Citi News sources say the letter, which was copied to the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO), maintains that Mr. Kwaku-Asamoah is currently not under investigation, and must not be restrained from performing his duties.

[contextly_sidebar id=”NpsHkQQqP7HA199MDZ5IfOLoVsWXf1ee”]About seven months ago, the Finance Director, together with the Commission’s two deputy chairpersons, were directed to proceed on leave for investigations into the missing GHc 480, 000 from the EC’s Staff Endowment Fund.

But Citi News sources say his lawyers in the letter argue that, it is unjust for him to be locked out of his office when the alleged malfeasance did not happen under him.

Meanwhile, Citi News has also sighted an advise from the Attorney General’s Office asking EOCO to conduct a comprehensive independent forensic audit of the EC’s Staff Endowment Fund to deepen the investigation.

In the Attorney General’s opinion, EOCO’s investigations failed to prove whether any money was indeed misappropriated, and how much was involved.

Amankwah’s woes

In a related development, EOCO, on Monday rejected media reports suggesting that it has cleared the Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission in charge of Corporate Services, Georgina Opoku Amankwah of any wrongdoing following a probe into the  GHc480,000 believed to have gone missing from the EC’s Senior Staff Endowment Fund.

“We wish to emphatically and categorically state that no such clearance has been issued to any of the Officers of the Electoral Commission who are on leave,” EOCO said in a brief statement issued on Tuesday.

Madam Amankwah together with Dr.  Asamoah and another director of the EC were directed to proceed on leave in July 2017, to enable EOCO investigate the matter.

Although she forcibly resumed duty last week, Madam Amankwah and her lawyer after meeting with EOCO officials, agreed on a 14-day ultimatum  by which time she wants the EOCO report on her to be ready. She has vowed to return to work if she does not receive any response from EOCO.

This ultimatum was  agreed upon after officials of the investigative body stormed her office to prevent her from occupying it.

But even before the 14-day period elapses, the Daily Guide newspaper in its January 23, 2018 edition, reported that some documents available to it from the Attorney General’s Department suggest that the affected officers including Opoku Amankwa have been cleared of any malfeasance.

According to the newspaper, “The report, dated January 10, 2018, indicates that the focus of the EOCO investigation was on Samuel Yorke Aidoo, the then Director of Finance, as well as Ishmael Pensah, a former Chief Accountant, who no longer works with the EC.”

Daily Guide further suggested that Georgina Opoku-Amankwaah and the other directors being investigated were allegedly being hounded by EOCO on the instruction of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei.

But EOCO in its statement said the claims by the Paper are untrue.

“…the attribution that ‘EC Chairperson is said to be manipulating EOCO’ is blatant falsehood and needs to be condemned. The general public is invited to disregard the said publication,” the statement added.

The statement however fell short of addressing the newspaper’s claim of a report from the Attorney General’s Department.

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By: Sixtus Dong Ullo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Reinstate me now, else… – EC Finance director fumes appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to them, EOCO is hounding Madam Amankwah to give way for government to replace her with a member of the New Patriotic Party.

“This calculated removal of E.C Commissioners is obviously designed to facilitate the appointment by President Akufo Addo of New Patriotic Party (NPP) members or sympathizers to fill such positions and thus anchor the NPP to interfere with and control the E.C. This has been a long standing dream the NPP has yearned for,” a statement signed by the Minority Ranking Member on Communications Committee, Alhaji A.B.A Fuseini said.

[contextly_sidebar id=”UVXJ7RcXMZEmVyPHrl77M2RIj3m5YZE6″]There was drama at the premises of the EC on Monday after officials from EOCO led by their Director; ACP K.K. Amoah, stormed the premises of the EC after picking intelligence that Madam Amankwah, who had been asked to proceed on leave for investigations into the EC’s Endowment Fund to be take place, had defied their directive and had returned to her office.

Madam Amankwah was asked to proceed on leave in 2017 to allow EOCO investigate an GHc480,000 amount believed to have gone missing from the EC’s Senior Staff Endowment Fund.

