivoire which is illegal.
He told the paper: "If you are an LBC you must buy for CMC if you
don't, your licence would be destroyed. And we are giving them seven days from
today to declare or get their licence destroyed; and we are serious."
As to measures the government is taking to retain its second position in
the world ranking of cocoa, he said government is in negotiations with the
COCOBOD to assist cocoa farmers to purchase fertilizers to ensure increase in
production.
Earlier at the press conference, he announced the upward adjustment of
the producer price of cocoa from ¢6,200,000 per tonne to ¢8,500,000 per tonne
with effect from last Friday.
Osafo-Maafo said this means a bag of 64.0 kilograms of cocoa would now
sell at ¢531,250 as against ¢387,500 during the last season. He said the price
of cocoa would be increased annually until a 70 per cent share is achieved by
the year 2004/5. The current price stands at 67 per cent.
He said: "this new competitive price should discourage smuggling
of cocoa out of Ghana. Government is also putting in measures at the borders to
minimise the smuggling of cocoa".
Osafo-Maafo said as part of the measures to boost the cocoa industry
government has authorised the immediate payment of a pre-season bonus of ¢50
billion, which is approximately ¢8,000 per bag for purchases of cocoa during
the last crop season.
He said: "government intends to pursue a pricing policy which
would guarantee and protect farmers income through sustainable price
policy". Further, he said an amount of ¢242 billion has been set aside for
cocoa farmers to control diseases such as black pod and capsid and also to
increase productivity.
The sector minister said an additional amount of ¢10 billion has been
allocated to support the scholarship scheme for the wards of cocoa farmers in
the country. Also, government has secured an amount of Euro 10 million (¢82bn)
to rehabilitate existing roads and to construct new ones in the cocoa growing
areas to help transport cocoa and other foodstuff.
He said government has directed the COCOBOD to use the Akuafo Cheque
System to pay farmers to ensure an efficient system of payment. COCOBOD and the
Bank of Ghana (BOG), he said, have put in place arrangements to ensure
sufficient money in the banks to pay for any produce purchased.
This is the third time the Kufuor administration in a period of one
year nine months is increasing prices of cocoa. The first increase in May last
year was from ¢3,475,000 to 3,872,000 per metric tonne that is 217,187 per bag
of 64 kilograms gross with further increases in October, 2001 and
February 2002 to ¢6,200,000 per metric tonne or ¢387,500 per bag. - Accra
Mail
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 October 2002 - Two officials of the Ga
District Assembly have been arrested for allegedly embezzling ¢823.7 million
within a three-month period.
Messrs Kwasi Marfo, the District Co-ordinating Director, and S.
Asazoah, District Finance Officer, defrauded the assembly between 1 October to
1 December last year.
A Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Captain
Nkrabeah Effah-Darteh (rtd), who disclosed this in an interview in Accra at the
weekend, said the two are currently helping the Criminal Investigations
Department of the Ghana Police Service in investigations into the matter.
He said the activities of the two suspects came to light when the Audit
Service conducted an audit into the accounts of the Ga District Assembly from
January 1, 2001 to 31 December 2001.
Following the audit report, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural
Development appointed an internal five-man team led by G.P. Anane, the Director
of Policy Planning and Management at the ministry, to study the findings of the
audit report and make recommendations. “Among the findings, the two suspects
expended ¢823.7 million without the approval of the district assembly and it
was also established that they embezzled the money within three months,” Capt.
Effah-Darteh stated. He said the committee, therefore, recommended that the two
be handed over to the police for prosecution.
“The government after a careful study of the audit report and the
committee’s findings and recommendations ordered the arrest of the two last
Friday after a meeting of some officials of this ministry,” the deputy minister
said.
Asked how the two suspects managed to embezzle the money without
notice, he further said that the suspects spent the money at the time when the
District Chief Executive, S.N Attoh was preparing to assume office. According
to the Deputy Minister, the two gave conflicting statements when they were
queried.
