General News of Friday, 8 September 2017

Source: classfmonline.com

Punish Ahomka-Lindsey for perjury – Citizen to PAC

Robert Ahomka-Lindsey, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Robert Ahomka-Lindsey, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry

Ransford Chatman Vanni-Amoah, the former Secretary to the Management Board of the Komenda Sugar Factory, has filed a petition against Deputy Minister of Trade, Robert Ahomka-Lindsey, at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), asking the body to punish the Deputy Minister for perjury.

According Mr Vanni-Amoah, the Deputy Minister lied that the Sugar Factory had not produced any sugar from fresh sugarcane since its inception, when he appeared before the PAC on Friday, 11th August 2017.

Mr Ahomka-Lindey told the PAC that the variety of raw sugarcane required for commercial production to feed the factory was not available.

“The sugar you tasted from the Komenda Sugar Factory was not produced by the Komenda Sugar Factory, government bought semi-processed sugar and it was tasted. We have never put sugarcane through the full system of the Komenda sugar factory,” he told the PAC.

But Mr Vanni-Amoah, in a statement, said the Deputy Minister's statements were total falsehood that intended to mislead the public.

“These false statements require immediate correction by my good self, since I was strategically placed to play some significant roles from the construction stage to the operational stage of the factory,” he said.

To that he end, he has filed a petition to get the Deputy Minister to be sanctioned.

“He has committed perjury since perjury is a crime, a second degree felony, and so he should be dealt with accordingly,” he told ClassFMonline.com

Dr Clemet Apaak, a member of the PAC told Star News on Friday, September 8 that the committee is assessing the petition to determine the way forward.

“As far as the committee is concerned, we have received the petition. Once the petitioner has successfully petitioned and submitted his petition to the leadership of the committee, we will have the opportunity to look at it and then whatever action we believe is meritorious in regards to the petition vis-à-vis the comments of the minister, we will make that public. We will do what is right in the best interest of Ghana,” he said.