as Kumbour charges on CP

NPP CAUSED GHC 1.2bn LOSS

…Joe Ghartey, others to face prosecution

Talkative Minority Leader, Osei Kye Mensah-Bonsu and his political co-conspirators in the august House including the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee have bitten more than they can chew on the Construction Pioneers issue as revelations of complicity in the case begin to unfold in the coming days.

Reliable information available to The Al-Hajj reveals that very soon the former Attorney-General (AG) under the Kufuor administration, Mr. Joe Ghartey, and other yet-to-be- mentioned former functionaries and appointees of the NPP will face the nation’s law courts for various roles they played in the ignominious Construction Pioneer case that resulted in the build-up of judgment debt against Ghana to a whopping 600m euros (GH1.4bn).

Thorough investigations conducted by this paper suggested that on the 10th of October, 2006, the International Court of Arbitration gave a final award of 153m euros in favour of CP in relations to all the four cases pending before it against the government of Ghana.

Following the ruling, the CP, in a frenetic effort, started to execute the ruling by attaching some key Ghana government assets and properties including bank accounts in London and around the world.

The CP, while on this efforts also sent a petition to President Kufuor to help in the execution of the award so as to avert a buildup of interests and other charges which the Ghana Government will be liable. The then President Kufuor asked them to stay execution of the 2006 judgment until a final settlement is reached with Ghana.

A legal opinion from the A-G (then Joe Ghartey) informed the government that as a result of lack of settlement of the 153m euros award, interests have been rocketing at alarming rate and the CP were hell bent in exacting their pound of flesh from the government of Ghana.

At the time the settlement negotiation started by the erstwhile Kufuor administration, the amount Ghana is supposed to pay to the Construction Pioneers has increased astronomically from 153m euros to 614m euros as a result of the colossal interests and other charges which accumulated over the years.

The NDC government upon assuming office and faced with this herculean task called the CP to a negotiation table to find ways of reducing that liability and save the exchequer from being depleted completely.

The re-negotiation with the CP and finding a lasting solution on this issue by the government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was also necessary in order to stop the company from seizing Ghana Government assets, properties and accounts across the world

Thus, the government of the National Democratic Congress entered into serious negotiation and succeeded in bringing the amount that the nation was going to cough up in the CP case from the 600m euros to 94m.

A team led by the then Attorney General Betty Mould Iddrisu saved the nation whopping 520m euros which is equivalent to 1.2bn New Ghana Cedis.

Thus, Madam Betty Mould Iddrisu, who is currently at the receiving end of the New Patriotic Party bashing, has actually saved the nation from the recklessness of the NPP government and its appointees.

The Al-Hajj has gathered that the Attorney General and Minister of Justice has forwarded his dossier of pool of letters and correspondences on the CP case to the security agencies to investigate so that immediate prosecution on the matter can begin to determine the culpability of those officials who cause the nation to suffer such financial damage.

This paper’s investigations and feelers available from its sources suggest that the former A-G, Joe Ghartey and the Chief of Staff Kwadwo Mpiani, under the Kufuor administration are the likely candidates to face trial for the various roles they played in the CP affair.

The Al-Hajj will keep an eagle eye on the development unfolding and keep the readers informed.