General News of Thursday, 10 September 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

‘I’ve not been charged with theft’ – Awuah-Darko opens up

Kwame Awuah-Darko has sued Kennedy Agyapong for defamation Kwame Awuah-Darko has sued Kennedy Agyapong for defamation

Kwame Awuah-Darko says he has not been charged with anything relating to theft after he left his position as the Managing Director (MD) of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) in 2016.

According to him, the assertion by Kennedy Agyapong, the Assin Central Member of Parliament (MP) that some money was missing after he left the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Co Ltd (BOST) and TOR are untrue.

Kennedy Agyapong was saying that 300 million dollars is missing in BOST, 200 million has been traced to an account of mine. I sued him. I think we are still in court for that. I have not been charged with any theft or anything of that nature,” Awuah-Darko stated on Citi TV’s Point of View programme.

He indicated that his motivation for suing the MP is not the GH¢5 million monetary value attached to it but he needed to correct his reputation which has been damaged by the MP.

“I am not driven by money but the most important thing is the wrong to be put right,” he explained.

When asked if he has been cleared of the allegations against him, Awuah-Darko responded: “I have gone through a process and I know I do not have any outstanding issues with any of the authorities in the country. EOCO did investigate me, but they have finished their investigations.”

When asked by the host whether or not he has been shown the final report of the EOCO investigation, he indicated that he has seen the final report, has read it and it is okay with him.

Kingsley Kwame Awuah-Darko in July 2017, sued Kennedy Agyapong for GH¢5 million over some defamatory statements made against him.

Awuah-Darko also sued Multimedia’s Asempa FM as well as Kennedy Agyapong’s Madina-based Oman FM, for using their platforms to tarnish his reputation.

The suit which was filed by his lawyer, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, at the Accra High Court stated Kennedy Ohene Agyapong on Accra based Asempa FM’s "Ekosii Sen" programme, on June 29, 2017, accused the former MD of BOST and TOR of misappropriating some 100 million dollars during his time as the MD of BOST and TOR from the year 2013 to January 2017.

Awuah-Darko said Kennedy Agyapong, while on Asempa FM said: “Kwame Awuah-Darko, when we searched his account, we found 100 million dollars…He has run away, now living abroad...He shuttles between Virginia, South Africa and Dubai. I have been monitoring him seriously…These people are wicked people…”.

He noted in the suit that the legislator, that evening on Oman FM, added: “The crimes these people commit must not go unpunished. So far, the documents I have in my possession shows embezzlement of 230 million dollars recorded as losses for BOST under Awuah-Darko... and then his own bank account after we tracked him down, we discovered an amount of 100 million dollars. These guys don’t even know how to steal. He didn’t even know that we could track him… 100 million dollars… yes 100 million dollars.”

Awuah-Darko is, therefore, seeking a declaration by the court that among other things, Kennedy Agyapong renders an unqualified apology to him.