Her lawyer, Nana Boakye Adu-Poku told Citi News that his client accepted a request from EOCO to stay home for an additional two weeks to allow the investigative body complete its investigations, failure to which she will return to work.

But the Minority said EOCO was hounding the deputy EC chairperson, and described such action untenable and unjustifiable.

“We find it untenable, indeed, completely unjustifiable, that under the guise of conducting investigations into matters such as an endowment fund for EC workers, a massive force such as assembled, could be used against an innocent law abiding official of a body insulated against Executive interference or control.”

“This is especially the case, given the fact that, this is a matter that EOCO has been probing for about seven months, a period during which the Deputy Commissioner had been prevailed upon to proceed on leave. This is not to mention the serious doubts raised regarding the jurisdiction of EOCO in dealing with this matter. It therefore appears to us in the minority from these and other factors that EOCO’s actions are nothing more than a desperate attempt to hound the Deputy Commissioner out of office,” the statement added.

Below is the full statment:

PRESS STATEMENT BY THE MINORITY IN PARLIAMENT ON THE ILLEGAL RAID BY THE ECONOMIC AND ORGANIZED CRIME OFFICE (E.O.C.O) ON THE OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION, MRS. GEORGINA OPOKU AMANKWA

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) minority in Parliament has learnt with profound sadness and dismay, the illegal raid and invasion of the office and privacy of the Deputy Commissioner of the Electoral Commission (E.C) in charge of Finance and Administration, Mrs. Georgina Opoku Amankwa.

On the afternoon of yesterday January 15, 2018, the Chief Executive of the EOCO backed by dozens of police personnel armed to the teeth and with armoured personnel carriers, descended on Madam Georgina’s office with the clear intent to forcibly evict her from her office.

In a typical Nazi Gestapo fashion, the EOCO Chief Executive Officer in the company of the armed police reportedly charged into her office, took over her seat and other available space in her office and ordered her to leave immediately. This brazen act of lawlessness went on for several hours in the face of stiff resistance mounted by the E.C Deputy Commissioner until some other senior members of the EC intervened to rescue the besieged Deputy Commissioner.

The NDC minority in Parliament is disgusted and feels a sense of revulsion at the perpetration of this act of crass lawlessness on the person and office of the Deputy Commissioner of the E.C.

We find it untenable, indeed, completely unjustifiable, that under the guise of conducting investigations into matters such as an endowment fund for EC workers, a massive force such as assembled, could be used against an innocent law abiding official of a body insulated against Executive interference or control. This is especially the case, given the fact that, this is a matter that EOCO has been probing for about seven months, a period during which the Deputy Commissioner had been prevailed upon to proceed on leave. This is not to mention the serious doubts raised regarding the jurisdiction of EOCO in dealing with this matter.

It is also instructive to note that the issue EOCO is purporting to act on is also the same subject matter of a pending suit before the Supreme Court in the matter referred to the Chief Justice from the President of the Republic.

It therefore appears to us in the minority from these and other factors that EOCO’s actions are nothing more than a desperate attempt to hound the Deputy Commissioner out of office.

We find it intriguing that first, EOCO, which indicates that it has submitted a report of its findings to the Attorney General cannot wait for advice from that superior body but would be in an indecent haste to evict Madam Georgina from her office.

Again, why would EOCO continue and even seek to conclude per its abortive eviction exercise, a matter properly before the Supreme Court now? Why the indecent haste?

This calculated removal of E.C Commissioners is obviously designed to facilitate the appointment by President Akuffo Addo of New Patriotic Party (NPP) members or sympathizers to fill such positions and thus anchor the NPP to interfere with and control the E.C. This has been a long standing dream the NPP has yearned for.

We in the Minority lay the blame on this brazen act of lawlessness and institutional confusion that has arisen between the EOCO and the Supreme Court, squarely at the doors of the Presidency and accordingly puts the onus on President Nana Akuffo Addo to clear the mess and take steps to forestall a future recurrence.

Ghana is touted not only as a haven of peace, order and stability on the African Continent but also as a beacon of democracy, the rule of law and of the respect for the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the people.

