General News of Tuesday, 21 August 2007

Source: Ghanaian Chronicle

Juju Scare Hits Law School

Mr. Kwaku Ansa Asare who threatened Chronicle that he is from Larteh, suggesting that he is an initiate of the Akonnedi shrine in Larteh has mounted an ambitious come back project to return to the Ghana School of Law (GSL) as its director for a final flourish.

With his friend the Chief Justice now departed, and a new Chief Justice on the seat who has promised to continue her predecessor's anti-corruption campaign in deed, Ansa Asare appears to have hit a road block on his way back to the Law School.

This is down to the release of a damning report by the Audit Service on the Law School which was scorned in a letter to this paper tagging the audit report with a deprecating adjectival clause: 'So-called.'

The confidential Audit Report obtained by The Chronicle is dripping with monumental evidence of Ansa Asare's complicity with several incidents of fraud and improprieties that underlined his administration.

The report tells of the Registrar cum Secretary of the Legal Education, Mrs. Linda Doku who was employed from Readwide where she used to work before her engagement as a Registrar at the school.

Mrs. Doku, wife of an Assemblies of God Pastor, who accompanied him through the Akamba Committee sittings, passed vast vouchers, some of them unverified by any official, for payment.

A previous Committee instituted by Justice Kpegah with the same Terms of Reference given to the Akamba Committee, was trashed by Mr.Kwame Tetteh after moving a motion for the implementation of the Akamba report and seconded by Mr. Justice Atuguba, defeated by a margin of three including GBA Secretary Mr. Benson Nutsukpui and Ms Emelia Agyepong, solicitor/barrister.

The Audit Service issued a report which gave a June 27 deadline for Kwaku Ansa Asare's response The report came out but it could not establish whether Mr. Ansa Asare's response was captured by the auditors.

What has now instilled fear at the Law School is the pinkish substance that was sprinkled at the premises of the School by unknown people.

The Audit Report is replete with evidence of books for the Law School procured by him from his own bookshop and from relatives of the school.

For example the Auditors Report revealed that books worth ¢850 million on January 14, 2005 were supplied by Readwide. More books valued at ¢2,595,000,000 (two billion, five hundred and ninety-five million cedis) on February 18 2005 were supplied again by Readwide and still more books worth ¢4,092,000,000 (four billion and ninety two million cedis) were supplied through Linda Doku, the Secretary -BLE and Readwide on February 25 2005.

Payments made to Ansa Asare's brother-in-law, Damas Education Services for books supplied were over ¢430million.

In fact a handwritten voucher for payment of ¢107,894,300 was actually raised and passed for payment.

The total amount was ¢8billion, far in excess of the amount Chronicle published and for which the paper was sued for libel and Ansa Asare obtained judgement.

The dramatic twist to the whole drama surrounding the tyrannical reign of the former Law School boss is that he targets his colleagues when under the slightest suspicion and this explains the fear that has gripped the faculty and staff of the School.

Early this month, he fired a letter to seven members of the faculty and staff including the most senior lecturer of the School, Dr. Kofi Adinkrah, alerting him of a conspiracy to harm him, Ansa Asare, and intimating that he will report him to the Security. He also threatened to report him to the General Legal Council.

The names of the co-conspirators he wrote to included Mr. Maxwell Opoku Agyeman and Mr. Albert Addare.

Portions of Ansa Asare's letter which is reproduced in the front page targeting the faculty:

'I have full details of the meetings you have held with the aim of forcibly preventing my entry into the premises of the Ghana School of Law at anytime, of possibly harming me, which you have dubbed the show down