He said they initially admitted taking ¢131 million in a letter but
subsequently denied their claim verbally. The deputy minister advised public
office holders to desist from acts that impede national development otherwise
they will derail the process of the decentralisation programme. He, therefore,
warned that no one will be spared if caught misappropriating public funds. The
Graphic earlier this year, published on its front page the contents of an
investigative report, which cited the two officials as being implicated in
financial malpractices running into hundreds of millions of cedis.
The two officials subsequently denied the report and described the
publication as false and mischievous and subsequently passed a resolution
summoning the reporter to appear before the assembly to answer questions about
the report. – Daily Graphic
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Bolgatanga (Upper East Region) 14 October 2002 - President John Kufuor
has ordered investigations into the delay in the sale of the Zuarungu Meat
Factory near Bolgatanga, which has been placed on the divestiture list since
1992.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mahami Salifu, the Deputy Minister of
Food and Agriculture, Dr Majeed Haroun and the Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr
Agesiiga Agambila are to make the inquiry.
President Kufuor gave the directive at the weekend when he inspected
the defunct factory. He was conducted round by the production manager,
Armstrong Deri.
The general manager, Martin Mohammed, disclosed that before the closure
of the factory 20 years ago, its 200 workforce had not been paid for 12 years.
He said a skeleton staff of 15 are currently maintaining the place and
attributed the problem of the factory to lack of capital.
President Kufuor later visited the Upper East Quarry Company Limited at
Pwalugu where he was taken round by the Managing Director, Freeman
Abdurahamani.
He told the President that the company had the capacity and the
potential of providing chippings and quarry dust for the three northern
regions. Abdurahamani mentioned lack of capital to increase production to meet
customer demand and to replace ageing equipment as the main problems facing the
company.
President Kufuor also interacted with the chief of Tongo, Tongorana
Naba Kwaa Dan Tii and his people. – Ghanaian Times
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 October 2002 - As the wheels of justice turn,
Databank, one of the premier stockbroking investment vehicles, caught after a
string of eye popping deals, has had visits from the Serious Fraud Office
(SFO), following reports recommending their prosecution for at least one deal
in which they were less than careful.
Early this year, Chronicle reported that a team of auditors had
uncovered a scam dressed up as a neat legitimate deal that fleeced the Ghanaian
taxpayer and SSNIT contributors of sums in the region of ¢16 billion.
Now the wheel of justice has come full swing and the SFO, following the
auditors’ recommendation that the guilty parties in what was called, ‘The
Obotan Garden of Eden Fraud affair’ has moved in to take action, as the report
distinctly cited Enterprise Insurance Company and Databank, owned by Messrs Ken
Ofori-Atta and Kelly Gadzekpo.
Chronicle has gathered that the overall boss of the SFO who, by the
constitution, chairs the Board of SFO and recommends all legal actions against
any party, is being lobbied to drop the case and go for a settlement.
The top management of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust
(SSNIT) is also being plied to drop the case and allow cash settlement.
Ofori-Atta is the nephew of the overall boss of the SFO, Nana Akufo-Addo, the
MP for Abuakwa and Attorney General.
“If Kwesi Osei or Nana does anything improper, I will leak it to you
and inform the President. We have done too much work on this and we cannot
allow rich people to have different sets of rules. The NDC will make capital
out of this…all cases involving them including the Quality Grain which Theo
investigated will have to be thrown away..,” promised an inside source.
Readers will recall that Chronicle published a story citing the
auditors report in the Obotan Garden of fraud.
One of the parties whose name came up during the investigations was the
controversial Ekow Awoonor, shadow counsel for Mrs Rawlings. At the time, he
protested furiously against the auditors, claiming that he had not been
contacted by the auditors.
He spoke to Chronicle in follow-up interviews on the matter and advised
Messrs Ofori-Atta and Kelly Gadzekpo of Databank/Enterprise Insurance to speak
up to the Chronicle because he, as their lawyer, had made it known that he had
nothing to hide. The pair declined after a few attempts to get them to tell
their side of the story, as they were cited to be the main architects of the fraud.