We therefore have a collective duty to respect these rights of individuals, especially so, when such individuals occupy very important or strategic institutions of state which the framers of our constitution in their wisdom, found it prudent to guarantee their independence by among others insulating them from the interference or control of the Executive or any other body.

The Minority wishes to serve notice to the Nana Akuffo Addo Government that it would not stand idly by for the government, either through its surrogates or through dubious legal measures, to hound legitimately qualified and appointed officials of state and especially those of the Electoral Commission who are independent, out of office.

We call on all Ghanaians as well as friends who share in our democratic aspirations, to roundly condemn these actions of the EOCO, bring it and others engaged in similar lawless acts to order and work together to ensure the total and not selective enforcement of the rights and fundamental freedoms of everyone.

After over 25 years of the functioning of the Fourth Republican Constitutional dispensation, acts such as this must not only be frowned upon but must also be jettisoned with speed and alacrity and perpetrators named, shamed and dealt with to guarantee the growth and progress of our democratic order.

Signed

Hon. Alhaji A.B.A Fuseini

Minority Ranking Member, Communications Committee

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Gov’t using EOCO to hound EC’s Opoku Amankwah – Minority alleges appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This is to allow the  Economic and Organised Crime Office [EOCO], to compile its report on an investigation it carried out into the affairs of the Electoral Commission in relation to some missing sums of money in the Commission’s Endowment Fund.

Madam Opoku Amankwah was directed to proceed on leave in July 2017, to enable investigations into the GHc480,000 believed to have gone missing from the EC’s Senior Staff Endowment Fund.

[contextly_sidebar id=”cOfDdqdcnTMzvPuXw9OV8wVbx6hYacl8″]Last week, she notified the investigative body, EOCO, of her intention to resume work even though the body is yet to release findings of its investigations.

There was drama at the premises of the EC on Monday after officials from EOCO led by their Director; ACP K.K. Amoah stormed the premises of the EC after picking intelligence that Madam Amankwah, had defied the directive to her and returned to her office.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, lawyer for Madam Amankwah, Nana Boakye Adu-Poku, said although the EOCO officials stormed his client’s office in Rambo-style, they later requested for a meeting after which the 14-day grace period was agreed.

“My client came into her office resuming from her leave. She took her annual leave and came back. We had personnel from EOCO and the police come to her office, they came in a Rambo-style although she was not giving any form of force. Later they said they want to have a meeting with us. They came in more of a standoff but later asked for a meeting. They were asking for some time to come up with their report which we obliged to them. So we agreed to give them 14-days after which they will get back to us. She will stay out of office for 14 days.”

Mr. Adu-Poku noted that, his client will return to her office if they don’t receive any feedback from EOCO after the 14 days.

“After the 14 days we will know what to do. If not then she will come back,” he added.

Background

In September 2017, EOCO confirmed that the money which went missing from the Electoral Commission (EC)’s Endowment Fund did not end up in the accounts of the officials of the EC under investigation.

However, the Executive Director of EOCO, K. K. Amoah, insisted that it was too early to conclude that the officials are innocent, given the mandate and access they had to the funds during the period.

EOCO commenced investigations into the activities of three officials of the EC; Georgina Opoku Amankwah, Chief Accountant, Kwaku Owusu Agyei-Larbi and Finance Officer, Joseph Kwaku Asamoah, after over 480,000 cedis went missing, resulting in the officials being asked to proceed on leave.

Speaking to Accra-based Peace FM, the Executive Director of EOCO, K. K. Amoah, stated that, investigations were far advanced into the matter, and that they were going to submit their findings to the Attorney General, which has since been done.

According to him, there have been claims that the money from the Endowment Fund was used for some projects for the EC, but he said no documents have been provided to prove this claim.

“It’s been suggested that the money was used for some work for the EC. If that’s the case, they should bring receipts and documents to prove it. We haven’t got any such documents from them. Without those documents, we’ll continue to pursue them. With time, we will pass the information on to the Attorney General to pursue the matter in court.”

K. K. Amoah also clarified that the officials under investigation were still on leave and had not been interdicted.

‘Officials assisting investigations’

The Head of Communications at the EC, Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, stated in July 2017 that the three officials proceeded on leave in order to protect the integrity of investigations by EOCO

“What I know is that, EOCO is investigating matters related to staff endowment fund where we have some gap in the deposits which must be paid to the staff from the deductions of the staff. As a result of which EOCO has started investigations and all persons who are related to the issue have been called for questioning… The commission is fully cooperating with EOCO as far as this investigation is concerned,” he said

A letter, written to the Chair of the EC, Charlotte Osei, dated July 4th, 2017 from EOCO, said “the suspects are assisting in investigations.”

Charlotte Osei, 2 deputies facing C’ttee in ‘corruption’ probe

On December 19, 2017, the Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, formally constituted a committee to investigate the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei, and her two deputies, over corruption allegations leveled against them, with a caution to the general public to desist from making demeaning comments about their work.

“The general public is hereby informed that, Her Ladyship the Chief Justice, Justice Sophia A.B. Akuffo, in accordance with Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution, has set up a five-member committee to investigate allegations brought against the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Charlotte Osei, and her two deputies, Mr. Amadu Sulley and Mrs. Georgina Opopu-Amankwa.”

In a statement signed by the Judicial Secretary, Justice Alex B. Poku-Acheampong, the Chief Justice said anyone who makes comments that undermine the work of the Committee, will be cited for contempt.

In a release copied to citifmonline.com, the Judicial Secretary,  said the sittings of the Committee will be closed to the public.

The release, which failed to indicate the names of the Committee members, as well as state exactly when the Committee will start its work, said it will be chaired by a Justice of the Supreme Court.

The Petitions

Some staff of the EC petitioned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in July 2017, to remove Mrs. Osei from office over allegations of fraud and financial malfeasance as well as abuse of office.

Some of the allegations involved the unilateral award of contracts by the EC boss in the run-up to the 2016 general election. The unnamed EC staff are being represented by Lawyer Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang, against Mrs. Osei.

The petition against her, alleged among others the funneling of GH¢3.9 million to partition an office, the receipt of a Toyota Land Cruiser from the Mahama government, and the use of about $14 million when the Public Procurement Authority had authorized her to use only $7.5 million.

Charlotte Osei takes on Deputies

Mrs. Osei also responded by making allegations of corruption against her deputies, claiming that she was only being hounded because she sought to introduce systems to curb misuse and mismanagement of resources.

Charlotte Osei among other claims, accused deputy Chairperson of the Commission of illegally signing contracts  worth over GHC 40 million without her approval.

Fresh impeachment against EC Chair

Subsequently, another individual by name Douglas Seidu, a concerned Ghanaian, also petitioned the President in August 2017, seeking the removal of the EC Chair, on grounds of “financial misconduct, incompetence, conflict of interest, breaches of the public procurement processes, amongst others.

It is an eight-paged petition” according to the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, who spoke to Citi News in August.

President Akufo-Addo in accordance with the constitution forwarded both petitions to the Chief Justice to look into the matter.

Suggestions are that both petitions have been consolidated to make the Committee’s work easier.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post EC’s Opoku Amankwah to stay home for 14-days after ‘clash’ with EOCO appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The probe concerned her alleged misappropriation of the Commission’s Endowment fund, for which she was asked to proceed on leave.

[contextly_sidebar id=”PnWySafSyGYOdz3yAnuws8j5b2kC9n6K”]Mrs. Amankwah was one of three top EC officials investigated by EOCO over the alleged disappearance of GHc480, 000 from the Commission’s Endowment Fund.

The loss of the GHc 480,000 prompted the EC Chairperson, Charlotte Osei, to ask the Commission’s Deputy Chairperson in-charge of Finance and Administration and the Finance Director, Dr. Joseph Kweku Asamoah, to proceed on leave.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, her lawyer, Kwabena Asante Krobea, first argued that the fact the EC Chairperson, Charlotte Osei, was not compelled to proceed on leave because she also faced allegations, was unfair.