Mrs Stephanie Baeta Ansah, Managing Director of Home Finance Company,
originally mentioned by SSNIT as having considered to come in with Enterprise
Insurance, was so miffed with the connection of HFC’s name to the controversy
surrounding the fraud that she successfully appealed to the National Media
Commission and extracted an apology from Chronicle.
The paper carried a headline that tangentially mentioned the HFC’s
brand name in the prosecution of the fraud by Databank, which was directly
mentioned as the fraudulent party.
SSB Thompson and SSB sale The Managing Director of SSB Bank responded
to Chronicle inquiries on the affair and urged Databank to respond. More than
two weeks and days after the agreed deadline, nothing was heard from Databank.
SSB Bank has both Ekow Awoonor and Ken Ofori-Atta on their Board, yet
they gave the contract to sell Government shares (through SSNIT) to Databank to
sell, in an obvious conflict of interest situation. Awoonor represents Databank
(legal) and Ken, obviously, has access material inside information as head of
strategies.
The sale of the SSB shares, who bought the shares, who paid for it,
whether Databank collected fees from SSB and also fees from the Irish Group who
are purported to have purchased it, plus the whereabouts of the actual cash,
the interest that may have accrued are all issues that the SFO is
investigating.
It would be recalled that less than three years ago, Databank presented
themselves to SSNIT as financial advisers to Enterprise Insurance Company and
promoted an investment package of a string of 29 bungalows for top-notch Chief
Executives to purchase along the independence avenue. The property is near the
British High Commission.
In documentation circulated among the prospective investors, SSNIT then
headed by Mr Charles Asare was informed that the Garden of Eden project would
have Enterprise Insurance Company (EIC), Home Finance Company (HFC) and SSB as
partners.
Documentation exists that presents EIC as 42.5 per cent shareholders
(coming in with $1.7 million in paper), SSB with 2.5 per cent shares and
SSNIT’s shareholding as 55 per cent. Databank actually owns more than 54 per
cent of EIC through a vehicle set up by Ofori-Atta called Ventures and
Acquisitions Ltd. Evidence also exists that indicates that within 24 hours of
Ofori-Atta asking SSNIT to pay up for their shares in cash for the housing
project, a cheque for $2 million was dispatched to him by the then Director
General, Asare.
Ofori Atta’s letter requisitioning the SSNIT boss to part with money
was dated February 10, 1998. He and his group sat on the money as by last
Tuesday no construction had started.
The former Acting Director General, Eric Adjei, drew attention to the
matter last year and eventually caught the attention of Databank /Enterprise
bosses who promptly offered to refund the $2 million they were sitting on.
But SSNIT declined arguing that it was a matter that needed to be dealt
with legally – attempting to commit fraud and committing it and going on to
cause financial loss to the state.
Security Regulatory Commission
Recently, the hitherto dormant Securities Regulatory Commission moved to instil
discipline into the capital markets and issued a directive that affected all
those who are directors of Boards and also trade in shares of these companies.
Ofori-Atta was on the Board of HFC, as well, just about when the Obotan
fraud was being perpetrated. Databank still holds ownership of the disputed
land and the three bungalows on them. Further inquiries by the auditors showed
that they actually paid $1.6 million for the property, and told their
‘investors’ that they paid $3.5m.
The auditors question the sale price as records show that land registry
records reveal massive under-declaration with serious tax implications.
An amount of ¢360 million is what the findings present, but Chronicle
surveillance shows that the actual man who fixed the deal with Ofori-Atta and
Kelly Gadzepo, former Managing Director of the French owned CFAO is now out of
the jurisdiction as ex-workers of CFAO interviewed by the Chronicle recall the
transaction with Angland.
Controversial Awoonor gave a breakdown of the expense accounts when he
was roped in at the last minute by Ofori-Atta and Gadzekpo. Estate agency fee -
$120,000.00, legal fees -f $30,000, brokerage fees - $224,000 paid to Databank.
Electricity bills, even after completion of the purchase of the
property, were being forwarded to SSNIT to pay. – The Ghanaian Chronicle
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