Some staff of the EC had petitioned President Nana Akufo-Addo to dismiss Charlotte Osei for alleged malfeasance surrounding the supposed awarding of some contracts unilaterally in service of cronyism.

“…If EOCO is saying that a complaint of the usage of the endowment has been leveled against our client and for that matter, she had to proceed on leave, then, for the same Chairperson [Charlotte Osei] that made that complaint, similar allegations have been made against her by staff of the commission, but rather, she at the moment, is at post working whilst our client is at home,” Mr. Asante Krobea said.

Since then, Mrs. Amankwah’s team has written to EOCO, but to no avail, and they are beginning to suspect some foul play from EOCO.

Mr. Asante Krobea suggested that someone may be pulling the strings at EOCO because from what they are gathering, “the investigation has been concluded and as we expected, nothing untoward or no other charges have been made against our client because we knew our client was going to come out unscathed.”

But he said they remain aggrieved because “their client [Mrs. Amankwah] is at home not knowing when she will resume work.”

Mr. Asante Krobea said Mrs. Amankwah abided by the directive out of respect for the law as they did not expect the investigation to drag, but given the unsatisfactory developments, a court action could now be on the table.

“If in the pursuit of their function, we think that they are not acting fairly, we can invoke the requisite reliefs to seek redress for our client and very soon, if we do not hear from EOCO, they will hear from us,” he warned.

He however noted that, EOCO indicated that a response to them is ready, which they plan to receive sometime next week because Mrs. Amankwa has traveled out of the region.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Deputy EC Chair threatens to sue EOCO appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, governments all over the world are working hard to develop regulatory frameworks to control the fertilizer industry, the Ghana government cannot do it alone without active engagement with the private sector.

“Nothing can be more rewarding to our farmers than providing them with the opportunity to increase their yields and incomes to be able to improve their general well being. One of the ways we can do this is by working together to ensure quality standards in the inputs that are made available to these farmers.”

Clement Kofi Humado made the call at a fertilizer quality control workshop organized by Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa AGRA.

About 50 AGRA partners from some 13 African countries participated in the workshop that discussed issues relating to quality standards and control in the fertilizer value chain across African countries.

The workshop was to help streamline the fertilizer industry which presently is going through many challenges of quality standards that erode the confidence and trust of farmers.

Speaking to Citi News on the sidelines of the workshop, Director of AGRA’s Soil Health Program, Bashir Jama said AGRA was committed to promoting the work of farmers, particularly smallholder farmers, by working with many governments across Africa on fertilizer-related policy issues to cushion them.

“If farmers are to derive full benefits from their toil, and be able to increase productivity to feed millions on the continent, then stakeholders have no choice but consciously address the pertinent challenges confronting these farmers,” he said.

By: Eugenia Tenkorang/citimonline.com/Ghana

The post Invest in agriculture – Minister to Ghanaians appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He was speaking at the 2013 Annual General Meeting of BOPP at Takoradi.

Mr. Yamson said in 2012, the company recorded profit after tax of GHC13. 41 million and the 2013 profit was a decline of approximately 57 per cent as compared to that of 2012.

He attributed the fall in performance was largely due to the declining world market price of palm oil and lower production volumes resulting from accelerated replanting programme and high inputs cost.

Mr. Yamson said during the year under review, world market price of crude palm oil decreased from an average of 1,012 United States dollars in 2012 to 853 United States dollars in 2013, representing 15.7 per cent drop in dollar terms.

He said the total palm fruits processed during the year under review was 89,329 metric tonnes, representing a 3 per cent decline compared with 2012.

According to him, the replanting and erratic rainfall patterns over the last couple of years contributed to the low crop volumes.

Mr. Yamson added that during the year under review, the company purchased 47,749 metric tonnes of fresh fruit bunches at a total cost of GHC9.9 million from smallholders and out grower farmers in its catchment areas in particular and the Western and Central Regions in general.

He added that the combined effect of reduced crude palm oil and palm kernel prices, as well as crop production volumes, resulted in a 13.2 per cent drop in turnover over the previous year.

Source: GNA

The post BOPP records GHC5.81m profit in 2013 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.